The Oamaru Mail WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1880.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1319, 6 October 1880, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1880.

Ox the 21st inst., at tho rdquest of several persons who wish to nominate some of their friends and relations at Home, a letter was forwarded to the M mister for Immigration through one of the members for the district asking him to consent to these noniinations. Enclosed in the letter were fidl particulars concerning the persons whose nominations were sought, and those particular were of such a nature that there was ev.eiy reason to anticipate that the applications >yould meet with a favorable reply. I*W instance, a strong, intelligent, and respectable new arrival, desiring to reduce his expenses and have his family under his own guardianship in the land of his adoption, applied for the Minister's authority to nominate his wife and several children, the majority, if not all, of whom are of ages to be useful in a young colony. He was aware that restrictions had been placed upon the immigration system as ic has .existed in the past ; but he viewed his as a special case, and reasonably believed that, although the system of immigration might be brought flown to the narrowest possible limits, the Minister for Immigration would feel himself bound to make an exception in favor of his and fiifnihu.' cases. A long official career, however, adonis to have warped and contracted the judgment of the Minister for Immigration. He was always an obstinate and obstructive person, but his impracticability has now become proverbial. He is going from bad to worse; and now eaems only to consider how hp can refuse to be induced to cany out the duties of l;is ojHce, and not how he can consent. This is his reply ;

Immigration Office, Wellington, Sept. 29, ISSO. Sir, —I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 21st inst,, forwarding applications from certain persons whom yon name, reqnesting that passages, under the regulations for the introduction of nomipatad immigrants, might be granted to their friend, who are at present in the United Kingdom, In reply. I have to inforip ypu that the Government fully recognises the fact fcljat in stopping nominated immigration, many cases of inconvenience and possible hardships may occur, but, as the Agent General has made all arrangements for the despatch of the total number of immigrants for the year, daring the last month, and as the arrangements so made have absorbed a larger sum than was provided by the General .Assembly for immigration purposes, the Government is unable to accept any inoi'g applications for nominated passages at present.' I return Mr. testimonials as requested.—l have, lie., Vt". Roi.lrstox, .Minister for Immigration. Even admitting that the engagements in connection with emigration are such that the vote has already been exceeded.. surely there are special cases in which the Government are morally obligated to relax the rule they have laid down. The case to which we liayg referred is one of this nature. The applicant was persuaded by the Government's agents to emigrate to tJiis Colony by representations that he could send for his family when he felt himself settled in the Colony and was prepared to receive thpm. To tell this immigrant now that the Government cannot consent to the nomination of his family is nothing short of repudiation. The Government should, in view of the probability of receiving applications from those to whom they had; pledged themselves through their : agents, have allowed a margin for' such applications. In the face of what transpired in Parliament last session—in the face of the circumstance that not a member tittered a syllable in favor of continuing immigration with the freedom of the past, whilst a large majority expressed an opinion that it was necessary to place the utmost restrictions upon it—we contend that the vote of Parliament should not have been exceeded for the purposes of ordinary immigration. The Government should have given strict and definite instructions to the AgentGeneral as to the number admissible, and as they are responsible to Parliament for the carrying out of its behests, they should have insisted upon those instructions beinir respected by the AgentGeneral. What immigrants are these that are to absorb the whole of L 20,000, for that is the amount on the Estimates (including the cost of management of country depots, which, taking Oamaru as an indication, is not worth mentioning) 1 The people of this district have had no opportunity of nominating their friends, although they have been anxious to do so. The immigration department is virtually unrepresented in Oamaru. For several months past not a nomination form has been procurable. Either the immigrants being sent out have been nominated from otjier of the Colony, to the exclusion of Oamaru, ,or they have been chosen by the.agents in opposition to the wishes of Parliament and the country. Here is another instance of misgoyernmenfc. "VVe almost despair of honest, imjwrtial, and judicious management of the Colony's affairs under representative Government. An autocracy would be preferable to retention of power by the present administration.