286-  PiMeHRt 
the unindentured immigrants and the resident labourers 
would have the first refusal. The unindentured immi- 
grants alone number about 70.000 persons, a large 
proportion being, however, women and children. The 
last census showed.a population of agricultural labourers: 
numbering 108,225 in the whole colony. I do not assert. 
that the indentured immigrants do earn an average of $1 
a week, but, if they chose to work with a will for the- 
whole six days, they could easily do so, and they. must 
be provided with work first. © It will therefore easily be 
seen what a terrible falling off there is in the income of 
our peasantry from the sugar industry, and up to now | 
nothing seems to have taken its place except gold. 
Gold cannot provide general employment; none but 
the young and strong men can work in the gold bush, 
and what they earn does not benefit the Colony as much 
as did what was paid across the pay-tables ot the estates. 
In the first place, a great part of their earnings is paid 
in food, and nearly the whole of this food is imported. 
The existence of these men in the bush is but.of very 
little use to the provision grower, the cattle farmer, or 
cow minder. On the estates the labourers bought plan- 
tains and cassava from the farmers, occasionally a bit 
of meat from the butcher, and a pint of milk from the cow 
minder, but in the bush it is nearly all imported food. 
Again the amount of their earnings which is paid in cash 
is not paid as on estates, it does not come as a fine, gentle 
shower every Saturday, no, it is a deluge of money after 
months of privation and the consequence is that like a 
deluge of rain, instead of fru€tifying the soil, it rushes off 
and disappears no one knows where and benefits no-one 
knows whom, 
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