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Otago Daily Times, Issue 13859, 23 March 1907, Page 4

Wellington and Otago were 'both anxious lo take Scandinavians for (Heir bush settlements add for Stewart Island. Looked at in Hie light of later events there js something amusing in the solemn desire of . almost every Provincial Government, and even o[ (he 'General Government, to-establish settlements in such out-of-the-way places as Stewart Island, Martin's ISay, and Jackson's Bay. While there were still hundreds of miles of unopened country in a!|iiosl every province, the Governments exhibited intense earnestness to get such spots 1 settled. Naturally the Scandinavians , nnd the people of Northern Scotland were considered the must likely settlers, and a party of them,was actually settled at Waiatoto, Jackson's liay, at a later period of the seventies. They had a hard row lo hoc.

THE SEVENTY-MILE BUSH. The reports 011 the Scandinavians already settled in Manawatu were so favourable that there was 110 difliculty'in placing a'll that could be induced lo emigrate to New Zealand. With a few "exceptions among the Danes al I'almerslon and ,Mana\vatu all were doing well. Mr Halcombe remarked upon the value-of girls as domestic servants from their extreme willingness to be taught and their aptitude for the duties. The'value of the men as bush pioneers had been so strikingly demonstrated in Manawatu that Wellington and Hawke's Bay, which were now co-operating in developing the country known as the Seventy-mile Hush, demanded a large contingent each. In 1872 conlracCs were signed for 3000 adults from Norway and Sweden, 1000 from Denmark, and ?000 from Germany; and a more or less imperfect scheme was formulated for opening up the bush districts. Mr Engels, of Manawatu, who was interesting himself ju establishing a settlement of Scots ' or Dutch at Filzherbert, 011 the cast bank .of the Manawatu River, also had a scheme for placing 50 Scandinavian families at Pahiatua or Eketahuna. Forty thousand acres of land were set apart in the Seventy-mile Bush, and it was proposed to establish villages of from 50 to 70 families each. The two objeefs of opening up a through "road and giving the Scandinavians a start on their sections were achieved by employ- . ing the immigrants at road work. , The ship •' Friedebevg brought out a large batch of Scandinavians, Germans, and, P<ile3 in the middle of 1872, and most of ■them were encamped in separate localities at Poringahau. Tho Poles belonged to the province of Posen, and tho Germans were Bramlenburgers and Pomeranians; Owing: to the war in which Denmark diad lost the duchies there was still con-' 'siderablo national dislike between the j races. Dr Temple, who was in charge j of. Hie ship, stated that this showed itself in the most petty ways, and constant watchfulness and care were • lieces-' s'ary • to prevent conflicts'between' the; factions. The Polos, he declared, were "laiy,: • indolent, and dirty .in'- tlieir habits," and were likely, with a' few exceptions, lo be found comparatively useless. He counselled a cessation of the importation of Poles, and also of single • Norwegian girls, whom he found, to be unruly. '•. ■

THE BUSH SETTLEMENTS. , 'The-stream of emigrants from Scandinavia,; was fairly constant, and about 3500 were landed in New Zealand before the cancellation of the contract hi-1875; Many went "to Otago, where they were highly thought of; a smaller number to -.Canterbury; some at a later date settled at; Jackson's Bay; a few families were sent;to Patea; others drifted naturally to their. ■ fellow countrymen in Manawatu. But the great bulk of the Scandinavians settled in the forest which separated the plains of- AVairarapa and Hawke's Bay. Tne Seventy-mile Bush fell to Scandi-navian-axes. Opaki, Tahoraite, Te Wlpll,\.Mauriceville, Eketahuna, Maka'retu, • Dann'cvirke, Norsewood, and Poraiigahau were all Scandinavian villages in the seventies. To-day they are centres, moro or less important, of one qf the 'richest and most closely-settled dairying districts in Now Zealand. The settlement' at Eketahuna was in the first instance called Mellenskov. Norsewood, asthe name implies, was the abode of the Norwegians, and Dannevirke (some"time'S in the early days called Dannevick) was the chief settlement of the Danes. It took its name from the village of Dannewcrke, in Schleswig, the scene of spyeral : engagements in the war with Prussia. Four large settlements were .thrown open on the deferred-payment system—viz., MauriceviHe, Eketahuna, :Norse\vood, and Dannevirke,—and the bulk of the selectors tided over the early years of pioneering by working on the new road to Port Afmriri. ■

NATIONALITY OR' EFFICIENCY 1 Here is a, picture of colonisation at its best, as it is to be found amongst the Scots in Otago, the English in Canterbury, Taranaki, and Rangitikci. The homesteads of the Seventy-mile Hush are the homes of humble men who have lacked the advantages of wealth or influence,, but have deserved success by their native virtues, perseverance, and industry. It is only by such results as these that the Government of a new country is justified in assisting lo bring men to its shores. The man who rogards the nationality of an emigrant as the prime consideration is a mistaken adviser. The best patriot is he who, looking to a future in which efficiency and not national pride or dilettantism shall spell his country's welfare, offers citizenship to men who, though of humble birth, are rich in the treasures of strength, industry, and ambition, and who will give faithful allegiance lo a constitution offering freedom of opportunity and happiness. , Mr (now Sir Robert) Stout, whose loyalty to the British tradition has never .been called into question, said in 1878 : — " The question of primary importance is 'the character of the proposed, emigrant and his suitability for colonial life. If the character is good and the emigrant •possesses qualities which will enable him to bccotiio a good colonist, the place of birth is of no importance." THE ORDER OF PREFERENCE. On landing in their adopted country ■in the seventies the Scandinavians were called upon first of all to struggle with the bush, and Ibis gave an immediate advantage—remarked previously in the case of the English, Scots, and Irish— to men from sparsely-peopled countries. Mr Halcombe, after a few years' acquaintance with Scandinavians, placed the Norwegians first as bushmcn. the Swedes second, and the Danes third. The' Norwegians and Swedes appeared to liiin to have a further advantage over the Danes in that, the women were in the habit of utilising their spare time in knitting and spinning lo supplement the earnings of the family. Speaking generally of the Scandinavian settlements in the bush country, Mr Halcombe paid the following eloquent tribute:—l do not think that our own countrymen could bo placed in the same position with equal chances of success, for tliey would not submit to guidance us these foreigners do, nor would they hang together in the same manner, as the difference of language between these Scandinavians and the other settlers of the country forces them to do. Nor, again, ha ye our countrymen as a rule the "same training in bush work as the Norwegians and Swedes." During the first year of the Vogel immigration policy,more Scandinavians than .Irish or Scots reached New Zealand; but an outcry was soon raised against bringing foreigners while British were available, and as a consequence the stream was cheeked. In the first three years and a-half of the policy 54,716 immigrants arrived in New Zealand. Of these, 5 pei- cent, were Scandinavians,

the numbers being :—Danes, 1113; Norwegians. 849; Swedes, 794;— total, 2756. A colony of Danes, consisting of 55 families, wlii) had gone to New Brunswick... wished. in 1877, to be removed lo the less rigorous climate of New Zealand, but the Government decided in this year lo stop the immigration of foreigners, and the scheme was abandoned. The fact that Scandinavians have settled down in large numbers in certain localities is chiefly attributable to the disability of language, especially in the South Island. In the North there were special settlements for them, but in the South they merely served 'to meet the requirements rif the labour market, and where they did, congregate into colonies of their OWII it was owing to their predilection for being amongst people of their own race and language. LATER IMMIGRATIONS. In later days Scandinavians have come into New Zealand independently in great numbers. Being primarily a maritime people, I hey provide a very large percijjiiage of the sailors of the British and American mercantile marine, and have also .taken a predominant position in the merchant service of New Zealand, and to a smaller extent of Australia. The number of Norwegians, and Danes in theiNew Zealand coastal trade is astonishingly large, particularly amongst the oHicers and deck hands. True again to the national tradition which found expression in the pioneering of the Seventy-mile Bush, Scandinavians have'penetrated every forest in the country and form a considerable constituent of the population of bush camps. They are quite in the front rank as sawyers and lumbermen. In Otago, Scandinavians appear in a new role as minors. They operate a number of sluicing claims in different parts, and are more or less interested in dredging. Ilerq also, as in other provinces, they arc settled in small colonies, preserving their national characteristics while assimilating with the general jiopulation. And this assimilation is more thorough in the case of the Scandinavians than of any other foreign race. The children of Norwegians, Swe'des, and Danes have taken their place in the national schools of New Zealand with marked success. Any examination list shows them in prominent positions amongst their fellow countrymen. Both immigrant and native-born Scandinavians have taken their part in public life with natural aptitude, and there is. at least.one 1 case, that of the Rev. Pastor H. M. Eeis, of Dannevirkc, rising to the highest civic position in a town. . The... numbers ,of immigrant Scandinavians in New Zealand at the last census were as follow Danes, 2277; Swedes, .1518; Norwegians', 1396.;—t0ta1, 5291. This total bears the proportion of 1.87 per cent, to the total immigrant population of the State.