D.—2a

14

themselves. As you are aware, the supervision of emgrant ships is now made a department of the Board of Trade. From the insight you have had personally into the mode of procedure of the Emigration Officers of the port of London, we believe you can bear testimony to the zeal and honesty of purpose with which they discharge their duty; and with regard to ourselves, as contractors for the conveyance of your emigrants to the various settlements in New Zealand, we leave it to you to inform your Government what opinion you as their reprensentative in this country have of us and our good faith in carrying out what we undertake to do; and further, whether in the course of your experience in dealing with us, you have found us in any one single instance fail to act up to the strict letter of the contract existing between us. We have, &c, Shaw, Saville and Co. I. E. Featherston, Esq., Agent-General for New Zealand.

No. 3. The Agent-General to the Hon. the Colonial Secretary. 7, Westminster Chambers, Victoria Street, Westminster, S.W., Sir,— 9th May, 1873. Having referred to Mr. C. R. Carter for explanation, the complaints on the character of the emigrants by the " Christian McAusland" contained in the Hon. Mr. O'Rorke's Memorandum of 14th February last, I received on the Ist instant his report, a copy of which I beg to furnish herewith for the information of the Government. I have, &c, I. E. Featherston, The Hon. the Colonial Secretary, Wellington, N.Z. Agent-General. Enclosure in No. 3. Mr. Carter to Dr. Featherston. Sir, — 7, Westminster Chambers, London, Ist May, 1873. In reference to a Memorandum No. 31, dated 15th February, 1873, and enclosing Mr. Concannon's "Remarks on Voyage in Ship 'Christian McAusland,' " which you refer to me for explanation in respect of that part of Mr. Concannon's report which says —" The people, as I have already remarked, are of a very bad class, with, of course, exceptions, and are the most obscene and dissatisfied lot I have ever in a varied experience been connected with. Many of the women are scrofulous, have diseases of the arms and joints, and pulmonary affections are not uncommon. How they could (if they did) pass any skilfully conducted medical examination puzzles me." I have simply to state that as neither Mr. Concannon nor the Immigration Officer at Dunedin gives the names of the scrofulous and consumptive women, I am unable to say whether they were Government emigrants or Messrs. Brogden's people. If they were the former, they were only accepted after having conformed, as regards medical examination and character, to the strict regulations and conditions laid down for the use of this office. If they were the latter, still greater precautions were taken, for I saw nearly the whole of these (and the rest of Messrs. Brogden's emigrants) myself, and moreover the medical examination took place in a room adjoining the one I was in, the men being invariably stripped for that purpose. I was not even satisfied with the usual examination, for I gave instructions to the medical practitioners that any man afflicted with ruptures, varicose veins, or what in Cornwall is termed a " miner's heart," was to be rejected, though otherwise in good bodily health. I also directed the surgeons to sign no certificate for any person branded with the letter D. The result of the latter instruction, at Uxbridge, was that about ten men were rejected, from being branded as deserters. The medical examiners were appointed and paid by the firm of John Brogden and Sons. I knew them to be gentlemen of skill and standing in their professions; and I feel certain that they would be very much shocked and hurt if they were informed that their examinations had been a "farce," as assumed by Mr. O'Rorke in his covering Memorandum to Mr. Concannon's report. I have, however, named the subject to the medical gentleman who inspected the twenty-six adult men, with their wives and children, selected in London and sent out in the " Christian McAusland," and I herewith enclose his remarks on the same, and also others he examined. • The whole of the emigrants, male and female, were provided with medical certificates, which, if the Government desire it, may be seen and tested on application to the agents of Messrs. Brogden in New Zealand. As regards Mr. Concannon's assertion that the emigrants are of a very bad class, I entirely dissent from that gentleman's rash and unjustifiable assertion, and beg to refer you to my report of January last on the emigrants sent out under the contract with John Brogden and Sons. There were in the " Christian McAusland" about forty real navvies, and I am quite ready to admit that, as a class, they are rough in their manners, at times unruly, and require tact, mingled with kindness, to manage them ; but I never felt it my business to refuse to accept men of this stamp, which were the most suitable for the requirements of Messrs. Brogden in New Zealand. I believed them, as a body, to be hard-working and honest, and freely accepted them. It must he borne in mind that the gigantic public works of Great Britain have been reared up by this useful class of men, and that it is not the nice sort of emigrants who will be able or willing to make the heavy portions of the railways in New Zealand. Mr. Concannon, as was his duty, was present with tho Government Inspectors when the emigrants were mustered and passed; and as he made no objection to their physical appearance or their general