THE NELSON EXAMINER. Nelson, November 18,-1843.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 89, 18 November 1843, Page 354

THE NELSON EXAMINER. Nelson, November 18,-1843.

Lea journaux deviennent plus nlcessaires a mesure que lei homines sont plus fcgaux, et I' individualiame plus a ertindre. Cc serait diminuer leur importance que de croire qu' Us ne servent qu' a garantir la liberty : its maintiennent la cirilisation.

DX ToCaOEVILLB. De la Democratic en Amerique, tome 4, p. 220, Journal! become more necessary aa men become more rqual, and indivjdualism more to be feared. It would be to underrate their importance to suppose that they serve only to s«cur« liberty : they maintain civilization. D« TocaußviLLi. Of Democracy in America, vol . 4, p. 203.

Not long since we made some remarks upon the re-emigration of a large number of the working classes of this settlement to Sydney and Launceston. Upon that occasion the schooner Sir John Franklin conveyed away sixty-seven souls ; and nearly the same number, we believe, left about a month after, in the Sisters, for Hobart Town. The return of the last-named vessel has put us in possession of some particulars respecting these people, which strikingly illustrate the folly of throwing up certain employment at remunerating wages in New Zealand for idleness and starvation in Australia and Van Diemen's Land. In a letter addressed to a merchant of this place, by a gentleman who went to Hobart Town in the Sisters, some valuable information is given. It appears that Triggs, a passenger in the Sir John Franklin, unable to get employment in Sydney, had left his wife and family there and shipped himself for Launceston, where he was equally unsuccessful; he had since walked to Hobart Town, where he now is, doing nothing. By trade this person is a wheelwright, and being a good workman, was liberally supported here. The names of several others are mentioned, who are heartily sick of the foolish change they have made, and who would, if they possessed the means, gladly return to the place they have so thoughtlessly left. Amongst others is a man named James, who had, according to his own statement, refused £80 a-year and rations for himself and wife, to take charge of a large dairy establishment in this neighbourhood. The writer of the letter alluded to closes his remarks by observing that any man who can earn twelve shillings a-week in Nelson should not think of carrying his labour to the markets of New South Wales or Van Diemen's Land.

We have on several occasions felt it to be our duty, by the publication of information gathered from the Australian papers, to 'show the state of the labour-market in the neighbouring colonies, that persons contemplating a removal to them might not do so in ignorance of their real state. It is. however, difficult to convince people of the truth of that which they are determined to disbelieve ; but the evidence is at length become too strong to be longer doubted, and henceforth, whatever may be the state of things in New Zealand, few, we presume, will be found to leave so good a stand-by as constant employment by the New Zealand Company, to swell the number of the unemployed in Sydney.

Although this country affords to the labourer many advantages that are not to be found in any other colony, it unfortunately does not not realize the expectations of the any thing-but- work portion of.* the- community. Here, as in 'all other places, men who would permanently improve their condition must work, and, if their means are limited, practice a little self-denial besides. Such as have no stomach for this, and who no longer see in Australia the El Dorado of their wishes, are now turning their eyes to South America, and talk of trying their fortunes at Valparaiso. Of the state of things in this new land of promise we know but little, and that is decidedly unfavourable. Twelve or eighteen months ago certain descriptions of mechanics were scarce, and the few who were there received high wages. Bat this could not last long when so many

were unemployed elsewhere ; and for a considerable time past hardly a vessel has left Sydney for Valparaiso without taking some of the working classes as passengers. The following paragraph from the Sydney Herald of October 24 may serve our readers as a guide in estimating the probable state of the labour-market in that place a few months hence, if indeed it is not already glutted.

" The Francis will leave for Valparaiso via New Zealand in a day or two ; she will have on board about eighty head of cattle for the latter place, and eighty immigrants have taken passages for the former."

Employment for mechanics at Valparaiso must be very limited, and to labourers it presents the worst possible field for enterprise. The low price of food would be of no use to them, as it is raised by the natives of the country at a rate of wages which would be inadequate for the support of an Englishman: And here we would remind those who are afflicted with the Valparaiso mania that it does not follow, because provisions are cheap there, the labouring classes are far removed from starvation. In Ireland, where all the necessaries of life -are cheap, and where they might be grown in still greater abundance, thousands annually die from want. We therefore warn those individuals of the suffering they will inevi- j tably bring upon themselves and families V they do not check their roving propensities. Let them no longer trifle away their spare hours £.nd days on garden enclosures about the town, but get earnestly to work after tha example so nobly set them by many of their fellow labourers. If they would reap» they must first sow.

We close these remarks with an extract from a new work by Thomas Carlyle, whicn X uniting the beautiful with the true, might, from its singular applicability, have been written for the occasion :—: —

" lam for permanence in all things, at the earliest possible moment, and to the latest possible. Blessed is he that continueth where he is. Here let us rest, and lay out seedfields ; here let us learn to dwell. Here, even here, the orchards that we plant will yield us fruit; the acorns will be wood and pleasant umbrage, if we wait. How much grows everywhere, if we do but wait! Through the swamps we will shape causeways, force purifying drains; we will learn to thread the rocky inaccessibilities : and beaten tracks, worn smooth by mere travelling of human feet, will form themselves. Not a difficulty but can transfigure itself into a triumph ; not even a deformity but, if our own soul have imprinted worth on it, will grow dear to us. * * * * * • * O unwise mortals that forever change and shift, and say, Yonder, not Here! Wealth richer than both the Indies lies everywhere for man, if he will endure. Not his oaks only and his fruit trees, his very heart roots itself wherever he will abide ; — roots itself, draws nourishment from the deep fountains of Universal Being ! Vagrant Sam Slicks, who rove over the Earth doing * strokes of trade,* what wealth have they ? Horseloads, shiploads of white or yellow metal : in very sooth, what are these ? Slick rests nowhere, he is homeless. He can build stone or marble houses ; but to continue in them is denied him. The wealth of a man is the number of things which he loves and blesses, which he is loved and blessed by 1 The herdsman in bis poor clay shealing, where his very cow and dog are friends to him, and not a cataract but carries memories for him, and not a mountain top but nods old recognition : his life, all encircled as in blessed mother's arms, is it poorer than Slick's with the ass loads of yellow metal on his back i Unhappy Slick !"

We this week publish in another part of our paper a letter from that inflated personage, Mr. Wilson. In Teply to the charge contained in the first .paragraph, we beg to say most distinctly that we have never yet seen the address there alluded to, nor can we, by diligent inquiry, learn what has become of it or the number of signatures it has obtained. If it has been forwarded to Auckland, it has not passed through the ordinary channel, and is moreover a document of the conteuts of which the public of Nelson are ignorant. It is true that, at our request, the proprietor of this paper endeavoured to procure a copy of the secret document, and that for this purpose *he applied to Mr. Wilson, in whose possession it was ; but, as we have already said, permission to copy it was refused, Mr. Elliott being merely allowed to read it after MrWilson had carefully folded it 10 that the signatures affixed might not be seen. The abuse with which Mr. Wilson has honoured

us is apparently founded on the assumption that the proprietor of the Nelson Examiner is the editor also. In this he is quite mistaken. And here (if would not be presumptuous to offer advice to a person who is upon such exceedingly good terms with himself) we would recommend Mr. Wilson to meddle less with the business of other people; by so doing, it is just possible he may manage to keep himself out of hot water ; he will also have more leisure to attend to the various duties for

which he is receiving the public money.

The Hydrus, a fine lugger of 28 tons, was launched at the Haven on Saturday last. She is built of white pine, on the model of a Deal lugger, and is one of the prettiest boats we have seen. We believe she is built for one of the pilots, and her first trip will be down the west coast of this island, which, singularly enough, no one knows anything about.

At Motuaka, on Thursday last, a serious accident happened to a man named Gillard, whilst employed in lopping a large branch from a tree that had been felled. From what we can learn, it appears that on the branch becoming disengaged, the trunk rolled over, and another large branch descended on the poor fellow's back, which it broke. He now lies in a very dangerous state.