Untitled

New Zealand Herald, Volume VII, Issue 1979, 23 May 1870, Page 4

The importation of Island natives I)}" the schooner Lulu on I'riday last opens up a new side ot the labour question. The men have been forwarded to Riverhead, en route for a flax-mill. If our flax-mills are to be worked in this manner, we conclude that other brandies of industry can be carried out on the cheap in the same way. It is a matter which should at once receive the attention of the public. The same argument cannot be used in favour of black labour in this country as finds standing ground in Queensland. We have no tropical heat to prevent the employment of Europeans. On the other hand, if masters cannot all'ord to employ white labour, tin's is no country for the working man. The skilled mechanic will, of course, always find employment in spite of the coloured man, hut ii the Melanesians can live at all in our winter (which we question), they can do the work of a European at a figure that the latter cannot compete with. If, however, this native labour is to be accepted as an institution, immediate legislation oil the subject is ioudly called for. The General Assembly must 0:1 th'> very earliest opportunity enact on the subject. These niggers are entirely in the hands of the importers. There is at present no check upon injustice ot any kind. The men themselves are utteily ignorant of legal redress, and unless rules and regulations are laid down at once, we shall be having all sorts of abuses creeping in unawares. This question is so new to us as a colony that it is dillicult to pronounce i a decided opinion as to the ultimate ' merits and demerits of the importation jof Island labour. On the whole, we j are inclined to think that it will not | conduce to the real development ol j the country.