EMIGRATION. (From the London Times.)

Otago Witness, Issue 290, 20 June 1857, Page 7

EMIGRATION. (From the London Times.)

Jt is only a few months ago .that v?e,congratul^ted tlie/cou^try?6n ; iHe rf a^p,a(«nt cx r 'tiriction'/df its' jiaupensm." ' Employment Vas^rife, .wages jhigh^'and: content general. was at a standstill ; the-recruit-ing-sergeant had lost his' charm ; and occasional mufmers were muttered ithat mas-

ters could 'not' "find workmen, nor the ;Queeni soldiers. A short time has clouded the scene " with discontent. Several thousand unemployed workmen in London alone 1 clamour" for work, and in some of the pro.vincial.counties.employrhent is probably at; almost v as i low an, ebb. -, Thisphenomenon is not without its explanatiori. - Several crafts — that of building; for instance — have been overdone of late. Squares, crescents, and terraces remain unfinished,, either because the builders have no money to go on with, or because they have found a better investment for it. Nor are the sufferers themselves free from blame. While the trade was brisk and wages high "they combined to make .them higher. When they could get ss. the unions would not rest contented with less than ss. 6d. Of course, this diminished tlie profit of the masters, and contributed, with other causes, -to' arrest the mania' for building. The men had so much sun in their haymaking season that the winter of their discontent has come sooner and lasted longer

than seemed likely, and now they> are alter-

natelv holding meetings in Smithfield, besieging- the magistrates tor advice, and knocking at the poorhoiises for bread. It would be no consolation were we to tell these men that' their position, though pitiable, is neither unjust nor unnatural ; that employment of all kinds has its periods

of elation arid depression ; that men cannot

be always building or rebuilding houses to the same extent, any more than they can

be always making boots, or ploughing, or sowing ; that what the masons and carpenters are suffering has been suffered by ploughmen, spinners, and weavers ; and that men who earn good wages for a time ought to put by a portion for a rainy day. It is hard preaching to hungry stomachs, but at

least the law of the land stands between the honest man and starvation. More than this it' can hardly do. It cannot provide that work shall always abound and wages always be at a maximum ; that people shall always be occupied iri seeking or construct-

ing fresh houses, or that speculation shall always be at blood heat. ' The bounty of the poorhouse, howeverj is intended, not as a final, but only as a temporary resource. In" the present case, the districts in which the unemployed men live are among the poor, though not the very poorest, districts of London. The indigent are, in fact,

helping the destitute. Such a process could not last many months, and in the ordinary course of events there is no necessity for its prolongation. The trade that languishes also revives ; the wages that fall also rise again ; and returning spring repairs the ruin of the winter.

- To many this is a sorry consolation. But there is, or there easily might be, another. If the era of revival be uncertain and the recurrence of distress almost cer^ tain,- if employment has its cold and hot fits, and if when it is at zero it is tantamount to destitution, a remedy exists in England such as could be found in no other country. Although we cannot re-parcel out the domains of our landed proprietors among the feudatories of Smithfield and Clerkenwell, we can still open' a way by which these may become greater Landowners than, they hav.e ever yet dreamt of becoming. England Proper is a little country, and could not well bear the process of re-distribution. But England beyond the seas has ample verge and room enough for- the inos.t landed r minded of the unemployed;; - Take this little world of Great Britain and Ireland, and we grant there are , moments when we could wish to add to its length and its breadth. But, practically, this addition has already been made by discovery or by conquest. Australia -and Canada are, for all purposes of- wages and citizenship, just as much' part of England as Warwickshire and Yorkshire are. They are further off, it is true ; but, when once reached, they offer a better 'present, arid, ja farpetter prospective field for .labour anil its .earnings., than, home does. , There will; beno glut, .of- building for some years to, come .in either, of jthose grand outlying pro,-' vinces ;< or;- if a glut does coriie in one calling; 1 there is" always another ready' to 'receive its re'dupdant members. ' ' Th^re 1 are ; always, waste lands "in not indeed 1$ be giyen away, but to be sold for, sums which^ ar,e/vvifhjm. the scope of an industrious man's , And none, of ':ffiose ar^ndw-gaitlieringiri Smithfieldor appealing

to the Clerkenwelr^magistrate „cOiuld .well fail' to' save, in ; a country ri %herej,-unskilled-labour gains sucKhigh wages as ( it does pow ; in Canada or Victoria. ' The difficulty is; HSw to get there. ", The Emigration Commissioners profess to Kelp only those who will help themselves. 1 This is an excellent rule in- ordinary times, especially excellent so far as concerns the colonies, for it sends to theni the most thrifty, frugal, and laborious of the working classes — just the men whom, if we had any choice in the matter, we should like to keep at home. But in times of even exceptional pressure it militates against an emigration which would j have -the twofold effect of lightening the poor rates in England and creating customers for us in the colonies.' It is precisely in times like .these that colonies can best receive and utilize the elements of population, and thereby, of prosperity. |

We have spoken of the demand that is made for men in the colonies ;,., but an equal if not greater demand is made for women. Of course preference is given to women who have not only the disposition to industry, but the capacity for it. Good cooks, good housemaids, and good maid's-of-all-work are as much valued as good masons, bricklayers, and carpenters. It is astonishing, or rather humiliating, to contemplate how few of our female emigrants have possessed any useful faculty or acquirement. It is said that in one batch of 300 women not one could be found able to -boil a potatoe, and of all household economy they were profoundly ignorant. In a higher, or, at any rate, more pretentious, class, it is curious .to note how few are familiar with household duties. It were well if our unions would turn their attention to, the duty. of teaching pauper children useful and common things. As they are too frequently brought up, they are useless at home and almost useless abroad. But abroad their uselessness is tolerated by their employers out of sheer necessity. In a colony where there is no choice bad's the best. Men put up with housekeepers who have no idea of accounts — with cooks who can neither roast, nor boil, nor fry — with laundresses who cannot wash — simply because there are none better qualified to compete with the incapable. At home such people go without places, because the trouble of keeping and teaching them is far ~beyond ; ~the " value of the return given. Abroad, in the bush, or the forest, or the jungle, a rude approximation to the skill or experience of more civilized life has its value. Colonists will give it every possible trial rather than dispense with it entirely. There are in England thousands of young men and women whose talent and labour are of the poorest kind. They have been uncared for and untrained, and have become listless and inert. For these England offers no future, no career. It is a chance if they do not live to swell our criminal records ; they are sure to swell the union rates. Valueless at home, they have a value abroad. For them the colonies are a refuge from crime and from pauperism. Though not exactly the materials that the colonists would select in return for their own money, they are better than nothing ; and the colonists would gladly take them if sent out gratis. It is a question of principle and expedient whether the Commissioners might not deviate from an established rule so far as to make a present to the colonies of a species of labour which lias no estimation here, but would acquire some value there, and which if left here will in seasons of distress degenerate into permanent pauperism, or harden into callous crime.