New Zealand Times. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1874.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4263, 18 November 1874, Page 2

New Zealand Times. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1874.

Nelson has been well-named the " SleepyHollow" of New Zealand. That it has not changed its character of late, will be abundantly evident from the following, which appeared as a leading article in the Colonist of the 12th inst : Daring the past few weeks upward? of 600 immigrants have come - to take up their abode in this province, and it affords us much gratification to be able to state that many of them have obtained remunerative employment. Of course a large number are still awaiting engagement; but we may reasonably hope that in a short time they will be comfortably provided for. A number'of them arc now working on the railway, and others have found situations in various parts of the province. A couple of hundred of the new comers will, we suppose, be drafted off to form the new settlement at the Karamea. For a long time the provinces were clamouring for immigrants, and to a certain extent they were justified in so doing There was plenty of land for settlement, and the only thing wanted was people to settle on it. We shall not say anything respecting other parts of the colony, but will confine our remarks to that portion of it in which we live—the province of Nelson. We asked for immigrants, and we got them ; but a serious question arises at this juncture, and it is necessary that we should consider whether we are not going a ■ little too far. That is to say, are we not importing more people than we can at the present time find employment for ? Nelson is not a vary large place, and although there is room, perhaps, for additional inhabitants, yet there is a limit beyond which it is unsafe to go. If our gold, iron, coal, &c, were being got out in large quantities, it would be an entirely different matter, and we should be justified in asking as many people as possible to come and dwell amongst us ; but they are not. We have but a small extent of back country, and the fact must be borne in mind that those who have been brought out at the Government expense are by no means rich ; in fact, they are generally extremely poor, and, being so, are not able to expend money on cultivating the land, even if they got that land for nothing. A large majority of the immigrants are tradesmen, who must, if they are to live, obtain employment from others, and if they cannot obtain this employment here, they will speedily betake themselves to other places where they can get it. t The persons most likely to benefit by the introduction of this class of immigrants are the manufacturers. Suppose, for instance, that a dozen journeymen bootmakers arrived here tomorrow. By offering to work for ten or twelve shillings a week less than the current rate of wages, they wDuld, in all probability, be engaged in place of those who preceded them—that is, of course, providing that the latter refused to work for reduced wages. But should we get our bootsany cheaper ? We maintain that' it is in the highest degree impolitic to invite people to como to any place when we are not sure that we can find them a means of earning a livelihood. None would experience greater satisfaction than ourselves at seeing the province with treble its present population; but we cannot allow numbers of immigrants to pour in without raising our. voice against the system of introducing a greater number ', than we can sustain. . The case would be different, again, if the Immigrants brought money with them; but, as we have already 'said, they do not. They arrive here with very little money in their pockets, and are totally dependent on others for their support. . We want immigrants ' certainly, but we want only those who, can bring some capital with them. As we have already intimated, there is plenty of mineral and -some agricultural land in the province, but to utilise such land money is required. ." Mr. Curtis suggested to a former Government that the owners of ships at Home should be authorised to give immigrants passages to this colony at tho same rate as was charged from London to New York—the New Zealand Government undertaking to pay the difference in the amount. His idea was that by this means many persons who emigrated to New York would then prefer coming to this colony, and as they were, generally speaking, possessed of money, their funds could be devoted to the cultivation of the land here.To this class of persons -that is, small capitalists—the Nelson Waste Lands. Act, 1874, offers peculiar advantages. They can acquire a very large extent of good land on very reasonable terms. But the tree immigrants who are now arriving, cannot avail themselves of tho advantages offered by this Act, simply because they bring no monoy ; but if men with a little capital could be induced to come out, they could do so, and not only they themselves but the province also would bo benefited. Capital will develop our mineral resources, and-it is men with capital and with some knowledge of mining and agricultural pursuits that wo want. Surely never was there such a comment as the foregoing upon the results of provincial administration, or upon the policy and speeches of Superintendent Curtis. Here we have a fine province, containing large tracts or arable land, its mountains filled with minerals and covered by timber, after all these years unable to absorb five hundrod immigrants without

an effort, and its leading newspaper protesting against the introduction of any more population, unless they bring sufhcierit money with them to enable them to take up land and farm it from the start. What is the meaning of all this ? What has become of the fruitful plains of Nelson province 1 Are they locked up against settlement? Have they been converted into huge sheep runs, where the smoke of a settler's chimney is not to be seen during a day's ride ? We fear that such is m reality the case, and that the suicidal policy of the early colonists, who managed to control the Provincial Government of Nelson, has effectually barred the way to progressive settlement. And yet, notwithstanding such a deplorable confession, Nelson is clamorous for public works. Its railways are in progress, and when they are made by tho colony what is to be carried over them except wool? There are no men to till the ground. The fruits of the earth cannot be gathered where they do not grow. We fear, therefore, that a great deal of the prophecies regarding tho non-paying nature of the Nelson railways will be realised. This is not a cheerful look out for the colony certainly; but there is no help for it. The reckless mismanagement of its public estate by the Nelson province cannot but bring its own punishment, but it is certainly too bad that the whole colony should suffer for it. Let us hope that a spirit of- enterprise will manifest itself in Nelson. It is not creditable that such a province, possessing so many natural advantages, should lag behind in the race of progress. If the community at large be only in earnest, there need be little difficulty in getting at the large landed proprietors, and constraining them to utilise their vast estates, much of which is held at a peppercorn rent under the Crown.