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Western Star, 15 August 1874, Page 4

Tn® in which New Zealand immigratioHK been conducted has at, last culminatedm a climax that has pro* duced/ne loud, deep murmur from one end to the other of our own Colony, and caused" sister and neighbouring Colonies to laugh at oipv folly. Nor is. it matter of wonder; fsrif ever we, as colonists, had. just cause for a good, sound, hearty and universal growl, and our neighbours fora laugh at our expense, the style in which “ emigration to New Zealand” haa been managed, or rather mismanaged* would amply justify both. We should boextremely sorry to cast undeserved blama upon any individual whatever, especially upon anyone occupying so high aud responsible a position as the Agent-General for the Colony, nevertheless we are bound, to say that, in our deliberate opinion, to. him, and to him mainly, belongs the blame and responsibility of indicting upon us as a Colony, a disgrace which it, will take years of good management, hereafter to wipe out. We say to the,-Agent-General “ mainly ” belong thft blame and responsibility of this state of things ; but we cannot disguise the- fact; —ihe unpleasant and undeniable fact—>• tli ai to the Government also attache's a. portion' of -It, much larger than was to. ha' o been expend, aud to, au extent that, we do not feel deposed--quite accurately to define. There is no doubt whatever that the first appointment of Dr Featheratun r was at lor—however, we do not blame the Government, as after-wisdom makes us all wondrous wise. But that ho has been continued in office up, to the present moment,, we regard as tho great fault of the Government in the matter—he should, longsi nee have been sent about, his business* and a more worthy mam appointed to his office. For a wy-e&nsiderabie time afterDr Featherston’s arrival on what should, have been hia proper sphere of opesoftions, all we heard of him was that ha was making what we can characterise; only as a sort of “ starring” tour of the? continent of Europe!. He now, toys, with th;s Government, and he now cringes, to that Government, and almost ay. though-In forma pauperis sues foe “emigrants to New Zealand,” while thousands, upon thousands of individuals in every way suitable iiiight readily have been* found iu tho agricultural districts of England, the. Highlands and Islands of ScoU land, aud scattered tar and near-through-out the Emerald ’lsle. Kemohstraesofc after remonstrance was sent Home, and instruction alter dnstrnction was issued* and the one was almost entirely ignored,, and the other almost entirely disobeyed.. The voluminous correspondence laid upon., the table of the House of lleptosentfitives proves all this beyond a, doubt, and. yet the man is retained- in I ?j , we regard as the Government’s great; faplf. in the matter; they seem to have gone:..,, on hoping against hope, when, io j aud behold, as it would seem, almost as in dfi.it of pique and passion, a resolve come to that there should be no nuflHj complaints made on the score of 1M bars, and so hundreds.upon hundreds! thousands upon thousands are in upon our shores iu the very winter 1 Wo can well imagine the. worthj Agent-General contemplating hi* handiwork with a sort of sardonic smile, and saying to himself, “ I wonder it they.--will be satisfied now V” ■ Much wight bo said—and justly swi M> l ie unsuitableuess ami uudesir-

Thsy soiiight not ths Asrsnt-(General or his very worthy subcagents. but wore sought out by them, anil therefore these and not those are to blame for the disgrace that has fallen upon us. Next to the “ undesirable" come the “ unsuitable," and these have our sympathy. A more forlorn and desolate position we can scarcely conceive than that of persons sixteen thousand miles from Horae and friends, with a feeling of utter unsuitableness to all the surroundings of the fair “land of promise.”.-Fancy a boot-lace tagger, a needle-eye driller, a Spitalfields weaver, a draper’s assistant, or a lawyer’s clerk, with absolutely nothing before them in life but a choice between starvation and carrying a bricklayer’s hod, working on our railways, or tilling our fields! The thing is preposterous ; the blame is the Agent s and his subs. Even, however, to the most unsuitable there is a gleam of hope, if they will only avail 'themselves of it. Let them do what they can ; let them in the meantime be satisfied, with such wages that they can really earn, and we have no hesitation whatever in assuring them that brighter days are yet in store for them. We have referred at the outset of this article to the general grumble which we consider the Colony as a whole has a just right to indulge in in respect to .immigration. We now assert that we *of the Western District have pre-erni- , neatly cause to indulge in that not over temper-improving pastime. We asked for bread, and the Government has given us. stones; at least, to a far greater extent than we had any just reason to expect. We had been led to expect direct shipments of men suitable to plough our fields, till our grounds, build our houses, make our railways, and work our mines, and we have received—well, we won’t say what we have received. Not “to put too fine a point upon it,’’ wo have not received as a rule the class of persons we wanted, or were led to expect. So much the worse for us and for those that have been sent to us—after all that were found suitable for Dunedin and the adjacent country had been picked out. Prom recent advices from Horne we are happy to glean a- .of* hope fin* the settlers of the Western District also. We observe that our own Provincial Agent—Mr Adam—has arrived in safety, and ia making “ his mark” wherever -he goto. He, at least, fully understands our real wants. Wo trust ho will select for us really suitable’immigrants, and that the Government—emt of consideration for the wrongs we have suffered and the disappointments we have endured —will see to their being shipped direct, aid at the earliest possible moment.