IMMIGRATION.

Waikato Times, Volume I, Issue 4, 9 May 1872, Page 2

IMMIGRATION.

! We are not prepared to say-thafc Scandinavians and fiemans will prove bad colonists, but, in common wit.Kjnost of ourcountrymen, would rather receive-in to our midst immigrants from the" BritishHsFes. We understand their language, and, as Britisir colonists, naturally prefer our own countrymen to those of any other nationality,, Dr. Featherston

' states, -however, that he is unable tovgrpcare j suitable i&Ljnigrants from the United" 3fing-1 Ulom. think if, the Boctor wquld/mstead ; ofeittingji&.his offifee, malce a tour through the! agricultural districts of English, hs- - difficulty in. inducing any "•number of men of the right stamp to. come j out to this colony. In support of out- opinion we give the following extract from the report of the proceedings of ail agricultural meeting in, l}ei?efordshire "On Friday, December Bth, Mr. Dixon, M. P.,- presided-at a meeting-of- agriculturalil ibourers at Brampton Bryan, Herefordshire, 'and called upon those present to state the grievances of which ihey had to complain : — The first- speaker was attired in .a cleanly washed smock-frock, and (luring his statement' twirled in his fingers a not very modern Jim Crow hat. He said the wages in the district (part of and South Shropshire) were 95., 10s., or lis. per week, and the mon wanted 15s. He combated the idea that the farm labourer was better off now than tweuty years ago; if wages were higher, provisions were higher alsp. Other speakers pointed out that out of the 10s per week Is. had to go for rent, and whore there was a family.it took ss. or 6s. for bread, leaving only 3s. or 4s. for all the other necessaries of life. Fresh meat, the men declared, they seldom, if ever, tasted, and one man said he had only had 31b. of butter in his house in twelve moiiths. The masters, it was declared, did not as a rule give their men milk for their families. At present the cottages are in the hands of the farmer, who rents them to his labourers, and when. a.labourer leaves his 'job ' he has to leave his cottage also. The men all argued strongly in favour of being allowed 'a little bit of land to keep a cow." One or two of the men had grievances of another character; earning 10s. a week, and having a family to support, they had 4 to pay a shilling a week to the Union to support their old parents, which they didn't care to do if the poor old folks* got the benefit of it, but they didn't.' This, one man declared, ' was enough to make a fellow give up altogether, and not try to pay his way no more.' Another was 4 puzzled how to get on at all, and when he went to bed at night he often wished he should wake up in the morning in America or somewhere, where a man who liked to work hard could pay his way, and put something up for a rainy day." Mr. Dixon said it would not only be kind, generous and just, but wise also, on the part of thefarmers and landlords, to take the condition ot' the men into their consideration and try to improve it. He thought they had. made out a strong case for increased wages and for sufficient Jand to keep a pig and a cow. He believed the real cause of all their grievances was the fact that there were too .many of them upon the groun'i, and he agreed with them that the great remedy was.immigration. Mr. John Bright, who had been looked upon as a very dangerous Radical, but who was" now looked upon by the Conservative party as a very safe man, said'if the farmers and landlords of England only knew what their true interests were, they would take care that the condition of the labourer was so .much j improved that he would not, be tempted away by the pleasant prospects held out to him in America and our colonies In that remark he thoroughly agreed; • lie did not for a moment hesitate to say that the farm labourers ought to be discontented. They would not be worthy of the name of Englishmen if they did not seek to improve' their position by legitimate means. He thought it was a disgrace to our civilisation that there should be such habitations in the country as. those in which some' labouring men lived There was wealth enough in the country to provide decent and healthy cottages for all, and he wondered that/aiiy one could enjoy that wealth while he saw the condition in which some of the labouring classes were placed."