MEETING OF LABOURERS TO SEEK COMPENSATION.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume VIII, Issue 409, 5 January 1850, Page 176

MEETING OF LABOURERS TO SEEK COMPENSATION.

In pursuance of an advertisement, a meeting of the labourers of Nelson was held on Thursday last, at the Odd-Fellows' Arms, to consider the subject of their claims on the New Zealand Company for compensation. There was an attendance of about fifty or sixty persons. v Mr. J. P. Robinson/ on being called to the . chair, said, that he hoped the meeting would give an impartial hearing to every speaker, whether his views wen adverse or friendly to the claims which the labourers were about to put forth. Mr. J.'Cla&ke then, came forward, and produced a long written document, which he said embodied his sentiments, and which ha banded to the Chairman to be read. The Chairman then read the document produced by Mr. Clarice,' which was as follows : —

"There are verjr few present who are not aware of the conditions under which labourers were induced by the New Zealand Company to leave England, and embark for this settlement ; but lest any of you should have forgotten one particular condition (and that indeed which is of the greatest importance to us at present), I will read it:— 'On the arrival of the emigrants in the colony, they will be received by an officer who will Bupply their immediate wants, assist them in reaching the place of their destination, be ready to advise with them in case of difficulty, and at all times to give them employment in the service of the Company, if from any cause they should be unable to obtain it elsewhere. The emigrants will, however, be at perfect liberty to engage themselves to any one willing to employ them, and will make their own bargain for wages.' When we arrived in this .country, we .found it a perfect desert, and it was with the greatest difficulties that we could obtain food for our families. It is true that soon after our arrival, the Agent of the Company gave us employment in the construction of roads, and in the other works necessary to carry out their designs, and that the rate of wages which we received was sufficient to maintain us, and would, under ordinary circumstances, have been considered high — but taking 1 into account the scarcity and extraordinary price of provisions, certainly not too high. There was, however, as you probably all remember, one special condition attached to employment uudcr the Company ; a condition which was in no way referred to in that which I have just read to you, but which was vamped upon it by the Agents here, who foresaw that so long as they gave exclusive employment to us, much of the land would remain uncultivated, and we should have to depend on foreigners for our supply of provisions. The condition to which I allude was, that each person employed by the Company Bhould at the same time cultivate a portion of land ; and although, as I before observed, this formed no part of the original contract between us and the Company, yet, having nt> alternative but to starve or submit, we choose the latter, the more readily— -and mark this well, that we at the same time received a solemn assurance that we should occupy the land rent free, and that if at any time the Company required it again, either for their own use or for the purpose of disposing of it, we should be allowed the full value of any improvements we might have effected during our occupation. All this, gentlemen, was fair enough; and co long as the Company performed their part even of this altered contract, we had no reason to complain. But matters have now taken another turn. Many of us, acting on the assurance of the Agents of the Company, not only that we should be allowed for any improvements which we made on the land allotted to us, but that we should also have an opportunity of purchasing it, if at any future time the Company should resume their land sales, have built houses, and bestowed constant labour and care in bringing tbe land into a good state of cultivation ; and 1 defy the best farmer in the country to produce small patches of finer corn than is grown on the squatters' land. But what has been tbe result ? Instead of acting towards us with that good faith that ought to distinguish a respectable Company, and either paying us for the improvements we have effected, or giving us the opportunity of purchasing the land at a fair price (taking into consideration the circumstances under j which we occupy it), we actually find them I permitting the holders of compensation scrip (who, mostly living on the spot, can see the advantage of choosing 1 ready cultivated land; to select the very acres on which, as I- before observed, we have erected a shelter for our families, and which, by dint of years of labour, we have succeeded in bringing into a good state of cultivation. Is this fair or honest ? No man can conscientiously say it is. But to come to the main question. Are we, under these circumstances, entitled to compensation for our labour or not? In honour we clearly are; and I am advised by a lawyer recently come amongst us, that if we can substantiate oar case as I have stated it to you, in law we also are. If the Company, instead of disposing of the land, had Biinply resumed it, would the point have admitted of any doubt, and because instead of doing so they have disposed of the land to third persons, does our right the less exist? Certainly not. I submit, therefore, gentlemen, that we are not only entitled to compensation, but that in justice to ourselves and families we are bound by every proper means to seek it. It has been said in answer to our claim, that the Company employed us at high wages, and that this was quite sufficient return for any benefit they may have derived from our labour. It has also been said, that many of us who landed here without a penny, are now able to live in comfort, and have succeeded in getting together a stock of cattle. But, in the first place, were not the Company bound to employ us, even without imposing on us the condition of cultivating land ? Did we not come to this country on the clear understanding that they | would do so ? And in the next place, are we ,to be told that because onr industry and our efforts have yielded their natural fruit*, ire are ;to be deprived of that which Was .solemnly [guaranteed to us? Thio would be reversing the general rule, and establishing the maxim, that he who most improves the talents committed to him, should receive the font reward. That we are entitled in honour to compensation, is also dear from the fact, that by means and in consequence of our improvements, die Company have succeeded in selling thoae portions of their etUte which we have cultivated at enormous prices, in many instances for five and ■ix times the amount originally demanded for it, and therefore, if for this reason alone; I think and submit that the Company is bound to allow

us some part of that increased price, as compensation for our labour. Instead of this, the Company's Agent is now aiding the purchasers to turn us out, without rhyme or reason, leaving us no alternative but to ko, or remain and pay an exorbitant rent, the very fact of demanding which, shews how much store they Ret by the Rood we have done to the land. We cannot blame the purchasers, it is true, for whether justly entitled to the compensation they have received or not, they are quite warranted in seeking to make their purchases yield a return. But I must press upon you the injustice which is, done to us by the Compan}', or I should rather 6ay by it« Agent, for I cannot believe that the Court of Directors would ever sanction it, and I believe that if the matter were fairly and properly represented to them, we should receive that justice which is certainly our due." Mr. Kidson fully concurred in all which had been just read. He considered the labourers as much entitled to compensation as the landpurchasers, as it was indisputable that many of them had suffered greatly by the Company's not fulfilling their engagements to them, by giving them work at all times as had been promised. And even the condition which the Agent of the Company imposed upon them — that they should cultivate land if the Company found them employment, was no part of the engagement, but that had been quietly submitted to. For his own part, he had expended £15 (saved in the Company's service, it was «true) in putting up a house, and cultivating some land, in the Walcapuaka-road, which he altogether lost, as, when the Company broke up, he abandoned the land, rafted his house down,, and betook himself again to the town, where he was happy to •ay he had never wanted employment or food. But the case was different with many. Living at a distance from the town, they could get no employment whatever, and it was nothing uncommon for them to have to flier up the potatoes for food for their families, after they had been planted in the ground. Mr. Manssen stated some of the hardships which the German immigrants had sustained at the Moutere. To that district (a distance of thirty-two miles in the country) they had been compelled to go to their work, and to take land there. After breaking up the land, and putting in the seed, the floods destroyed all their labours, and shortly afterwards the Company broke up, and left them quite helpless. Mr. A. M'Gee considered the labourers of Nelson to have been greatly deceived by the Company. The Company had promised ?il their immigrants employment, yet he, a shoemaker, instead of getting work at his own' trade on his arrival, was compelled to take employment on the roads. He afterwards lost £40 by a house which he had built, as it would not stand (the £40, it is true, be had earned working on the roads), and had been subjected to much vexation and loss in being driven about from place to place, because different parties claimed the land he from time to time settled upon, until at last he determined to take a public house, and sell beer, and give up working on the land, and at his trade also. It was true the labourers had now got through the difficulties they formerly suffered, but though many of them had got a few head of cattle, they had no money, and many had not a pound by them if asked for it. It was the fashion if a labourer had a cow or two, to throw it in his teeth as if it was a reproach ; but no one knew but themselves how the labourers had toiled and suffered to get these cows. It was supposed again by ■orae.that because the Company gave the labourers high wages at the first, that they had therefore relieved themselves from liabilities now ; but they forgot the prices of living when the wages were high. Butter was ss. per lb. ; and he bad paid Is. 6d. each for candles to see to work by. A man was better off ia the colony now with 10s. a. week, than he was then with £l and rations. After some remarks from other speakers, the following Resolutions were put and earned unanimously— « Pr T p S? ed by Mr « J< w Atts, seconded by Mr. J. Kidson — 1. That it is the opinion of this meeting that the mechanics and labourers of Nelson are entitled to compensation from the New Zealand Company, in consequences of the sufferings and losBM they have sustained. Proposed by Mr. T. Be**t, seconded by Mr. D.'Hknderson— *. That Messrs. J. P. Kobinson, J. Kidson, J. Clarke, A. M'Gee, H. Manssen, I. M. Hill J. Watts, and W.. Coppins, be appointed a committee, with power to add to their number, to epllect the requisite evidence, and prepare a memorial thereon to the New Zealand Company, showing the justice of our claims to compensation. A third Resolution was also put and carried, agreeing to a 2s. 3d. subscription from avery individual, to defray the necessary expenses which may be incurred.