Assisted Immigration

Southland Times, Issue 19465, 19 November 1904, Page 2 (Supplement)

Assisted Immigration

THE, CLA,SS OF MEN WE OET, (Evening Post.) ] The cabled information that during tho past sovon and a-hulf months the AgentGeneral has despatched 1326 persons to Now Zealand under the aew rules fui* the encouragement of immigration leads to the enquiry: What class of persons are those who come here under those rules, and -what proportion do their bear to the total number pf immigrants V r l uko, for instance, the 400, 0dd secondhand thirdclass passengers who came out by the Corinthic. a day or two ago. Who are they ? , What are they ? . ; low tunny of than were assisted ? and Ihjwr. many; and of what class, came' on ; their owa account,?"' *'„' r .- p\ z_ With regard to assisted '""immigrants, the answer is not easy to find at this end: - Practical ly thei only man who | knows is the Agent-General,- who lias so far ;.'■'"• only, •< Vouchsafed the .information through a cablegram: that-: du*:-£ng the seven and a-half months up to 17th October 1326 persons had been sent out under that scheme. At this end the officials know* "practically nothing* with regartf. to thani. Being persons .'with some ' small amount of capital (each one assisted nf ust have £50 for hi mself , and £25 for. every, child over 12, years of age),, it almost invariably happens, that through, the of .handbooks, guides and so on,: they have pretty well made all- their 1 plans before they yioav© the Old Country, and go straight tb that part Of the colony which they have selected immediately on yarrival.' Some few,, how-, ever, have passed, through the Lands aiid . Survey .Department, and yip. all cases they have , been : found to be men. of 'a good {type— small tradesmen, perhaps, ; wh 0 have saved enough money to enable them to venture "onyytoo the land,,' or .; small farmers, "who, y as soon '.'aa '. they t-ooome accustomed to the altered conditions, are bound, with ■•■ a^moderate '.' amount -o£ good fortune, to become really good settlers. * With regard to their being aide to procure laid, the department , points' -..but' that there is no difficulty whatever. In almost every: part of the colony there are sections bf' varying sizes and classes i which cari be. taken up by the immigrantai :,a, mon-_nt'_ * notice— -.ec-tibiis ywhicb have either y.nbVybeen selected at .''the first Wliot, or. wliich : : have ; been thrown up by the original selector and are again open for selection by ; /'application. "lii a greatmany cases, it Zia-i claimed, t_ese . sections are just .as good as the much-co.veted iaadsl acquired under the ..ands f or Settlements ■ Act, for: which,' there is strenuous competition. -The only difference is that' in many ciases the land is further from the centres, and for that reason, of course, it is- not so popular. Oii they other hand, the rent is ' less. So. much for ; the assisted settler, who," apparently, never obtrudes himself „o n , the notice of officials at this end, but gets on the land in the quickest timo possible/and, judging by bis fii. ence on the subject, has hot much fautt fo find with the colony. . /The other class of - immigrant, who .: must comprise a large proportion of the , total nuiij'Ber of arrivals, .is the- r.iah who i has little in. his pocket when ho lands,' ahd;imr_,iediately he lands wants a billet. *'-. What - sort of man . is he^ nutt how does he get ob. 'f Enq-Hrii-ies jriitde of the i Labour .Departenent go to show that he . is, «on the whole, ., aydecent sort of man, j that he quickly finds work if he knows J anything at all,' anfd that having. found lit j he #vw satisfaction, y Generally speaking, ' theVfarm hand, /labourer, carpenter, and-. ' representatives ..': of ono or - two •'. other.*' trades appear to predominate, «nd they very seldom have any difficulty in finding eropiloyjrnent. The farm labourer take- -;a little time to get U9ed to tho altered cbnditiqns. but that soon wears \ off, aiid reports received by. the ' liabour, Departr ment gib: to. ishtow * that in : very many* cases they give thorough satisfaction! The <only man who gives any trouble iji the clerk, . who..': is y tired, cf* being, ay clerk, and wants to start work on a j farm. ; Commendable as the .-esire may be, it is very; difficult to / gratify.! Idfe in 7 a city office' for a number cf: years. is about the surest melms of acquiring' a complete' ignorance ; 6l ■everything pertain- , £ng to the farming* industry,, and however willing the man may .be he generally flnds no one wants him, no; one could. aiTord' to keep Wm if they .did got him. Another thing i -which is very apparent is thV^ absolute ignorance of v great many of the* immigrants as to where they are coming tb-r-What so; t of place it is. Their ivaxy irpin abso-: lute sava^edonr to 'a j country in which I almost fabulous sums are offered for the. services of a . fairly - able-bodied man.' However, they \ soon realise tiie mistake ttiey '* have made, look for work— and get ii, if they ; are a»y good I , [< and generally manage ■ to do well . in : any billets y they get. '-liy yV'-yu .... -p:.:pA' *.*..:..-".. '.*■ ' *;..*.• On tie whole, enquiries show that New Zealand is i ..Attracting a distinctly decent class of immigrant, and that the number is steadily on the increase. . /