THE COLONIST.

Colonist, Volume LII, Issue 12772, 19 April 1910, Page 2

THE COLONIST.

.PUBLISHin ILvmiT Mobnino. • :y -T/ruMDAT- 1 Apr___'l9, l9lo. . EMIGRATION-" OF'ENGLISff BMB. Tub question of removing lads from the crowded .-centres of population^ in the old land to. the freer spaces of the colonies, in which their development might proceed on. a more suitable atmosphre, is attracting' a good deal o f attention in England at present. The other day an English gentleman who is touring the Dominion in the interest of a scheme of youthful emigration, waited upon the Auckland Agricultural and- Pastoral Association with a view to enlisting its sympathy. His .proposal' was to obtain suitable \ boy labour in England for assured pbsitions on New Zealand farms. The suggestion, was favourably received by the Association, which referred it to a committee for enquiry.' The Central Emigration Board of London is discussing a bolder proposal to secure the same object. This is the establishment of training farms inthe colonies to which youths who have not much chance of an assured future in their own country can be transferred and trained to agricultural pursuits. The secretary of the Board, the Rev R. L. Gwynne, -outlined • the- Bcheme to -.a "New Zealand Herald" representative a short time ago, emphasising the: -fact that it was desired: to send out only the very best available -boye. It would, Mr Gwj^ne-coni«nd8 s -pay the 'Government., of New_Zasand. to have , a better class oiF boy thaiithat; which is commonly sent but iwffi^ -tpadmit them free, and give them six months' training. - Most, of these -better-class boys, he says, have a little^itnphey. .They are not paupers. They are simply" thia •lower middle-class, thgjbest class 7 of England, which -has not been tapped yet.. fc.N«ir7Zealjind-]j« founcLspme «Kje_lent training farinjj[..r. He* visited onev|tt/^-North laJMifl,. wJhicli jhe , taught,.. coidd .nc4. bev 7 l>eate_.^, ang;*. where for discipline *nd7ieaHy good

training,; hut it was a kind of home for boys who had been once charged With a minor offence. He went right through the school, and was wonderfully pleased with. the way the boys were taught, and also with the way the amusements were looked after —this latter ib a very important phase of* a boy's life. If this could only he turned into a school for better-class English lads, : who are not rich and not able to pay vnvoh. .*-• ' — nid, he is sure, be a great source of wealth to the Dominion in no time. "It must 1 c frankly said," remarked Mr Gwynne, "that at least 10 per cent of the London applicants are impossible. It is the country lad, or the lad whose parents have drifted to London from the country, who makes the finest material for farm work. Of those lads whom I have interviewed five per fcenfc can pay thfelr &wb\ fares-, 44 per fcejit can j paj; j&rti. -while 66 per 'cent, who are dl good physique and character, have ho iheahs at their disposal. It is to help these latter that we are appealing 'for £20,000. The money will be advanced to the emigrants as a loan, to be repaid as they succeed in life, and as an additional security we shall -equire a bond from their nearest relatives in England. In no case shall. -ye give the money." The work of ihe Central Emigration Board is entirely voluntary. It started at Tunbridge Wells with the Kent Colonising Association, and has sent 500 boys to i heBritish colonies. The idea of training the boys in the countries in which it is intended they -shall settle, is an extension of the -existing scheme, in which the Board hopes New ZeaUad will assist.