D.—No. 3,

6

PAPEES RELATING TO THE INTRODUCTION

or eighteen months would take place, and the expense of the passage of these agents out and back would be considerable, and might prove so much money thrown away. The only feasible plan of ultimately securing a stream of emigration seemed to be to select and send out a few young married couples, the Government defraying the whole cost of their passage; these couples to be taken, not from one locality only, but from different districts, so that their reports would have an extended circulation throughout the whole country. If they proved favourable, then the inducement offered by the Government, by reducing the cost of the passage to New Zealand to the same amount as to America, would be amply sufficient, and a stream of emigration would be created which would probably require to be stemmed, rather than to be stimulated. Orders were accordingly given to Messrs. Winge and Co., a mercantile firm of the highest standing in Christiania, to send out least ten young married couples before tho present emigration season closed. In addition to the usual reasons for giving the preference to young married couples, it may be mentioned, that while poverty prevents early marriages, yet engagements are entered into at a very early age, at an age when the parties are mere boys and girls, and that these engagements are, as a general rule, most faithfully kept, and that emigration, as affording the means of enabling them to fulfil them, is eagerly seized at. The remarks above made apply with equal force to Sweden, Denmark, and the north of Germany; and a similar arrangement for the same number and class of emigrants has been made with agents in Gottenburgh and Copenhagen. The average number of emigrants from Sweden to the United States is not less than 25,000 souls a year, Gottenburgh being the chief port of embarkation. A copy of the letter addressed to Messrs. Henderson Brothers, of Gottenburgh, is annexed, which is similar in its terms to those addressed to the mercantile house at Christiania and Copenhagen. At Copenhagen, Mr. Monrad (a son of Bishop Monrad, aud who has recently returned from New Zealand.) entered very warmly into the scheme, and has kindly volunteered to select the Danish contingent. It was impossible to obtain even an approximate estimate of tho number annually emigrating from Denmark and the north of Germany, but it is very large. The emigrants embarking from Hamburgh consist, to a very large extent, of small farmers, possessing means, and all well trained, from the rural districts of Mecklenburgh, Silesia, and Saxony; but the firm through whose hands this emigration passes has promised to furnish, at an early date, a detailed report. In entering into these engagements we are aware that we have exceeded our instructions, which simply authorized us to make inquiries; but had we not done so, the journey to these countries would have been fruitless; and should it ultimately be determined to promote emigration from thence, the work would have had to be done over again under probably less favourable circumstances. Mr. Morrison, who accompanied us, will now have no difficulty in carrying out these arrangements ; and the experiment itself, for after all it is only an experiment, will not entail any serious expense, even if the whole number of emigrants authorized be sent during the present season. I. E. Featherston, for F. D. Bell. London, 9th September, 1870. I. E. Featherston.

Sub-Enclosure to Enclosure in No. 1. The Hon. Dr. Featherston to Messrs. Henderson Brothers. Sir,— Gothenburgh, 23rd August, 1870. Referring to our conversation of yesterday, I now, on behalf of the Government of New Zealand, authorize you to select and send out to New Zealand twenty adult emigrants, natives of Sweden. The emigrants, if possible, to be young married couples, with not more than two children to each couple; but in the event of your being unable to obtain ten married couples, you are at liberty to send an equivalent number of young unm.arried men and women. As the main object in sending out this lot of emigrants is that they may report to their friends in Sweden fully upon New Zealand as a field for emigration, it is desirable that they should be taken not from one locality only, but from as many different districts as possible, so that any reports they may send home may circulate widely throughout the country. These emigrants will have to be sent either to London or Glasgow, where they will embark for New Zealand ; but before sending them you will have the goodness to communicate with Mr. Morrison, the Agent of the New Zealand Government in London, who will advise you of the date of sailing of a vessel from one or other of these ports for New Zealand. Instead of waiting until the whole number has been secured, there is no objection to your sending off two or three couples at a time ; but it is important that the whole batch should be despatched before the close of the present emigration season. The New Zealand Government will defray the whole cost of their passage (including provisions) of these emigrants from Gottenburgh to London or Glasgow, and thence to New Zealand; and Mr. Morrison will be authorized to make the necessary payments. Should this experiment result in establishing a continuous stream of emigration from this country to New Zealand, the Government will inform you of the extent of assistance they will in future afford to emigrants, and will be prepared to enter into the usual agreements with your firm as their agents. I have, &c., I. E. Featherston, One of the New Zealand Commissioners, and a Member of the New Zealand Government. Messrs. Henderson, Brothers, Gottenburgh.