THE EVENING MAIL. FRIDAY, JUNE 1, 1877.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 345, 1 June 1877, Page 2

THE EVENING MAIL. FRIDAY, JUNE 1, 1877.

It is gratifying to know that the Govern-

ment is, by every means in its power, encouraging colonists to send home for their friends and relations by offering them every facility for so doing. The system of nominated Immigration is the only one that has been productive of satisfactory resales in the past. Indisj criminate selection of Emigrants lias | done much towards augmenting crime and poverty in this Colony ; and, had it been continued, it could not have failr-d to interfere with our moral well!be and commercial progress. Who is J the:--' better capable of judging as to the i eligibility of persons for emigrants than i Colonists themselves I Certainl ynot immi- | gration sub-agents. Yv e are, indeed, in a ! great measure indebted to them for the evils iwe have just complained of—for an acI cession to our ranks of paupers and J criminals truly dej>lorable. It can, of course, be of no a vail now to regret the past, but we should be able, by reviewing : the false steps of the Immigration department of this Colony, to avoid the evils which experience has pointed out. We do not want numbers so much as we want honesty, thriffciness, anc"/f japital; but in exchange for these desirable qualities we have been inundated with dishonesty, laziness, and pauperism of the worst kinds. Thimble-riggers, cardsharpers, ballet-dancers, confirmed invalids (who any medical authority could have told would die on the passage, or shortly after arrival at their destination), have, despite the expenditure and parade of officialism of the Immigration department, found thier way to our shores, and produced their baleful effects upon our social, mora], and commercial condition. Let us hope there will be no more of this. We think ourselves as respectable as are those who are anxious to get rid of their rubbish, and we do not, therefore, intend to charter vessels and incur other expenses in importing to our shores the wretched sweepings of the poor-houses, prisons, and city streets of the Old Country to defile our rising generation, if we can help it. The Government deserves praise for the step it is taking, and we sincerely hope that it will not revert to the system which has done us infinitely more harm than good.