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New Zealand Mail, Issue 421, 6 March 1880, Page 24

There are questions in connection with the colony that cannot be dealt with too specifically, and these not one can advance claims for greater consideration, and temperate, farseeing, and impartial discussion, than immigration and its concomitants. For some time past this subject has commanded increased and earnest attention in the mother country and Europe. We shall not be hyperbolical in stating that the colonies have been, and still are, foci of interest to the rest of the world. And of them all New Zealand is the focus. Far above the rest, in wide degree, its attractiveness is pre-eminent, for in the essential particulars of climate, resources, and capacity, it approaches nearer to Great Britain than any other part of the world. The sturdy races of the north, Teuton, Saxon, Celt, and the combination of the three, find here congenial abode. They are not affected in the slightest,

either physically or mentally, by the change, and the second and even third generations preserve all the characteristics of the parent stock almost intact. It is not so in Australia, for there the European differentiates in a generation or two to a very different being to his immigrant progenitors. He is less a Briton than an Australian ; but in this colony, whilst the native youth may proudly speak of the land of their birth, and rejoice in the name u New Zealanders,” they may also refer with equal pride to their extraction, and in their proper persons demonstrate their right to be termed Britons, so imperceptible is the change brought about by the transplanting process. A colony that undoubtedly is a congenial habitat for the race, and can offer the advantages of a fertile soil, practically unlimited mineral resources of all kinds, and aesthetically presents features which challenge comparison, must maintain prior place in the estimation of Europeans, but particularly in that of the inhabitants of Great Britain.

The above preamble sets forth a few leading facts that defy controversion. There are, however, two sides to every question, and the one we are dealing with is no exception to the rule. We can advance New Zealand’s claims to be regarded as a most desirable field for immigration, but at the same time we wish to be understood that existence within her boundaries is not all couleicr de rose. Life has its responsibilities here, and tolerably heavy ones too, and no greater mistake could be made by the intending emigrant from Britain or anywhere else than to suppose that, compared with other places, their burdens are lessened more than in slight degree. We can assure our Home readers that from the outset of the colony’s career individual success has been dependent upon all those virtues which render success possible elsewhere —to wit, intelligence, frugality, self-denial, and a keen appreciation of chances. Above all else self-denial and self-control, and the faculty of grasping opportunities. These are the steppingstones to fortune (so termed) in New Zealand, and how many have used them to advantage is on record in thousands of thriving families in town and country, but especially the latter. In justice, however, to those who are afar, and whose eyes are wistfully turned this way, we have to point out that, compared with what they were, the chances of individual success, even in this favored land, are materially lessened. One way and another large portions of the colony have been occupied, and, although there is much land yet to be disposed of, upon advantageous terms, by the Government, yet its occupation means utilisation for development, and not for mere speculative purposes. To thrive in New Zealand now the settler must be prepared to struggle along,” adding penny to penny, shilling to shilling, improving his land by degrees, in the constant hope of reaping a harvest in the future. In town and country the artisan, mechanic, and laborer must be prepared to combat with competition. The immigration of late years is numbered by scores of thousands, and a liberal source of maintenance for the new comers has been undoubtedly derived, indirectly or directly, from the expenditure upon public works, the source of which, like that of immigration, was unmistakeably exoteric. Now we do not mean to say, or imply, ever so distantly, that the country is fully occupied. The idea we wish to convey is that the circumstances of occupation are not quite so favorable as they were. The facilities are as great, if not greater, under the deferred payment system, but collateral advantages are lessened. Now this is not through any fault of the colony, but through the pressure of circumstances, some of them quite unforeseen, whilst others have been as familiar as household words with the more sagacious of colonists. The intense commer-. cial depression that has pressed, and is still pressing upon the whole world, was certainly unforeseen, but that the colony’s ; borrowing must be limited was not. All who were not wilfully blind could foresee that after so long a period of high living, not to say excess, a reaction was inevitable. That reaction has set in, and is

telling with severe effect in every department of trade. Free-handed speculators of eighteen months ago are now converted into plodding caretakers of pennies and shillings. Money, once so plentiful, is only to be obtained upon exceptionally good security, whilst the character of the latter has undergone as radical a chanee as other things, for that which would have been accepted as undeniable a few months since is now rejected as questionable. The truth is, the continued depression has affected the value of property of all kinds, to say nothing of the depreciation trade has sustained. Hence the depressed state of the labor market, and the wail of the unemployed heard in so many parts of the colony. It would be criminal on our part if we cloaked the least of these facts, the issues being so momentous. The colony is still suffering from commercial depression, relieved only a little by an abundant harvest of wool and grain. The exchequer is nearly empty, and so far as further borrowing is concerned, its replenishment is hopeless. Borrowing limits, for the present, have been reached, and the colony is literally thrown upon its own resources to maintain the momentum it has acquired in the past. There was a time when New Zealand was a paradise for poor men ; anyone landing here and possessing the virtues we 'enumerated in the early part of this article was almost sure of rapid success. The same virtues lead to success now, only not so rapidly, unless they are plus capital. This is the secret of the change of circumstances. Once, mere labor directed by shrewd brains sufficed to win in the race ; now, unaided by capital, labors chances of success are materially lessened. In fact, every immigrant who lands here should have more or less money (the more the better) to help him along, and we can assure small capitalists bent on emigrating from other lands that they will find their opportunity here. The present and the immediate future is and will be the time to purchase to advantage both for the purpose of permanent settlement and speculation, but especially the former. But to the very poor, whose capital is confined to thevrs and sinews, and a knowledge of how to use them, we cannot speak so hopefully. It is true that, there will always be a field for labor, but not an uncircumscribed one, whilst the labor market will be liable to serious fluctuations. Our advice to persons contemplating emigration to New Zealand is to dismiss the idea if they are not far above pauperism, and to accept with some reservation that which emigration agents may tell them. The colony is a capital goer, but it has been unfairly handicapped with the very poor of the old country. A change in immigration is demanded —such a change, in fact, as that indicated by the Lincolnshire farming delegates, who are now on a tour of inspection of the Middle Island.