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JB&S NZ 5 Feb 2012
There were considerable difficulties in the operation of the contracts and the management of the men. Brogdens got less work than they had hoped and it became available more slowly than expected. Communications between UK and New Zealand were obviously slow so it was difficult to know how many men to send at any given time. Sometimes Brogdens could not find work for the men when they arrived. Men reneged on their promissory notes. There were disputes over working hours, wages and whether they should be paid when the weather stopped the work. It didn't help when the government started an assisted passge scheme with no work requirement. Gradually the men drifted away. By August 1873, 2172 migrants had been brought out, including 1299 working age men, of whom only 287 were still working for Brogdens. Most of the men were agricultural labourers, rather than true navvies and they found local agricultural labour and working conditions more attractive than navvy work. They were contracted for two years but it was easy to leave the site and disappear. Only 133 defaulters were taken to court.
All this happened at a critical time in New Zealand's history. In 1870, the Otago Daily Times wrote, "The whole system of Provincialism is virtually abolished. Its utter disappearance is only a matter of time." Abolition was carried in Parliament in October 1875 and came into effect a year later. In 1880 a separate Railways Department was established to operate a consolidated New Zealand Railways. Brogdens had the misfortune to be caught up in the political conflicts of the last days of Provincial Rule and of the transition to government assisted migration.
Consequently work was slower than expected and in 1879 the Company was in dispute with the New Zealand Government over contract payments. Bankruptcy soon followed.
Although this was not a happy result for Brogdens, the results for New Zealand and the families themselves were good. New Zealand obtained useful citizens who were very happy with their work, wages, food and social conditions. Their letters home encouraged more people to come. Many of today's New Zealanders have ancestors who were members of the families who emigrated at this time.[1]
Extra Source edit
- Atkinson, Neil (2007). Trainland: How Railways Made New Zealand. Random House, Auckland.
- ^ Higgins (1978) p245, Arnold (1981) chapter one, Atkinson (2007) pp 28-33, Leitch (1972), New Zealand Archives