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Wellington Independent, Volume XXVIII, Issue 3799, 8 May 1873, Page 2

Below we publish a letter from Mr C. Pharazyn, in which he takes exception to the comments we made upon his proposal to add £40,000 to the proposed provincial loan for the purposes of immigration. Mr Pharazyn. may be right in stating that he did not mean that the separate or additional immigration machinery which he proposed was not intended in any sense in the relation of a scheme opposed to that of the General Government. But he evidently cannot appreciate the logical results of his proposal. When he invites the Council lo borrow £40,000 for immigration pur poses, his proposal is absolutely equivalent to a vote of censure upon the Government ; and in no other sense could it be interpreted by the Assembly. Whilst we quite concur in Mr Pharazyn's opinion that a larger amount of immigration than has as yet happened in respect of this province is necessary and desirable, we are still of the opinion which we expressed the other day, that any proposition to borrow money by the Province for immigration purposes will certainly he rejected by the Assembly. If we understand his arguments rightly, they simply are these — thai if the Province is to undertake large public works, a demand will be orea'ed for labor that will possibly lead to a large increase in the rate of wages. He is actuated apparently by no other motive than that he should prevent the possibility of his having to pay a few shillings a week more to his laborers than he is now paying. And in one sense he is perfectly right. The great principle, which is the basis of the policy of the colony is, that public works and immigration should go on together; and facts have proved that the latter condition has not kept pace with the former. Whilst the proletariat class clamored againsi 1 the importation of fresh population, on the ground that we should thus be only bringing in competitors against our existing work-people, and thus reducing their wages, the fact is that at no former porio'i in the history of the colony was the demand for labor so great, or wages so uniformly good. This cry has been silenced by the incontrovertible logic ul facts, and now the cry throughout the. whole of the colony is, " more labor.'" Mr Pharazyn says that his proposed "• IJ?t{ « n "f =P.*n.060 to the Loan Bill

y\»B simply intended as the expression! of the desire of the Council to co-operate with the General Government in importing additional population. If his wish be simply to urge a larger amount of immigration, it oould have been equally and much more usefully expressed in the form of a resolution to that effect. The General Government have no lack of funds, and the proposal that the Province should contribute £40,000 out of borrowed money, is very much like impertinence, and is essentially a direct censure upon the Government. As the addition proposed by Mr Pharazyn certainly would have been eliminated in the Assembly, the better plan would be to make un arrangement with the Provincial Government to secure the object sought to be attained. His purpose would be served by his having drawn special attention to the necessity of increased immigration, but had he persisted in having his proposal incorporated in the bill, he would by so doing have damaged the chances of the Bill itself. Mr Pharazyn writes to us as follows : — In your leader of this morning you state that I proposed an addition of £40,000 to the proposed loan, in order to begin a system of immigration in opposition to that carried on by the Q-eneral Government, and you proceed to make use of a nuinberof most convincing argum n!s to prove the absurdity of my propoBal. I am happy to be able to agree with all you say, only, unfortunately, the statement on which you found your arguments is iucorrect. My proposal was simply this : — That in order to justify us in borrowing so much more money, we must have more population, and, as I did not believe we should get what we want if wo depend on the General Government alone, I should feel more ready to increase ihfl sum to £250 000, with a view of co-operating with that Government in bringing immigrants into this province, than I should be t> y>te for the schedule as it stands, without any premium for immigrating. lam glad to say that the Provincial Secretary expressed a willingness to meet my views on (his pomt — I urn, &c, C. Phaeazyn.