THE OTAGO WITNESS.

Otago Witness, Issue 239, 28 June 1856, Page 2

THE OTAGO WITNESS.

Dunbdin, Satubdav, June 28, 1856.

We have received by the " Gratitude" an anonymous letter from a person in Melbourne who seems to be interested in the progress of Otago, directing our attention to a letter which appeared in the Melbourne '• Age" of the 19th February. The letter (not worth re-printing, and containing many mis-statements) has been written by some person who had come to Otago for the purpose of settling. We have no idea who the writer of the letter can be, or whether he is still in the Province or not. We can therefore comment freely upon the production without being supposed to be actuated by any personal motive. Such letters as the one to which we refer no doubt do considerable damage to the Province for a time, that is to say, they stop immigration, because any man's experience appearing in print is certain to influence some person, however erroneous the statements made, or however absurd the inferences drawn from the premises may be. In the production before us, the intended settler does not complain that there was no land for him to purchase, but his grievance appears to have been that the settlers in the Tokomairiro would not point out to him the best land, and that they neglected to furnish him with a good dinner. This certainly was rather uncivil, but it ought. not ! to have influenced the gentleman's judgment of the capabilities of the country. We admit, from personal experience, having passed a night on the hanks of the Molyneux without fire or food, that an empty stomach does not render the mind more susceptible of the picturesque, or make a man appreciate more highly than he otherwise would do the advantages of a new country. We would therefore request those whose journeyings" in a young colony may have been attended with some inconvenience to delay expressing their opinion until they have had an opportunity of recovering their serenity. We must also caution those who are looking to this part of the world as a place of settlement, to look carefully to the sources ol their information : we have known labourers demand extravagant wages for a very unsatisfactory amount of work, and if their exhorbitant demands were not complied with, threaten to represent the Province as a place where work cannot be obtained. We have also known cases where persons, with scarcely £50 in their pockets, have desired to obtain the best sites in the town at trifling sums ; and finding that they were beyond their reach, with the most pompous air affirm that the Province will never progress, as there is no encouragement given to capitalists. The writer of this letter upon which we have been remarking concludes his observation by affirming that the land in Victoria is better worth £1 per acre, than land in Otago is worth 10s. per acre. As applied to land generally, we believe this to be utterly untrue. Land can be obtained within a few miles of Dunedin at the upset price of 10s. A year since it could he obtained within one mile of the town at that price. If fertile land within one mile of Melbourne can be purchased at £1 per acre, no doubt it would be a better investment than buying land in Otago. But if there be any truth in the reports we hear of Victoria, it is not easy for a person with small means to obtain fertile land within a reasonable distance of the principal towns. Now we positively affirm that there are thousands upon thousands of acres of land of first-rate quality to be purchased in the Province of Otago at the rate of 10s. per acre, subject to a condition that every purchaser, within 4 years from the date of his purchase, shall expend £2 per acre upon his land ; that his own labour is counted as expenditure ; and that to bona fide colonists the restiction is no inconvenience in comparison with the advantage it confers in keeping down undue speculation ; thereby enabling men and families of limited capital to acquire land for fanning purposes at its first cost, viz., 10s. per acre. We may also state a most important fact, which the " Age's" correspondent, if he had been a truthful writer, would have stated for us, viz., that Otago is not (nor is any part of New Zealand that we are aware of) subject to the droughts which periodically visit Australia, and which in a single night blight the sanguine hopes of many an anxious and industrious farmer.

We could point to dozens of cases of men who landed, in this Province a few years since, who were labourers without any capital, but who are now freeholders and farmers " well to do in the world." To find a man who has not done well is

the exception, not the rule. That there are some who grumble and are disappointed is true. Where, we ask, do you find universal contentment and satisfaction 1 Certainly not in the home country; not in Australia ; neither is it to be expected in New Zealand. Let a man but come to Otago with reasonable ideas, not with the intention of making a fortune in a day, but with the firm determination to be contented with a peaceful home, with plenty around, him, and when he dies to leave his children well provided for ; and we affirm, if he have but an ordinary amount of industry, prudence, and intelligence, he will not be disappointed.

The following notice of the " Sir Edward Paget," also the class of emigrants who are to receive assisted passages to this Province, appears in the Edinburgh " Scottish Press," February 1:—1 :—:—: — Otago, New Zealand. — A first-class ship, the Sir Edward Paget, sails from London for this colony on the 20th instant. By the last mail, which arrived a few days ago, it appears that there is a great want of an adequate supply of labour, and wages were consequently high. The prosperous condition of the colony is shown by the increasing demands of the settlement. There had been several arrivals from Australia, which were quickly absorbed, and parties are looking anxiously for the arrivals from this country under the operation of the late Emigration Ordinance. The agents of the Provincial Government in this country are doing all in their power to meet the wants of the colony, but the numbers sent are quite insufficient for this purpose. Shepherds, agricultural labourers, and domestic servants, are much wanted, and the agents have resolved to give assisted passages to all deserving applicants. It is right, however, that parties should be aware that none can have assisted passages unless satisfactory certificates are produced (1.) of fitness for the duties of their calling ; (2.) of their bodily health being good, which must be certified by a medical man ; and (3.) of their moral character, being of the most undoubted description. The agents give no assistance unless they have ample certificates produced on all these points, and the more strictly they adhere to these rules, it will fare the better with the colony. It is well known that three ministers are already labouring in Otago, and several teachers are in the course of being sent out, under instructions from the Provincial Government, who are deserving of all praise for their exertions in having such a high class of emigrants forwarded. Every effort, we may state, is also being made to have the young educated, and tho whole community brought under the preaching of the Gospel.