D.—No. 3,

12

PAPERS RELATING TO THE INTRODUCTION

the block, we referred to him to recommend the particular blocks to be reserved for these immigrants, it being understood that the existence of some totara bush on the sections is an essential requisite, so that immigrants may, while executing Government contracts for sleepers, &c, be at the same time clearing their own land. It will, in our opinion, be necessary for the Government to make advances to these new immigrants for the first two or three months after they are placed upon their future homesteads, such advances to be made in the shape of rations and such building materials and working tools as are essential to their houses and to the performance of the work in which they are to be engaged ; these advances to be repaid to the Government by weekly deductions from their future earnings. We think it probable that Mr. Stewart could point out among the Danish residents in the neighbourhood of Palmerston, of whom there are several, one who would act as the medium of communication between these pioneer immigrants and the Government, and who would also direct them in their dealings with the outside world (a matter of some little difficulty at first, as apparently none of the new comers could speak the English language when shipped on the " Celoeno "), and we should recommend the employment of such a person for, say, six months,at a reasonable rate of remuneration. Mr. Stewart should, however, in our opinion, be made the sole arbiter of the rate of wages or the price of contracts to be offered to these men, such wages and contract prices to be the ordinary rates which obtain in the country, and of which Mr. Stewart's long experience in public works should make him a good judge. As at the time of the arrival of the " Celceno " the musquito season will be at its height, and as the majority of the wives of the immigrants are young women with very young children, many of them infants in arms, we think it would be well to offer to the men the choice of going forward to the Man.iwatu by themselves for a few weeks, in order to build their " whares" and make other necessary preparations for the reception of their wives and children, in which case the wives and children could occupy the barracks and continue to receive rations from the Government, and their husbands would probably be ready to receive them by the time of the arrival of the next batch of immigrants, when they could be sent up by the steamer which would convey the men of the second party to their destination. We presume that the steamer " Luna " would be available to convey the immigrants shortly after their arrival. Tho " Luna " could, wo believe, be taken with ease and safety up to Ngawhakarau, where the immigrants would be landed within nine miles of their destination, and with a good level dray road the whole way to their future homes. If the "Luna" is not available, the services of some other small steamer should be engaged. Mr. Halcombe will undertake to provide for the reception of the immigrants in AVellington, and the due care of the immigrants while quartered there ; and if, as we would advise, Mr. Stewart be instructed to make provision for their reception at Manawatu, to determine the works on which they are to be employed, and to furnish the Government with a list of articles of food, tools, Ac., which it would be advisable to send with them from Wellington, the Government would, in our opinion, have made every reasonable provision for the present comfort and future success of this important experiment, the expense of which, with the exception of the cost of the passage from England, the use of the p.s. "Luna," and the temporary employment of an interpreter and book-keeper at Manawatu, should be entirely recouped by the immigrants themselves. AYe have not thought it worth while to suggest what course should be adopted in the case of immigrants such as the baker, the machinist, and the tailor, whose previous avocations may have unfitted them for the rougher work of bush clearing and splitting. The inducements held out of two [query one] years' guaranteed work and an immediate location on the future freehold will probably determine those who are physically able to encounter the hardships of bush life to accept the terms offered, and to wait the sufficient increase of population, which will enable them to follow with profit the trade to which they have been brought up. The alternative will be for the Government to find employment for such men in their particular trades, which will probably not be a difficult matter. We beg to enclose a map of the Manawatu District, which will more clearly explain the position of the district into which it is proposed to place these immigrants. We have, &c, Robert Pharazyn. The Hon. the Minister for Public AVorks. A. Follett Halcombe.

No. 13. Memorandum by the Hon. Dr. Featherston. With reference to the suggestions made by Messrs Pharazyn and Halcombe for the location of the Norwegians at Palmerston, Manawatu, I have to make the following remarks: — 1. In regard to their proposal that each family should be allowed to select fifty acres, and should commence to pay for the land at the end of the third year, I think that this would be establishing a very mischievous and dangerous precedent. Terms granted to the Norwegians could scarcely be refused to all future immigrants. All the Provincial Government is prepared to do is to allow each family to squat on a piece of land of from five to ten acres, which has already been put up to auction, upon the understanding—lst, That they can at any time purchase it at the upset price (but not by instalments) of £1 an acre; and, 2ndly, That if their allotments should bo applied for and purchased by any other party, the full value of any improvements they may have made shall be recouped to them. There would under this system be no selling of lands on deferred payments, and you get rid of the objection to Government becoming creditors of such a class. I have no doubt the whole of these Norwegians will buy their allotments within a few months. 2. Ido not think the Government should guarantee employment for any specified time. Every possible __.t_uce_nent should be held out to them to accept private engagements, or to work on their