THE CANTERBURY ASSOCIATION'S EMIGRATION.

New Zealander, Volume 7, Issue 545, 5 July 1851, Page 4

THE CANTERBURY ASSOCIATION'S EMIGRATION.

Tho Canteihuiv Asboctat.oti entitles itself to »l.c pub'ir thanks mill confi icnco hv tie imhlictUion of n upoit "on the Mnwageimnt of Shipping lor Kmigi.i lion, by William Howler." Mr. Howlei whh m ilie employment of ilic Njw Zealand Company, and mmli eoiiveiS'iut in the whipping nrmngements for llic uni gr.intu scut nut by the Company : he is >mw on tlie tve of emimatinH hnmelf to the settlement «lio i.« pio-.pir-ily lich-i«HO ii'uch promottd; but in tin* mruii fmf the Ciin'ethury A sociution have Inert foitun.iti- < noiigh t(>M>cureiliL> uJvantajtfof hi» «xp« rici cc nn(!//ill in 'he Mipcrintrndcncc of thrir en igi.itio'i. Hi 1* icpoit ib p f fa< <>(1 by tables showing in di Lull nil the paitcnlmi) of expense mid receipt nttsii'l.int on the de puieh of the eielit ships tent out by the AsHOcititwn to the. srtllcin.nt of Canterbury. These re uni-. biing out tbicc luHiliti" points of great in eiest. In tl>c fust place, it appears that the cost of pnm f hu« been ye y much reduced, while the accoromodat on to the emigtaut h.»B ben nnnv niely increased. The common charge for a gtcettige-pmsa^e to Austiu'la, till recniily, wa* from X'2f> \» X'.W, and for a cilnn-pass-iftc from £U) to £100; and in thcyuir 1812, when the Indus look out a single cal>iii-p.^bC(iKi'r ami bi.s wife t« New Zealand, the r.itu rimrged io tlio two for that" longer voyiipp, wits i,'lBo. The ru'tn chart-eil by the As-oi 1 ition on the lonp r voynije li<ivc tuen £Vl, fi-r the firht class cabin-pa^.i^e, ,L'J!i, the scconil-clnab cbiu-pft'safj'', and X'lG tor the steei.i;;.- fate \Vhun a dnef cabin passage is ofieied by etti jjiation ftuns a' £'60 15s , u the meanin» is," sajß Mr. Howlei, " half u cabin, ol about five feet by seven for a single uduli" ; but m the sliips ol the Associalioti, " n singe aduh obtHined a whole cabin, of the same aha at least, f.u £42; while tor a whole cabin of this size in the trading emigrant-ships has usually bciv £M> a""* f' ttqncntly nioie" : in addition, the oulinaiy m.n of the cabins in tho <.liins o/ the A'.sociation hai, been nearer nine feet than eeven feet hy five,—" a dillerence of the gre«tcht moment, ronsnletniK I lip length of the voyage, and that ships having cabins ol thin siz 1 arc genciully more loft) and better \eniilaied and fnted, both in the poop and between decks." The nest point is that the adventure lias been a commercially np'iying one to the Atsoeintion. The total expenses of the eljiht ships were i. J2B,fiB"»; the totnl receipt* were £'2(.),. r )0O; leaving a fuvt.uiable b.iloiice ol .I*B2l " to imot contiiigcncuu." A favourable l),\lancc was y elded by eveiy ship but one; imd the ship which alonß yielded a Brnall adverse b.il'mcfl WBB one of the four first ttatted, wliofc coht was much enhnnei'd by a long anticipatory lining c'fT<ett"l in order to inrurc a sumiltuiieouH Btatt. Kouift portion of thii reJuction of cost Mr. Howler admits to be due to specific peculiarities in the plan and scheme of the seUlcißPiit; but tho laiger portion is due Io a genetal ciuue. No fewer than 7\ pcrHOtm for every KM) I" nt. of shipping, or twenty-four per cent of the tiumbiro 1 emigrantfl, were of the superior class who paid cabin hires* Mr. Howler is certain, Irom hi^ peisonal inlei-couri-c with the emigrants, that this gnat proportion of cabin-paHFengers is chiefly produced " by the co'-rho pursued by the Ahsoci.ition in taking the whole managrnient of Cfebm-pußßnge into its own hands, arid lucowm ing publicly irhpoiihiblo for Ihe sninc" Thereby " pcuotis whose i^noiancc 1 is \ery apt to be impomd upon, obt'iincd the asHtirancp that as tnueli one would hi taken of their clans bs if they hnd been Bteeragepn.SBc*ngnis emigrating under the full protection of the l'aosctigei'a Act." The last point ii, thnt of the whole sum expend"d by the AsHociation, more than two-fif hs were contubu'ed from other sources than the public funds of the settlement; wheieby it appears, speakitiij geiut« ally, that the immigration into the gUtlerarnt Ims been much greater than that which was ptovided for by the Bale of its land. Of total me p s on this arcount, the mm contributed by the land-fund for emigration in We steerage was £9 7f><); for cmigiation in the first and second class cabins, .£4,197 ; tho cash received for passage and freight noi no 1» n than £11,818 ; and tl'c sums conUibutetl by the humble fiteeragi'-passeugcrs thcmsclvtß was .^2.488. Tue "main aUraction" to the higher cl.i»s of cinlgranis has been "the counteraction of doubts and fears an io the passage, especially for families of ladies, by the systematic and really paternal care tukhig of the Association with respect to both classes of cal>m»p»s. ncngerß." Then tho " direct and immediate came of the large contributions by labouring emigran'S has been, tho Isr^e pro])ortion of cabin-pagsengera of a superior ordei in each ship, who in two ways encouraged a labouring class to emitiate, that was both able and willing to muke these contributions." Tho cabinpaisengers took great trouhle in selecting labourers of a superior cluss, instead of leaving the matter to paid Bgentß, who would have simply herdi il the ncci'bsnry number; and the labourers wne additionally tempted to emigrate by Uio chance of going out with employers of the higheit and richest class, who would thoroughly learn to appreciate them specially on the voyage, and bo would unhcsitaatly engage them in the colony.— Sjwctator.