THE DISPERSAL OF THE SEDGWICK BOYS

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 7347, 27 January 1911, Page 1

THE DISPERSAL OF THE SEDGWICK BOYS

INTERESTING INTERVIEW SCHEME FOR IMMIGRATION OF TRAINED DOMESTICS. Tho Labour Department ha<a had a busy time since the arrival of the party of fifty lads who cam© out from England in the Atheuic under the guidance of Air Sedgwick. The officials worked till far into Tuesday night preparing the deeds of apprenticeship and other documents, with the result that all but four of the youthful immigrants were dispatched for their future homes yesterday- Seven left Lambton station by tho 7.15 a.m. train under the care of Mr Mclntosh, of the labour Department, their destinations being:—Feathorston, Kaituna, Kopuranga, Tikoki.no (AVaipawa), Ifavolock,. and Danncvirke. Another party of five left at the same hour from Thorndon, for Palmerston North, AVangachu, and Fcflding, and at 9.10 a lad was dispatched for Otaki- By the ’Main Trunk express nine started for AVhangarei, Auckland, Taupiri, Ongarue (2). Makatote, AVhakatane. Tanguwia, and Rotorua, Mr Boyce being the accompany ing official. Diying the afternoon one left for Nelson, and two for Masterton.

Tho southern contingent, numbering eighteen left by the Mararoa lust night,, en route for Southbridge (2), Akarou, Winton, Palmerston South (2;, Cromwell, Kauanu, Queenstown. St. Andrews, Nightcaps, Ashley Dowps, Tore loss (AkaToa), Bennetts (3;, Gust. Woodbury. .Arrangements have been made for the remaining four to leave to-day—one for Masterton, two for Gisborne, and one for Kaikonra. ■YESTERDAY'S DOINGS. Yesterday morning the Minister of Labour, lion. J. A. Millar, welcomed the lads at the Labour Bureau, giving them some good advice, -and urging them to do their best in their newly adopted country. Three cheers were given for tho Minister before the lx>ys dispersed. After a hurried lunch on the Athenic the lads still in Wellington accepted an invitation to inspect the Wellington Meat Export Company's works, at Ngahauranga, and a most enjoyable and instructive afternoon was spent. A noticeable feature was the keen interest displayed by those of the party who were at trades in the Old Country in the various departments of which they had experience, such. as the tiusnuthing, biacksmithing, and printing. ; It may be mentioned as indicative of the treatment meted out to the party on board ship that the average increase in weight during the voyage was 101 b. MR SEDGWICK’S VIEWS PRAISE FOR LABOUR DEPARTMENT, In an interview' with a '‘New Zealand Times" reporter, Mr Sedgwick spoke in highly appreciative terms of the kindness and consideration extended to the boys by tho Ministers and the Labour Department. No government or labour department has put so much generous support and energy into any movement. No stone had been left unturned to make the experiment a thorough success and the efforts of tie people at Homo had been more than seconded by the Minister of Labour, the Hon. J. A. Millar, and the Secretary of Labour, Mr E. Tregear. A STATEMENT REFUTED. Referring to a statement that a number of the lads had been misled in some way as to the terms of apprenticeship and the rat© of payment, Mr Sedgwick said that the position had been fully explained to them. They know to what.they were goin" and had been told that during the first year of their apprenticeship they might have to be content with a wage of 6a per week, of which probably 4s would be banked on their behalf in repayment of their fares, and some of them gained the impression that the same flat rat© ■would prevail throughout th© whole apprenticeship, which was entirely incorrect. The Labour Department had arranged that the wages should be graduated. In addition, said Mr Sedgwick, the leading farmers iu New Zealand—such as the boys are consigned to—are always inclined to pay fair wages, but in several instances had offered a minimum wage of fx> for the first year until they ascertained the age, strength and other qualities of the lads allotted' to them. When this was explained to the boys, both on ship-board and at the Labour office they were more than satisfied with tho prospects that hod been. .secured for them by the New Zealand Government. DOMESTIC IMMIGRATION. Speaking on the general subject of boy immigration. Mr Sedgwick said the movement should be carried out in conjunction with the government of the country concerned; any opposition would spell disaster. He hopes to be able to arrange interviews with Ministers to ascertain how far the system of immigration for boys and girls can be extended. On arrival here Mr Sedgwick found awaiting him a letter from th© chairman of the after-car© committee of the Education Department of the city of Liverpool, offering to arrange for the outfit and despatch of fifty girls—daughters of respectable citizens, such as clerks and artisans, who would be drawn from one or other of the city’s domestic technical schools, and given practical experience for a few months in private families, being thus both theoretically and practically equipped at the nge of IC. If this scheme were developed, any town desiring to take advantage of the offer would be required, said Mr Sedgwick's correspondent, to give due assurance that suitable provision would mode for the safeguarding of the girls in every respect. This. Mr Sedgwick said, could be best done by the co-operation of tho Labour Department, ladies' committees i and social organisations. Mr Sedgwick I explained that tho idea was that girls from one town, say Liverpool, should be sent to any locality in New # Zealand. There were objections to distributing the girls, as was done with the boys, because the former would require some responsible body to look after their welfare and their interests, ' and it would ■entail as much trouble to arrange for the supervising of one girl as of ten or twenty. If a number of ladies formed committees to undertake the responsibility and co-operate with the department and organisations they would assist the movement considerably. If the initial venture proved successful 'he saw no difficulty in arranging for anv number ,of girls to emigrate. Tho shipping companies would co-operate, he had been assured, and if 150 girls were dispatched

in one party a cargo steamer could be specially fitted up for their accommodation. On the subject of fares, he said that after the first shipment the fares should be advanced from New Zealand, but the girls would be placed on board without expense, and given an outfit, b>\ means of private subscriptions. ! SUPPLYING LABOUR MARKET. Mr Sedgwick expressed approval of the proposal put forward by Sir Joseph Ward about twelve mouths ago for supplying labour from the Old Country. It was suggested, by the Piime Minister that on any employer applying to the Labour Department for hands, if such could not bo obtained in the Dominion tho department would arrange for immigration of suitable workers from England on the employer guaranteeing employment for a minimum period of six months at the regular rate of wages paid in the industry. There was nothing to prevent the system of junior immigration being extended to urban industries, for it must be remembered that the increase i’n tho birthrate in the Dominion is by no means commensurate with either the agricultural or the industrial development of the country, so that if those are not to be crippled labour must be introduced from outside. It was no use importing workmen who were too old to adapt themselves to altered conditions; they should be brought out young, so that they could be trained to fulfil requirements. At the same time, Mr Sedgwick was most emphatic in disclaiming any intention, such as some of the workers charged him with, of introducing cheap labour to the detriment of those already here. He simply considered that a young man had a far bettor chance in the colonics than their ' fathers would have. HIS MOVEMENTS.

Mr Sedgwick stated that his movements wore somewhat uncertain. He would probably remain in New Zealand about two months, interviewing Ministers as already stated. He would endeavour to visit most of the lads in their new homes in order to obtain firsthand information as to tho suitability of the type for farming in Now Zealand. It may be necessary for him to go to Tasmania to discuss the question of Tasmania adopting a similar policy, for in the words of Sir Joseph Ward. "Store can bo done at one round fable conference than in a year of memorandum writing."