THE " RAID" OF OTAGO.

Otago Witness, Issue 427, 4 February 1860, Page 3

THE " RAID" OF OTAGO.

(From (he Auckland Weekly Register, Jan. 2.)

In her relations towards the other Provinces of New Zealand,- Otago has never been remarkable for a sound perception of moral justice. • Like Nelson, at Copenhagen, she could find it convenient to turn a blind eye to the interests of others when her owft were likely to be aggrandized. Of this the Otago compact, in the struggle for power, during the session of the General Assembly of 1856, may be cited as an apt and pregnant example ; and, now, we are called to comment upon a filibustering inroad upon the Province of Auckland which, in i olden times, would have immortalised the most • crafty Moss Trooper that ever " lifted cattle " or harried homestead." The expedition has been " cannily " concocted, and thoughtfully, as well as jesuitically devised. First, there came a note of preparation from the Otago Colonist, of the 14th October (its Editor and Proprietor a sometime Auckland resident), pretending to give an account of distressed immigrants " unable to find employment in Anckland, winding up by seductive allurements to take service in their " young and thriving Province." And now we have these suggestions reduced to Official practice by the Superintendent of Otago, who, under the plea of humanity (not a word however of aggrandizing his own Province at our expense), has not scrupled to dispatch art Envoy to despoil us, if possible, of the best, and most anxiously acquired, of our population.

The Envoy of Mr. Superintendent Cargill arrived by the Lord Ashley, steamer, on Saturday, the 24th ult,, and has since presented his credentials to the Auckland Superintendent. Mr. Cargill's letter and our Superintendent's reply will be found in another place. Of the good faith of the former document our readers will form their own estimate. For ourselves we cannot exempt Mr. Cargill from the charge of acting in the most unjustifiable manner in this matter. As a member of the House of Representatives, for months resident in Auckland, Mr. Cargill knew sufficient of the local politics of Auckland, and of the Journal and its conductor from which the allegations of " distress " proceeded, to have rendered him at least cautious how he acted upon such statements. We cannot, therefore, exonerate a gentleman in his position from the severest censure ; for who will look upon his plea of unauthenticated " distress" in any other light than that which the crimp employs when bis purposes are to be served 1

Mr. Adam, the Otago Envoy, arrived in Auckland on the 24th ultimo, and in the Journals of the 28th, he issued an official Proclamation, inviting 313 persons of the best class of yeomen, artisans, domestic servants, and others, "to proceed immediately to the young and thriving colony of Otago." In what terms can such a Mission be characterised, if the language of truth be employed, other than disgraceful and dishonest in the extreme.

As far as the respective Superintendents are concerned, we consider that the Auckland Superintendent has acted in the most becoming manner, administering at the same time a dignified reproof to an official who could so far forget himself as to send an emissary hither to entice our immigrants away. Did Mr. Cargill never hear of reported difficulty and distress — has he never seen the advertisements from the unemployed of Canterbury ? If he has, why not send his Envoy " over the border" on his errand of "humanity?" — Was it because Canterbury was too near to make it pleasant for him to undertake such a charitable adventure ? Ors did he only hope to succeed by crossing the sea ? for he tells us that if Auckland cannot be " harried," the Envoy is to go on to Melbourne and try his luck there. Proh pudor ! If " young and thriving Otago " be so very desirable a place whereto to immigrate, why cannot her Provincial authorities frame a scheme sufficiently attractive to induce the British emigrants to flock thither? THere would be more " humanity " in bringing out the unemployed of the Mother country, and infinitely more honesty than in seeking to filch the population which Auckland is acquiring by her carefully considered system, and for which Victoria pays in hard cash.

It is one of the distinctive features of the Auckland Land Regulations that they neither tamper with nor hold out any inducements to the immigrants of other Provinces or Colonies. As a bonus to immigrants, a given quantity of land is awarded in part payment of their passage money. That premium, however, is only accorded to immigrants from Europe and the North American' colonies.- With such the system has proved to be- very attractive, and, we hear 1 of bodies of immigrants resolved on. mutual co-operation (the surest and most successful -means-of .colonisation,), who,.mav, be expected to ' a? rive -from) Britain, from Gferihany, from' Hungary, from Nova Scotia, and elsewhere. With respect to Australia and Tasmania, it was considered unjust by the- framed of, the Auckland Land Regulations' to offer any inducements calculated to unsettle and- despoil them of immigrants for whose, passages large sums of money- have been expended ; and we are- credibly informed that to numerous Australian applicants, solicitous of having the system modified in their favour, an answer in conformity with- the above statement has invariably been returned. It would-b e well' were Otago to act equally on the square. Honesty is ever the. best policy, as well with States as with, Individuals.

How Otago will succeed in her pjans of kkteappmg remains to be seen : our irairiigraflls cost the Provincial Treasury nothing.. They freely come, and' can as freely, depart ; the only forfeit in doing so, being the land they came hither to obtain. Whether 1 they would be likely to benefit by a change — whether a transplantation from the mild, temperate, and fruitful North, to the. frigid, bleak, and snowy SfcUth would be a step in the right direction, it is not for us to say. We find, 1 howeyer, that the German Associations in Australia have published an address to* their countrymen, c&atidniftg them not to emigrate to Otag"6, urging' in objection the severity of the climate, and the intolerance of the greater portion of the inhabitants. To these objections we might add a few of pqual weight gleaned from our own private correspondence with Otago, which presents L the "joung and thriving Province," in th.c Very reverse of an inviting aspect, socially or materially, even to those "Lords of

Wastes and Princes of Deserts" — the Squatters, who in their magnificent whares and on their extensive wastes do not find the process of accumulation so sure and certain as lias generally been supposed. Go where an immigrant may, the first few years of his new mode of life roust be anxious, industrious, enduring and hopeful. Without those he will fail to be successful. With them, he is certain, in the long run, to succeed. On what terms is it best to commence a colonist's life, as a freeman or as a bondsman ? In Auckland ,the immigrant is untrammeled by Government. In Otago the immigrant begins the world in debt, and, in so far, is the serf of the Government, which pays his passage out. " Out of debt out of danger" is an axiom of world-wide application, and nowhere more forcibly than in the Colonies. " One may go further and fare worse," is a not less pithy, though homely, adage. We incline to think that the Otago Envoy will not induce very many to go farther, and we base our opinion on the following grounds — Imprimis — l 2o ploughmen are " wanted." Well, the question of constant employment appears to us to be one to be settled by Rule of Three, thus : — The Province of Auckland contains about 20,000 inhabitants, has some 60,000 acres under crop, and about 35,000 acres more enclosed ; the Province of Otago, on the other hand, musters about 7,000 inhabitants, has between 9,000 and 10,000 acres under crop, and about 9,000 acres more enclosed ; now, the point to be resolved is, in which Province is agricultural labour likely to meet with the best and steadiest market? In the Province of 7,000 souls and 19,000 acres, or in that of 20,000 souls and 95,000 acres 1 Twenty dairy women are the next that are " wanted ; " but the same premises we believe, will give the same product with them as with the ploughmen. Then there are 30 carpenters, 50 sawyers, 10 masons, and 2 bricklayers. Now all we would say on this head is — look what is doing in the building and improving of the City, and decide whether the 7000 of Otago can by any possibility compete with the 20,000 of Auckland. Twenty domestic servants are further " wanted ; " and wanted we feel confident they are sure to be ; for those delicate and fastidious " Helps " who cannot dream of venturing a couple of miles into the interior of highly cultivated Auckland, could never be persuaded to dare the rude and unreclaimed wilds of savage Otago. Besides, in Auckland city we number between 7000 and 8000 souls, whilst Dunedin does not reach to 2000. Where and what then are the inducements to any but the most buoyant of our floating population to listen to the solicitations of the Envoy of Otago ? Admitting, for argument's sake, that he and his principal have been led astray by the f.ilse and wicked misrepresentations of certain Auckland malignants, who care not how much the country is injured so that their vindicative animosity is indulged, still at the best the apology would be but a iame and unbecoming one. There should have been no doubt, no guess work in such a matter. If the cause of humanity rather than the interests of Otago were to be served, the invitation for relief should have come from Auckland, and then Otago, with a good grace, might have stepped in. As it is, we believe that the Otago Envoy will profit little, if at all, by his discreditable foray, and that when he returns to " the young and thriving Province," and has leisure to count the cost, he may say, to his Superintendent, " I would have won for you, if I could ; as it is, I have gained nothing but shame and some odd hits."