New Zealand Times. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1874.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4198, 3 September 1874, Page 2

New Zealand Times. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1874.

An interesting Parliamentary paper, which there is little doubt will receive all the attention in ( the proper-quarter its' importance warrants, was placed oh the table at very nearly the, close, of the- session. ; It is a continuation of those on the subject of immigration which,;excit'ed'so> much ; attention ivhen issued early in the session, iind'c to .which we frequently"' re-' ferrted. This subject, it will be manifest, ;is ohe; gro 'importance 'every day: • THerW are several .thousands, of Government j emigrants' on the 'water,' 'and the arrivals, during the past, few days, have been i very' heavy.' What may be the character of all these people ia a- subject •of deep interest to persons who hare helped to make New Zealand- what it is, and who purpose passing the remainder of then-lives here.:- When His Excellency the Governor addressed the members of the, Legislature the other evening, and by' means of tho Pr&ss the entire Colony, he 'urged: ■ that newly-arrived ' inimigrah'ts; should not, be scrutinised too. ■closely, 89. he had assisted poor men to cbnie liere--ra'en he had- little ..hope would become desirablecolonists—but who hadprovedindustrious wealth-creating:.members of-, the community. To somewhat the same effect Mr. Halcombe bore witness :bn the:Feilding Block, men located upon which finding that there was "a prospect for them in : lifej - changed the whole tenor of their course, and became steady "and respectable: : We, have .seen, how quickly immi-,~ grants, who at first glance appeared very undesirable, have , become transformed into.qmart useful colonists. But this is, after all;,but :foature in the case; I The fact seems to be that in the many thousands !Of,;immigrants' wo -ira-. port there will necessarily be a few black sheep, and these, as a rule, cast off some of~their sooty clothing. But this is no argument why the "utmost care' should not be exercised at. Home in the,choice of suitable person's:" 1 The question has arisen whether this care has been exercised,, p.nd, to it; but' one answer could be returned.' It has notfceenin. aU casesv,, Tothis the: Parliamentary paper before us bears testimony. We recognise the difficulties of Dn Featherston's position, and the onerous duties he hashadcast iipon,hirn,;,but k tllesej considerations ' do ' not alter- ..the actual position of affairs. , "' On! April 25th Mr. J. Adam, the ag;ent ,fpr the Province of Otago, ; wrote; .from to the Provincial Secretary, stating:.that agreat deal: 'of 'his 'time"was occupied in rejecting persons selected bythe] sub-agents of the Agent-General. During the three days prior to tho time he wrote he ha 4 ,113 of this description. This' was scarcely satisfactory,' but what followed was, still less, so,, Mr.. Adam said'that a'more'unsuitable classi'qf ;eniigrants 'for, a, new-country,; than ; jtho,persohs ho iejectea,', it would be difficult to imagine ; but a sub-agent, turned them all over to tho Agent-General. After reading this many persons iwill-be curious to learn who tho Agent-General ,does

reject, or whether ho does exorcise this power. From some correspondence that took place between Mr. JKrull and the Immigration Department,''it would soem that a Mr. Neyroud, an educated' German, who has since prepared a.valuable paper j eh-emigration, which has beeii'translated from the French and printed in the paper 'wo have' been' 1 alluding toy .vvas refused a passage by Dr. Featherstori, .! on - the' ground ; that men: in his position would . not form a suitable class of emigrants to send,to New Zealand., Subsequently,... .Mr..- Neyroud," being assisted by somo friends, paid his own passage and came hero, wlWo we havo little doubt he will' provo a valuable colonist, notwithstanding the unfavorable opinion formed by the ' Agent-General. From this it would t seom ■ that ability, education, and virtue form disqualilications in the eyes of so very,rigid a consor as the gentleman representing this Colony in London. From the •' character' wo havo read of some of tho immigrants that have, been received in tho South, wo might almost conclude that ignorance and vice were prime qualifications. Of course, wo know, in a ; general way, what Dr. Featherston means. Ho does not think the Government should pay for passages for persons, respectably brought up, who should be able to pay for themselves. ■ There is a good deal that might be urged against this view. The reason a great many steady .industrious frugal people do not emigrate is becauso they"are afraid they.' should spend the whole ,of their "capital—perhaps a hundred pounds saved at much cost - and care—on the passage, and in looking about them before they should obtain employment in a new country.. It might bo argued that hard- ■ working thrifty persons, with a hundred 'pounds in their pockets each, would be as desirable emigrants aB the Government could possibly import. Twenty thousand 'of them would bring : two millions of money with them, which would make a very sensible addition to the capital of the ,'Colony.., . ... ~,.-,,,,,'..,., -Germany, at the present'time, offers' peculiar advantages to an agent who should desire to select emigrants of the class we have been alluding to.' A letter,, recently received from the German correspondent of the Melbourne Argus stated that "some 60,000. Mennonites — the most and ;: industrious farmers Germany has—are going to leave this country in' the course of the year, being driven to it by,their creed not permitting them to serve in the arihy. Tliey are sect something between Quakers and Baptists, and have within a hundred years' converted . a ,perfectly .barren tract of "Eastern Prussia into a smiling land of plenty. As they aro well-to-do in the .world, arid strictly united, by the bonds of their, peculiar creed, ithey will all ! go together, and aro sure to succeed wherever they plant themselves." And there is another class of emigrants which the Prussian Governriient,' although unfavor-' able to emigration, would be not indisposed; to spare. Before the FrancoPrussian war, the female population of the country was in excess of the males by 500,000, and Mr. Neyroud, says that to the emigration of these there would bo no objection, as "German legislators and philanthropists occupy themselves with ways and-means of finding suitable oecu--' pation for women whom they wish to place in an independent position." Duringthe past ,twenty-five, years,.'Germany, has contributed not less than three millions to the population of» the United States,, and these people " have converted whole d'stricts, that would otherwise have been rolling prairies, into farms, thus i immensely ".■ increasing i the.' wealth of. the country. But now, what with the necessity the newcomer has to contend with of, having to purchase land in the interior, far from a market, the low rate he. has to sell his corn at, tho high figure he has to give for wages, and the increased cost of all he has to pur--chase,) America is a very poor place for an emigrant to go to. The reason the atten r tion of German emigrants is not turned to New Zealand is, according'to Mr." Neyroud, the old one. He says : —" The principal cause of this disregard is the ignorance which exists in,.Germany of everything relating to'the country.' Even amongst the educated classes, one only hears ;of New Zealand as being peopled by cannibals, ■ and-o, country from jvhich no one ever returns." Although we might! be in opposition to so high an authority as Dr. Featherston, we cannot hiit'tiiink'that the introdudtion of 1 these 60,000 Mennonite farmers would be a good thing for the Colony,—and an emigration agent might be very well employed amongst them.'' ". ! •'''•-'•• ■<■'-."-'.'