NEW ZEALAND AND THE EMIGRANT.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIC, Issue 13435, 6 November 1907, Page 3

NEW ZEALAND AND THE EMIGRANT.

Mil TREG-EAR WRITES HOME. Some time ago, a letter was sent- from Duneuin to the Home papers regarding the conditions of living 111 New Zealand, lhe matter has not. been allowed to rest, for in the "Manchester Guardian," bl September 18, appears the following letter from Mr Tregear: tiir,—There has been brought to my notice a letter printed in" your issue of May 'i, 1907. It- bears the signature of A. R. Hardy, house and labour agent, Dunedin, New Zealand. The -letter is an attack on tills colony and it-.s resources. It is written in th 4 strain of the two following sentences :—"lf jou allow the peopie to come to New Zealand they will ba stranded. Hundreds would go back if they had the money with winch tliey landed.:' Tliis latter sentence is true enough, though nofc •in the tense intended, lor very many New Zealand people go back to the Old Country (as visitoie) with the money they had- when-they landed, and with some thousands of pounds to spare, lb is true that the colony is a hard place just at first to a" man who lands without a shilling in his pocket, but the absolutely moneyless man has great, disadvantages everywhere,. .particularly if he has no special trade or calling. Neverohekiss, there are hundreds, of beautiful homes in Wew Zealand owned by men who immigrated without a penny. From Australia alone we have received over 4-5,000 men in the last four years, and they have been quietly absorbed among a; population which is, considering its numbers, oiie of the busiest in the world. ■ I do not know the object of Mr Hardy in belittling thei lplace in which he gets his bread, but tli& geneial value of this letter may be judged by its own definite statement. He ,-oays : "Fruit in town near 'Dunedin is left- to rot on the tree, as it 1 would not pay to send by rail, the charge being too liigh. ' It may be of interest to your readers to know that the New Zealand railways, being owned by the State and not having to show swollen dividend lists, carry fruit any distance (even hundreds* of mike) for the charge of sixpence per . 561b weight. If this is regarded by the English farmer as _ your newspaper should certainly not allow him to come to New Zealand, but if he has the grit that will make him succeed where thousands of other people aie succeeding, ho will receive a welcome hei-s, and take his chance with the rest of ix ; . — Yours, etc., _ EDWARD TREGEAR, Secretary for Labour. Department of Labour, Wellington, New Zealand, • August 9.