D.—l

48

I have looked over the list of sub-agents furnished in your letter of 4th October, 1872, and also the list of newspapers in which you insert advertisements concerning emigration to New Zealand. It appears that of your 116 sub-agents the apportionment is as follows : —To England, 34; to Wales, 1; to Ireland, 8; to Scotland, 73. Whether this is the most judicious apportionment that could be made for the promotion of emigration, I can only judge of by the results ; and seeing that last year their efforts only secured one-half the emigrants the Colony required, I would strongly suggest a reapportionment of these officers. Tour advertisements in the newspapers again are—ln English papers, 75; in Welsh, 8; in Irish, 15; in Scotch, 28. I would have passed over this were it not for what appears a great oversight on your part. You advertise in six Belfast papers, five Londonderry Dapers, and a few papers in adjoining counties, to the exclusion of such places as Dublin, Waterford, Cork, Limerick, Gralway, &c. This is one of those things which gives rise to dissatisfaction out here, and it, to my mind, cannot be justified. I am the more surprised at this, as you had an agent (Mr. Farnall) for Ireland, for several months before the return was made up, who ought to have known that his duties as such should not have been limited to advertising in one particular district. I trust, however, that your having, in pursuance of instructions issued in November last, established a Central Emigration Agency for Ireland in Dublin, the objections here noted will have been removed. You have not informed the Government who your agent is in Dublin, or how he is working. I desire to be informed on these points in your reply to this Memorandum. It has occurred to me that, if sufficient Irish emigrants offered to fill a vessel, it might be a saving of expense to ship them direct from the nearest Irish seaport; but while I mention it, Ido not desire to interfere with the exercise of your own discretion with regard to the most suitable port of embarkation for such emigrants. I mentioned in the early part of this Memorandum, that I was aware of the competition to which you were exposed in procuring emigrants for New Zealand. As an instance, I may refer to what came under my eye yesterday. In perusing a west of Ireland newspaper I read the Queensland AgentGeneral's advertisements, in which he offers " Free passages to agricultural labourers, married and single, and to female domestic servants, without undertakings to repay the cost of passage." With such competition as this, I can well understand the difficulties you have to contend with. Of course you have power under the instructions of November last to offer equally advantageous terms, but I do not suppose you will take advantage of that power so long as you can fill your ships with emigrants who are contributors to the cost of their passages. It is hardly necessary to remind you that, both in the interests of the emigrants as well as of the Colony, it is desirable that the arrivals here shall be in greater numbers per month when winter is over than during that season; there is always comparative slackness in the labour market duringjthe winter months. I cannot conclude without expressing my very great regret, in which I am joined by my colleagues, at hearing by the telegrams of your illness last month; but more recent telegrams, lam gratified to say, are much more favourable. Gr. Matjeice O'Eoeke.

No. 52. Memokandum No. 30, 1873, for the Agent-G-e:nteea:l, London. Heeewith is forwarded for your information copies of a letter from the Immigration Officer at Dunedin, and my reply, on the subject of the settlement of the Scandinavian immigrants by the ship " Palmerston." Immigration Office, Gr. Maueice O'Bobke. Wellington, New Zealand, 14th February, 1873.

Enclosure 1 in No. 52. Mr. C. Allan to the Undeb Secbetaey for Immigbation. Sie, — Immigration Office, Dunedin, 31st January, 1873. The Scandinavian immigrants per ship " Palmerston," from Hamburg, having now been disposed of, I have the honor, for the information of the Honorable the Minister for Immigration, to submit the following report on the character of the immigrants, their suitability for supplying the requirements of the Colony, and other suggestions that may be useful in the event of any future shipments from the same sort. The classification of the emigrants embarked at Hamburg was as follows:— Adults. Married couples, with their children ... ... ... ... 147 Single women ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 49 Single men ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 32 Total landed ... ... ... ... 228 Nationalities— From Denmark ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 70 From Norway ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 50 From Germany ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 108 Total 228