Mr Rees on Immigration and Colonisation.

Wairarapa Standard, Volume XIX, Issue 1818, 9 April 1886, Page 2

Mr Rees on Immigration and Colonisation.

I Mb W. L. Rees is an able and versatile man who in bis time lias played many parts. At one time he was a clergyman, but afterwards studied law and became a barrister, in which latter capacity he gained oonsiaerable reputation as an able pleader and advocate. Then Mr Rees went into Parliament and fought under the banner of Sir George Grey. By and bye, Mr Bees lost his seat in Parliament and thereupon employed his abilities in framing and developing a scheme for the “ corporation of land, labor and capital,” the practical outcome of which was to be the formation of a large land settlement in the East Coast District. Mr Bees in the prosecution of his scheme recently visited Welling, ton and delivered a speech on immigration and colonisation to a number of members of the Chamber of Commerce. Mr Bees made a rather taking speech on those subjects. He contended that the state o< agriculture and trade in the Home country was such as to make it imperative that ontlete should be fonnd for a large portion of its population. “ It was evident,” he remarked, “ that there mast be some great movement on the part of the laboring classes of England. Lands in various parts of England were being made, by the competition induced by free trade, worth little more than land in the colony. The sources of labor were being weakened as wall in manolaoture as in agriculture. Largs factories wen being established in other parti

of the world where cheaper labor could be obtained ; and before long the great mass of manufactures could be conducted in countries where labor was cheap. The consequence would be a glut of population ; and that would be a great thing for the colonies. Tlio Empire would have to look about for places to dispose of its surplus population, and for the colony which first made overtures it would be a most beneficial thing. He was sure that if a proper scheme was submitted, the pick of the agricultural population of England, with money, would be sent to the colonies. The United Kingdom was the proper source from which to get people and money. They had unemployed in this colony now, bur those were men without mouey. And if a great number of people could be introduced who would actually be the employers—their unemployed would find employment, The present unemployed would be thus absorbed in the settled population, and all classes would be bene* fitted.” There is some truth in the contention of Mr Rees that the time has now come when Great Britain w;ll require to find outlets for its surplus population, 'But any large scheme for sending out people to the colonies would require to be framed with great care and caution. For Great Britain to shovel out paupers wholesale into the colonies would be productive of much evil to the latter. The people wanted in this colony are farmers possessed of some capital who would take up land and employ labor. There are plenty of working men in the colony already, and, as matters stand, a good many of them are out of employment. The landing of thousands of poverty-stricken immigrants on our shores would simply choke up the labor market, add largely to the ranks of the unemployed, and produce a large amount of misery and privation. It is the farmer class of immigrant that is wanted in New Zealand—men with enough money to make a start upon land and become, more or less, employers of labor. If the colony could have .a steady influx of this kind of immigration the “ unemployed ” difficulty would almost disappear, and depression, in a great measure, be removed. But, if along with those farmer immigrants possessed of some money, there also came thousands of penniless people wanting work and wages at once, a very serious difficulty wonld be created.

Mr Bees, however, has a sort of scheme for obtaining a million of money, and with this fund bringing out a number of people from Great Britain to the colony and straightway putting them upon laud, where they are to become comfortable and prosperous forthwith. On this point Mr Bees said “On the East Coast there were 200,000 or 300,000 acres, which would carry about 15,000 people with a million of money amongst them; and if this could be done it would be highly beneficial. Further, it would afford an example which would be followed. The want at home now was a plan. He proposed to obtain capital from various sources—from the English Government, trades and labor organisations, co-operative societies, and the philanthropic public of England, lor the purpose of investment in settlement—bringing people out and settling them, purchasing the lands and making them productive.” All this sounds very attractively, but there is a good deal of vagueness about the scheme. We are by no means clear that the million of money would be forthcoming from the various sources indicated by Mr Bees, and without a good supply of money the whole scheme would fall to the ground. However, the twenty gentlemen present to hoar the address of Mr Bees expressed cordial approval of his proposals and paid him many complU ments concerning them. We are by no means so sanguine about the success of this scheme as those twenty Wellington Chamber of Commerce men, few of whom know anything about the practical difficulties of placing people upon the land and enabling them to form homes and make a living out of it. However, Mr Bees is going to England cn a crusade in support of bis scheme, and we shall watch his progress and doings there with much interest, but also with a good deal of misgiving.