MR JUSTICE RICHMOND ON IMMIGRATION.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 116, 5 July 1873, Page 4

MR JUSTICE RICHMOND ON IMMIGRATION.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE NEW ZEALAND MATT..

Sir, —The address of his Honor Mr Justice Richmond at Marlborough, touching on immigration, has evoked some comment both from your paper and your contemporary; The importance of the subject cannot be over-estimated ; indeed, a thorough good system of immigration seems the only thing requisite to promote the prosperity of the colony. “Labor,” Bentham says, “comes before capital,” which, with certain modifications, is true. Regarding land as capital (for it is potential capital), we then only require labor to make it productive. To set it in operation, labor requires a motive power, so that we have to use actual capital to work our dormant capital, which consists not only of vast agricultural lands, but also of great internal resources. Immigration, then, is the only medium by which we can hope to open up the country, to develop its resources, and to give renewed impetus to trade and commerce. Montesquieu remarks that countries are not cultivated according to their fertility but to their liberty. Now the advantages offered to the immigrant for acquiring land are of the most* liberal character, even when taken on the deferred payment system : there are no restrictions likely to cause the cultivation of the land to be held in abeyance. On the contrary, the conditions and modes of payment are such as to encourage the laborer to increased activity, and to secure the benefit of the land to himself. Such being the case, it would be a pity to have an influx of the scum of all nations to strangle in its infancy a scheme which, if properly carried out, will be of such lasting utility to the colony. But, sir, why should the 1 c scum” of Great Britain emigrate to New Zealand in preference to any other colony ? Surely America or Australia would offer greater attractions to this class of emigrants. If his Honor, by the term “ scum ” means to designate criminals only, I think we are less likely to be invaded by this section of humanity than by a class of individuals commonly termed “loafers.” Confirmed criminals are proverbially known to adhere to old haunts, rarely travel except they are compelled to do so nolens volens. Of course, large towns offer greater inducements, larger facilities, and a greater scope for their operations, than small ones. Much on the same grounds, I do not think we shall get many loafers, for the ignorant classes in England have very vague notions of New Zealand, chiefly regarding it as a cannibalistic country, where the inhabitants rub noses in lieu of shaking hands. Loafers, like all criminals, cling to old quarters, as far as possible. During the winter of 1871 great scarcity of employment prevailed in London, though a lai-ge demand for labor existed in the provinces. Several manufacturers employed agents in London to send down batches of men, from 400 to 1600 at a time, offering a higher rate of wages than they could have earned in London, even when things were brisk. Some few hundreds were sent, but very few in comparison with the numbers out of work. An agent of one of these firms, writing to the “Times,” says: “I am unable to get men, because there are so many loungers who prefer to clan in London in a semistate of starvation to removing to the provinces, where they might get higher wages, and where the necessities of life were much cheaper.” We must make a sensible distinction between that emigragration which partakes of the nature of a rush to a goldfield and an emigration to a colony for the purpose of settlement. A goldfield attracts all grades of society, and the ‘ ‘ scum” is usually very fairly represented. Gold holds out greater attraction to the scum of the earth than land. No doubt America has received her share of England’s scum ; still, it does not seem to have retarded its growth, and immigration is still solicited, and still flowing to Canada. The secret of this great flow lies in the fact that emigrants are treated well—are properly assisted to settle down —consequently, they write home encouraging letters to their relatives and friends —induce them to come out, too—and thus they become the most powerful advertising agents the country could have. I cannot agree with his Honor, that “the increase of immigration, while it increases the revenue, keeps down the rate of wages.” Adam Smith remarks : “The demand for those who live by wages necessarily increases with the increase of the revenue and stock of each

country, and cannot possibly increase without it.” If increased emigration increases the revenue, as his Honor intimates in the view of the great political economist above quoted, it would also increase, not diminish, the rate of wages. Without immigration, Hew Zealand will never be able to maintain her position among the colonies of the world which her climate, her fertility of soil, and her great mineral resources entitle her to. Whether Government works, public buildings, or railways will tend to enrich the colony except in a temporary way, is a question open to great doubt. At the same time the construction of railways will no doubt exercise a galvanic influence on the home country, and awaken feelings of interest which have slumbered too long ; it will most probably give an impetus to immigration which nothing else would do—an immigration both of capital and labor ; and we may thus benefit by schemes which would otherwise prove ridiculous failures.

Apologising for trespassing so long on your valuable space, —I am, &c., T. T, E.