I have in obedience to the instructions of the Committee Written to the Governor-in-Chief on the subject of erecting Canterbury into a separate province. Ton will see by the New Zealand newspapers that a Bill for remodelling the Constitution of these Islands is now before the General Council; this Bill, if passed into a law, will only have the effect of altering the form under which the irresponsible authority of the Governor is now exercised, and not of limiting that authority in any effectual manner; it excites no interest whatever in this country. I earnestly trust that the Association will exert all its efforts to procure for the people of this country the full power of managing their own affairs; but, in the meantime, I cannot but urge that the most effectual mode by which it can further that object is by its example, i.e. by giving up to them the management of those funds which are now disposed of irresponsibly by itself.

I wish to draw the special attention of the Committee to the number of persons entirely unfit for a colonial career who have emigrated under their auspices. I do not allude at present to individuals of wild and dissipated habits, sent out page 208because their reputation was ruined at home. Of such we have received a few, but I am sure the Committee are as well aware as I am of the prejudicial effect which the emigration of such characters as these has upon the social welfare of the Settlement, and that they have always discouraged it so far as lay in their power. But there is another class almost equally unfitted for a new country, who have come out in considerable numbers, and in many cases, as I have been led to understand, with the knowledge and even under the advice of members of the Association; I mean a class of young men, sons of gentlemen, liberally educated and of spotless characters, but almost entirely destitute of pecuniary means, and unfit, of course, for manual labour. I cannot express to you the pain with which I have received several young gentlemen, most of them bringing me letters of personal introduction, and all asking me for advice as to their best mode of earning a subsistence. The best advice I could give them would in most cases be to go home again, but that they have generally not the means of doing; and what prospect is there for them here? I cannot too often repeat that there are but two classes of persons who succeed in a new country, capitalists and manual labourers; a very limited number of professional men, of course, find employment, but, as a general rule, no man should come out who cannot either earn wages by working with his hands, or pay wages to others for doing his work. Persons of liberal education and refined habits, but without means, have, except in a very few instances, no career before them, no prospect of success. I know that the Association cannot always prevent such persons from coming out, but I am sure they can often do so, and at any rate they can always relieve themselves of responsibility by protesting against unsuitable emigrants when brought under their knowledge. There is, however, another class for whose emigration they are altogether responsible, and with reference to whom very great caution should be used. I allude to young single women receiving assisted passages. A few of these have come out, and they have caused me a page 209great deal of embarassment and annoyance. But I hear that there is some intention of sending them out in greater numbers, and I confess I dread exceedingly the effect of such a step. Good hard-working domestic servants can find employment, and are useful, but the class commonly known as "Distressed Needlewomen" are not generally fit for domestic service in a new country where many hardships must be endured which they have never been accustomed to undergo. On the whole, though I do not like to express an unqualified opinion against sending out any of that class, I have no hesitation in saying that but few single women unattached to families should be sent out to us, and that in all cases a strict enquiry should be made with respect to their antecedents and qualifications.

Before concluding this letter I would once more urge upon the Committee the desirableness of directing the attention of intending colonists to pastoral pursuits more than has hitherto been done. It is a remarkable fact, and one very much to be regretted, that not one of the colonists from England, with the single exception of Mr. Russell, has formed a sheep station. The rest have contented themselves with settling on their respective sections, apparently with the intention of cultivating on a small scale. Now, it is notorious that in a new country agriculture does not pay an employer of labour after the first year or two of settlement, owing to the fall in the price of produce consequent on extended cultivation, and the high price of labour which is usually maintained. The market then comes to be supplied by small farmers, cultivating their lands with their own hands. On the other hand, stock feeding with ordinary good fortune and ordinary care, can hardly fail to be successful and lucrative; and it is just the sort of pursuit which a gentleman can engage in, and make a pleasant occupation of. Nor does it by any means involve in this country the isolation and dispersion which have caused so many social evils in Australia. There is no reason why a gentleman should not with his family reside upon his farm within a few miles of page 210Christchurch, cultivating and improving it for his own amusement, but he ought to look for the profits of his capital to his sheep or cattle twenty, thirty, or forty miles away: he may keep up a sufficient superintendence by visiting it once or twice a week, and may manage it in the meantime through the instrumentality of careful shepherds, or perhaps through some member of his own family; every part of the block being equally available for stock, and being also within fifty miles of the capital, with perfectly easy access; the moral and social influence of the capital with its institutions will be felt throughout the whole, and the profits of pastoral husbandry may thus be secured without its corresponding evils. It grieves me, I confess, to see these great advantages and capabilities overlooked, or at least unappropriated, by Canterbury colonists, properly so called; for if no counter movement take place among them speedily, or if others do not come out from home with more enterprising views, or more abundant capital, all the wealth and influence of the country will pass into the possession of old colonists from Australia and elsewhere, and one great object of the Association, the infusion, namely, of new blood into these colonies, will be defeated. To men with fixed incomes, who have no wish to make money, these obserrations, of course, do not apply; such men could afford to farm as they could afford any other expensive amusement, but I have seen no appearance as yet of such a class amongst us any more than I see a class of enterprising capitalists, and I cannot, therefore, but entertain considerable fears as to the prospects of a great majority among the settlers.