Then we have seen that one of the great difficulties in the direction of emigration is the cost of transport.The expense of conveying a man from England to Australia,occupying as it does some seven or eight weeks,arises not so much from the expense connected with the working of the vessel which carries him,as the amount of provisions he consumes during the passage.Now,with this plan I think that the emigrants might be made to earn at least a portion of this outlay.
There is no reason why a man should not work on board ship any more than on land.Of course,nothing much could be done when the weather was very rough;but the average number of days during which it would be impossible for passengers to employ themselves profitably in the time spent between the Channel and Cape Town or Australia would be comparatively few.
When the ship was pitching or rolling,work would be difficult;but even then,when the Colonists get their sea-legs,and are free from the qualmishness which overtakes landsmen when first getting afloat,I cannot see why they should not engage in some form of industrial work far more profitable than yawning and lounging about the deck,to say nothing of the fact that by so doing they would lighten the expense of their transit.The sailors,firemen,engineers,and everybody else connected with a vessel have to work,and there is no reason why our Colonists should not work also.
Of course,this method would require special arrangements in the fitting up of the vessel,which,if it were our own,it would not be difficult to make.At first sight it may seem difficult to find employments on board ship which could be engaged in to advantage,and it might not be found possible to fix up every individual right away;but I think there would be very few of the class and character of people we should take out,with the prior instructions they would have received,who would not have fitted themselves into some useful labour before the voyage ended.