THE "NOTHING EXTENUATE; NOR SET DOWN AUGHT IN MALIC." TUESDAY MORNING, 23rd FEBRUARY. IMMIGRATION.

Wellington Independent, Volume XVIII, Issue 2026, 23 February 1864, Page 2

THE "NOTHING EXTENUATE; NOR SET DOWN AUGHT IN MALIC." TUESDAY MORNING, 23rd FEBRUARY. IMMIGRATION.

Pebhaps there is no special feature so characteristic of the present age of progress, as the opening up of new fields for enterprise and industry in the colonies, which for many years past have afforded an outlet for the exuberant population of over crowded Europe. It is an interesting task to investigate the history of that movement which, originating in the early part of the present century, has spread from Great Britain to the Continent, and gradually increased in importance until at length it has obtained its i present gigantic dimensions as one of the foremost facts of the age. In the beginning " of this century the United States of North America received by far the largest portion of the European emigratosn, but within the last twenty [years the population of the Australian Colonies has been daily augmented by new arrivals from the old world. New Zealand has not stood behind, and there remains no doubt, that at present this colony has arrested to a very large extent the attention of intending emigrants, and especially so since the discovery of the rich and extensive goldfields in the province of Otago. During the seven years ending with 1851, which include the failure of the potato crops and the famine in Ireland and also the discovery of gold in California, the average annual emigration from the British Islands was to the Australian Colonies 14,520, to Canada 47,560 and to the United States 192,340. In the year 1852 the dicovery of gold in New South Wales became known in England, and the emigration to Australia, in that year increased to 87,424 individuals. The discovery of gold in the colony of Victoria soon followed and augmented the emigration in the year 1853 to 220,000 nearly exclusively to that colony. These facts entitle us to indulge in the hope that New Zealand will secure a fair share of the emigrants that leave Europe each year in search of a new home. Not alone from Great Britain and Ireland, may we expect a large influx of emigrants ; we also learned by | the last mail, that two vessels would shortly sail from Germany with emigrants for the southern ports of New Zealand/. / When we turn from the general .view of this question' to' a consideration of the manner

in which it specially affects Wellington, the prospect is by no means satisfactory^ It', is comparatively useless to quote the Vstatis- ,j tics of the arrivals and departures from the ',; province, because as these consist mostly of passengers, travelling to. and fro, by the numerous steamers occupied in the Inter-pro-vincial traffic, theiigures would be comparatively useless! It may however, be frankly admitted that though^ . our population is steadily though slowly increasing, yet that increase is by no means what it ought to be, when the many rich natural advantages we possess are taken into account. With immense tracts of fertile territory, watered by magnificent rivers, which besides irrigating the soil, present natural channels of communication invaluable to a country in its first stage of existence ; with a splendid climate, where the very air is a perpetual tonic : with a population of industrious and thrifty settlers, altogether free from that taint of crime which is the curse of more than one of the Australian colonies^— with all these elements of success in our favor, yet it unfortunately happens that the progress of this settlement has not been such as might have been naturally expected. Immigrants do not come here in the overflowing numbers that weekly pour into Dunedin and Canterbury, nay it is unfortunately true that it is only by paltry driblets of scores that they are landed on these shores. How iis this ? It is a dreary business to answer | suck a question. Somekow or otlier we liave been singularly unfortunate in our attempts to introduce population. A plan perfect in theory, but utterly unworkable in practice has been adopted in the past for the introduction of immigrants, the Government paying their passages, and taking promissory notes in security that the money would be returned. That this plan of making the Government a public creditor has worked badly, a visit to the police cour,t, where daily actions on those promissory notes are heard, will fully show. Some who have been introduced under the system in question have evadedpaymentbyleavingthe province, others have settled here, shared a moderate degree of prosperity and now repudiate the claims ; a few are too poor to pay, while a select number have honestly recognised and discharged the obligation. How much will ever be recovered ultimately of these claims it is impossible to predict ; meantime it is perfectly clear that in any future scheme for attracting population here, the promissory note system will have to be abandoned. It is an easy matter to theorise and indicate plans which look remarkably well on paper, forbringingoutimmigrants, but it is by no means so easy to point out areallypractical and workable scheme. And yet there is no cause to despair if the . Provincial Council would take up this most important subject in an earnest spirit. There is the example before us of what has been done at Auckland by the 40 acre system of land grants to immigrants of the plan pursued in Adelaide ; where purchasers of land had the privilege of bringing out emigrants free, or of the more recent Victorian scheme by which the Heales Government set apart a large sum of money for the introduction of population, and granted passage warrants at from a third to one half the usual cost. This system worked excellently. Settlers in the Colony, who wished to send for their friends, on payment of a sum of money varying from £5 to £10, received passage warrants franking the intending emigrants to Victoria from any British seaport town. The money was paid in Melbourne, the warrant transmitted by post, the immigrant received it, took passage, and in a few months was landed on the shores of Australia. There were many advantages in such a plan. The immigrants coming out in this way were received at once by their friends located in every part of the colony, and thus instead of choking up the centre of population at Melbourne, which is always over ex'owded, they soon spread themselves over the country, and found profitable occupation. There is a simplicity about this plan which forms not the least of its recommendations. What is wanted is to attract population, and no means could be better adapted for the purpose than those we have referred to. They combine economy despatch and no repulsive train of after proceedings for recovery of money from unwilling debtors. It is true the province would lose an average of £7 for every emigrant introduced, but what of that? Every fresh addition to the population brings a consumer who pays Customs duties, and if the emigrants wore deserving and industrious everyone of them would be a producer also. In that way ere six months had elapsed, far more than the mero cost of passage money would have been contributed to the revenue of the colony. It is not within the scope of the present article to deal with the question of immigration as a whole. If that were done it would be necessary to take into consideration the fact that it is equally requisite to have employers of labor with capital, as well as laborers without. To discuss] that question fairly involves a consideration of our Land Jaws, which we purpose taking up on a future occasion, but meantime we may venture to express a hope that in the coming session, a comprehensive and practical immigration scheme will be submitted by Government to the members of the Provincial Council. We do not mean such a mere sop in the pan as was proposed twelve months ago — a scheme which was a mere rechauffe of that which has already met with so unfortunate a fate. : , .