LONDON.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 2, Issue 322, 22 November 1879, Page 2

LONDON.

(PEOM OUR O\YX CORRESPONDENT.) September 29, 1879. If the ingenious Mastertonian hasperfeci bllloi)n (''escribed in your paper of the 4th July), I wish h e would with all convenient speed, bring himself and his apparatus over to this country. That he would receive a most enthusiastic welcome there can be no doubt; it is just what is wanted—a cheap and speedy method of transferring a few thousands of our surplus unemployed and starving population to New Zealand, where beef and mutton are within the reach of most folks, and there is plenty of work for willing hands to-do, In all seriousness, the state of tills country is something dreadful; manufactories stopped for want of trade merchants failing, and banks bvoaking'in all directions; the shop keepers, what with want of custom, and the competition of co-operative stores, finding their way into the Gazette, many of them, I fear, never fated to stand behind their- own counters again. Bid as all this is, the failure of the crops is still more serious • at the very lowest calculation the wheat crop is at least thirty per cent, below an average, and what corn there is has been harvested in tho worst possible condition, I he millers only buy in the most cautious manner, and will not take more than will keep them going from week to week till they see what is likely to come from the colonies and the States. . Bad seasons we have had before and managed to tide over the evil time, but the present year has brought things to a climax. Hundreds of farmers are quitting their holdings in every county, preferring to save what out of the wreck rather than nsk their all by holding on for'anothS yui, although the landlords are usW every endeavor to retain them,making su b fs fiftv their much y 1 61 cuit, in many cases some even foregoing the whole year's' rent This has lieen a bad year for trade all ound, and the small but costly wars at pe and ln Afghanistaa have hot

coming , 1 mi r l[ > 1 to think 1 Thousands of workmen are leaving I wouS a! and thoUßandß mo 'e would follow their example could they rase the wherewithal to pay the passage 1 hese men are not waifs and strays, recol ■ lect-good for little or nothing at home, 1 their.luck. under brighter skies-but the. real .bone and anew of he land. Well, better they should go than stay here to starve. Wfc week over seventy farmers sailed C m : Liverpool, Texas being their ultfWe ( destination; and I hear that fifty will leave in another fortnight. These \ men have all gone from one districtSouth Durham and North Yorkshire—and have gone to throw in their lot with brother Jonathan r It cannot be that they grudge the extra cost of going to the Australian Colonies; longer voyage frighteneiraffem—for when mun once break up theirhonies and sever from all that is dear to them, a few weeks more or less on the briny ocean will not deter them. Some of these men lam personally acquainted with; , ous, skilful, and hard-working lotjust the fellows to enrich any district they may choose for their future homenot paupers, recollect, but everyone with enough to make to make a good beginning. I think New Zealand has made a°mistake not to get this very eligible lot to come w and cultivate the lands of the Maori. "1 Brother Jonathan is wide awake, and by his agents in this country takes care to hold out every inducement to catch such men a3 these. He gives them the land, for he knows how such settlers will enrich the country. I cannot help thinking that the Australian colonies are all wrong in their plans for getting emigrant's. Their method secures the idle and worthless. For instance, Hodge the ploughman, finding it very hard to live et home, determines to try his fortunes in the colonies, He applies to the Gov- j ernment agent, who supplies him with a ' form to be filled in and certified to by his employer. If Hodge is a good man, his employer naturally does not wish to part with him, and refuses the necessary certificate, and without it the Government agent will not grant him a free passage, but if Hodge is not a first-rate man, rather given to indulge in beer, and not over % fond of work, why then his master (glad to get rid of him) certifies this scamp to be a good workman. So Hodge the idle gets a free passage to New Zealand, and Hodge the industrious stays at home. If New Zealand wants good men, capitalists or workers, now is her chance. Let her be liberal, and she will not regret it. Northumbrian.