THE Temuka Leader. SATURDAY, JANUARY 7, 1893. INFLUX OF POPULATION.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2448, 7 January 1893, Page 2

THE Temuka Leader. SATURDAY, JANUARY 7, 1893. INFLUX OF POPULATION.

Some of our Conservative friends are very much troubled at the present time because there is an influx of people to this colony. A few years ago they were not satisfied because there was an exodus of people from the colony, and now they are not satisfied because these people are returning. They say that it is due to the Govenment that they are coming. The co-operative labor system instituted by the Minister of Public W orks is inducing them to come, they say, and the result will be that we shall be over-crowded with workmen shortly. Nothing could be more senseless than this argument. In the first place it is not “ loafers,” who will come. It was not our “ loafers ” who left us at the time of the exodus, but the real, hard-working, sterling men, who were determined to make the most of their labor, by taking it to the best market. The “ loafer ” never moves, he has not sufficient energy to do so; he has n~ ambition, no thought higher than a pin of beer, and he never succeeds ii accumulating sufficient to take him any where. The “ loafer ”of Australia canno bo any better than our own, so we neei not fear that he will ever trouble us b any appreciable extent. We may, there fore, feel perfectly satisfied that the mei who are now coming to New Zealand an real, hard-working, industrious men, win will never become a burden on taxatioi so long as their health lasts and there i something for them to do. Of that wi may feel satisfied, and looked at, there fore, from the point of view of employer; of labor we see nothing in the increase ii the number of laborerers but what ii encouraging. First of all, when tin market is over supplied with work-mer the price of labor cannot go up. That ii a moral certainty, and, therefore, lookec at from the wealthy-classes point of view the influx of population is entirely ii their favor. Why, therefore, should they grumble and growl at seeing the peoph returning to this colony, when it is altogether in their favor 1 Simply this: They want some excuse for finding faull with the present Government and this is the only one they have. They think that they will frighten the working-men by making them think that the laboi market will become over-crowded, and that consequently wages will come down, But the working men are not so easily caught with chaff. They see that the present Government are doing their besi to keep up the rate of wages, by means oi of the labor bureau, and the co-operative system, and they know that even if a large number of people find their way to thie colony, the ultimate result will be increased prosperity, and a greater demand for labor. For our own part we thinl the present influx of population splendid evidence of the success of the Governmenl policy. When the present Governmenl took office, and for six months afterwards the people were leaving this colony in thousands, our credit was very low, and the outlook was altogether dark. In the short space of less than two years everything has changed, confidence has been completely restored, our credit never stood so high, and we are entering on an tra prosperity. It is absolutely certain that ,ofir population is not one-tenth large enough, and consequently an increase to . ~>nat be ot m 4 benefit fa us. There it j., work. gre»tgc production, will be m. • 4tifl ijofTfispopding wider settlement, . m roust expansion of trade, and a., ultimately benefit by it.