AGENT-GENERAL, LONDON.

5

D.—No. la.

probably afford it, that they don't constitute the most eligible class of emigrants, and that they can easily at any time leave the Colony. Single women and young married couples are fixtures ; and, as the indebtedness of each individual will be trifling, and a large number of them will be employed on public works, there ought to be little or no loss on the promissory notes. 3. Either party may determine the agreement —the Agent-General on giving six months' notice; the Contractor on giving two months'. 4. I have also reserved to myself the right from time to time to alter and modify the terms and conditions of the arrangement. If Ministers therefore should disapprove of the number of Scandinavians arranged for, or of the terms and conditions, the remedy is already provided. I must not omit to mention that if the Scandinavians embark at Hamburg, the cost of the passage for married couples and single men will be only £10 per adult, while Messrs Shaw, Savill, and Co. have been charging £14 15s. per adult to Canterbury. I regret exceedingly that time will not permit me to enter into and explain more fully these arrangements. I have, &c, I. E. Featherston, The Hon. W. Gisborne, Wellington, N.Z. Agent-General.

Enclosure 1 in No. 4. Mr. C. B. Caetee to Dr. Featheeston. Sic,— London, Ist November, 1871. I have the honor to report that in accordance with your instructions, I proceeded to Hayle, in Cornwall, and waited on Captain A. Anthony, the gentleman to whom Mr. Magniac, in his letter to myself, dated September 13, referred me to. I found Captain Anthony to be possessed of a minute knowledge of the various rural localities in Cornwall, and, from his position and profession as mining broker and inspector of mines, well acquainted with the condition of the labouring people in his neighbourhood. With his concurrence I advertised in five of the local newspapers for from fifty to one hundred labouring families; I also had large posters, to the same purport, printed and distributed extensively in the outlying districts. These notices have been kept before the public for about six weeks, during which time I offered to attend and give explanations at meetings where forty or fifty persons would attend. The result was that there were a great number of inquiries and applications, but out of the whole of them there were only about twelve formal applications, and two applicants who signed and sent in certificates in due form. In accounting for this paucity of applications, it must be borne in mind that there is not that redundancy of labour in Cornwall and other parts of England which existed twelve months ago. In Cornwall, the recent great rise in the price of tin has stimulated the search for and production of that valuable ore, to such an extent as to impart additional value to miners' work, and increase the demand for unskilled labour; add to that a general revival of trade throughout England, and unceasing emigration to the United States and Canada, and it will be admitted that the difficulties in the way of procuring emigrants have increased; but what operated most against my procuring eligible labouring families in Cornwall, were the terms I had to offer, and the poverty of the people I had to deal with. My instructions were that each adult emigrant should pay down in cash £5, and sign a promissory note for £2 10s., making a total of £7 10s. for his passage money to Wellington. Under these regulations a family consisting of four adults would, with the expense of mess utensils, bedding, and travelling to the port of embarkation, be required to have in cash a sum of at least £30; yet this is an amount that nine out of every ten agricultural labourers in Cornwall, and other parts of England and Scotland as well, never expect to be possessed of. As regards Cornwall, the low rates of wages paid there to labouring men are higher than the rates paid in many rural districts of Great Britain, and yet the Cornish labourer can barely make all ends meet; nor are the small farmers here, wdio pay such high rents and local taxes, much better off, as may be understood from the rate of wages and rent of land given, as under : — 1. Farm labourers employed by farmers all the year round, generally receive 2s. per day, wet and dry, and a small cottage to live in. 2. Ordinary labourers, suitable for farm work and road-making, are paid 2s. 6d. per day for each day they work. 3. Miners, who make good roadmakers, can earn by piece work about 16s. per week. It must, in connection with these rates of wages, be taken into account that many of the three classes of labourers I have named are, from the fluctuations of the English labour market, often out of employment. 4. Young women, working in open sheds, manipulating the crushed tin ore, amidst damp and wet, are paid from 2s. 6d. to 3s. 6d. per week. 5. Small farmers pay from 50s. to 60s. per acre for their farm lands, and have to pay from 15s. to 20s. per acre for rates, tithes, and taxes. Near the towns the rent of land is even higher than this. The result is, that it is only a largo family, with the father and grown-up sons working like common labourers, that enables this class to live a little better than the ordinary labouring man; but not, as a rule, to save money. Two small farmers, while I was in Cornwall, had their house furniture, farming implements, and stock distrained upon, and sold off to pay their rent. They wanted to emigrate but had not the means to do so. 6. One respectable man, a hard-working general labourer, told me that, though generally employed at 2s. 6d. per day, with his small family and the greatest economy he could only contrive to save 6_d.