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No. 73. Memorandum No. 65, 1873, for the Agent-General, London. The various circumstances embodied in the reports of the Immigration Commissioners upon the ships which have arrived in the Colony under the administration of the London Agency, have led me to the conclusion that the charter-party might be materially modified in the direction of insuring the health and increasing the comfort of the immigrants. You will observe that the necessity of this is very fully borne out by the memorandum of the surgeon-superintendent of the " Charlotte Gladstone," " Forfarshire," and other ships, which conveyed a large number of immigrants, and which have been forwarded to you with other papers. Leaving the question generally to your own discretion, with a knowledge of tho sufferings and discomfort which have been almost universal in the ships engaged under the existing charter-party, I would especially point out certain matters which should without delay be remedied. 1. In ships of the character which seem to be exclusively employed in our service, the emigrants' deck should be considered for purposes of measurement for statute adults as the " lower passengers deck" of" The Passengers Act, 1855," and 18 clear superficial feet of deck allowed for each adult. 2. The hospitals should be on deck, either in the poop, round-house, or deck-house. 3. The issuing-room should not be on the "passengers' deck." It has been found impossible to keep the compartment in which the issuing-room is situated at all even decently clean, with 40 or 50 men tramping backwards and forwards several times a day. 4. Section 6 of the charter-party should be strictly enforced, and the ship in every way ready for the passengers twenty-four hours before their embarkation. 5. There should be a bathroom for the use of the married women and children. 6. The scale of rations should be altered, and salt provisions only issued twice a week ; Australian and New Zealand preserved moat is quite as cheap, and much more nutritious. Potatoes should be more frequently issued, and lime juice not only in the tropics, but during the whole voyage. Tho dietary scale for children should be as liberal as possible, and a small quantity of live stock should bo provided to be at the disposal of the surgeon-superintendent in case of sickness. I need scarcely refer to the case of the prosecution of the " Glenlora " to impress upon you the necessity of a close inspection of all stores shipped, any rubbish being apparently considered by the contractors as good enough for emigrants. 7. In the case of the "Bebington," your attention was especially called to the report of the Eoyal Commission appointed to inquire into the deaths on board that ship. I desire especially to impress upon you the necessity of carrying out the recommendation of the Commission re the supply of medical comforts, the alteration in the scale of medicines, and the desirability of all medicines and surgical appliances being obtained from Apothecaries Hall. 8. It appears to me very necessary, in order to protect the interests of the Colony, that to proportion of the passage money should be pa\ rable in the Colony after the arrival of the vessels. Under the present system we are entirely at the mercy of the contractors, having only, in case of serious lapses such as have occurred on board the " Forfarshire" and " Glenlora," a remedy against the captain personally, who, in the first instance mentioned at all events, was entirely exonerated from blame. Immigration Office, Wellington, New Zealand, G. Maueice O'Horke. 12th April, 1872.

No. 74 Memorandum No. 66, 1873, for the Agent-General, London. Herewith is forwarded copy of a letter from Mr. James A. Waleott, agent for Messrs. Gibbs, Bright, and Co., with reference to the conveyance of emigrants per steamers, via Cape of Good Hope. You have been already informed, in telegram of 12th April, that the Government think it desirable that all emigrants for New Zealand should come direct. Immigration Office, New Zealand, "Wellington, G. Maurice O'Rorke. 12th April, 1873.

Enclosure 1 in No. 74. Mr. James A. Walcott to the Hon. tho Minister for Immigbatioit, Wellington. Sic,— Wellington, 28th Mareli, 1873. I have the honor, on behalf of Messrs. Gibbs, Bright, and Co., of Liverpool, and other gentlemen .associated with them in the formation of a company to run a line of full-powered steamers between England and Australia, to submit for your consideration the following proposal for conducting immigration between England and New Zealand. The gentlemen above referred to, propose to build a fleet of six steamers of s,oooitons each, to be fitted with all the most modern improvements in machinery, so as to steam the distance between Liverpool and Melbourne in 40 to 42 days, and to be provided with accommodation for a large number of passengers. It is proposed that one of the steamers should leave Liverpool«very month, and on arrival in Hobson's Bay they would be met by branch steamers to convey the immigrants for other Colonies to their respective destinations. The Company would be prepared to conduct the immigration between England and New Zealand at a low through rate of passage money, and with the view of meeting any objection that might be raised on the ground of the vessels stopping at an intermediate port, would agree to forego payment of the passage money of any immigrants who left the ship at Hobson's Bay. I may be permitted to point out to you that the advantages offered by steamers of the class above

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