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1874. NEW ZEALAND.

IMMIGRATION TO NEW ZEALAND. (LETTERS TO THE AOENT-G-ENERAL.)

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by Command of Sis Excellency.

No. 1. Memorandum No. 19G, 1873, for the Agent-General. Herewith is forwarded copy of a memorandum from the Immigration Officer at Greymouth, in which it is stated that certain persons nominated through his office were refused passages by your local agent at Galway. I trust that you will call upon your agent for a full report of this case, for it is evident that an extreme hardship has been inflicted on the nominees, apparently through his action. It is needless for me to point out to you the very injurious effect it wiLl have on the system of nominations if your local agents take upon themselves to refuse passages to nominated persons on insufficient grounds. If any of the persons named in the passage orders which I now return to you are willing to emigrate to this Colony, I request that they may bo provided with passages in terms of the Nominated Regulations. The matter was brought under the notice of Parliament a few days ago by the Member for the district, and I regret I was obliged to state that no communication had been received from you which would enable me to account for these eleven nominated immigrants not being provided with passages to the Colony. You will observe that the Colony has sustained the loss of six immigrants through the conduct of your agent, and considerable dissatisfaction has naturally arisen in the minds of tho nominators and their friends on the West Coast at the treatment they have received, and their consequent disappointment. G. Maurice O'Borke. Immigration Office, Wellington, N.Z., 22nd September, 1873.

Enclosure in No. 1. Immigration Officer. Greymouth, to the Under Secretary for Immigration. Immigration Office, Greymouth, Bth September, 1873. On the 2nd January last I granted free passages to eight single women (applications 29 and 31), and took bills for the passages of three men (applications 2S and 30). To-day the applicants, Patrick and Martin Flaherty, of Callaghan's Creek, have brought the warrants back to me, together with letters from their friends in Ireland, stating that the sub-agent at Galway, Mr. Fynn, had refused passages to Ihe nominees, on the ground that in the case of single women a separate warrant should have been procured for each nominated emigrant; and in the other cases, that the names of the nominees should have been on the bills. I enclose the returned warrants herewith.. Six of the nominees having prepared for emigrating, and finding they could not get passages to New Zealand, have gone to America. The remaining five arc waiting to hear again from their friends here. It is much to be regretted that any difficulty has been placed in the way of these people, as I have good reasons for believing they would have been the commencement of a large stream of nominated immigrants from the same district. The Flahertys are representatives of the best class of settlers on the coast, and they assure me that thousands of people in the part of Ireland they come from would emigrate to New Zealand in preference to America if any facilities were afforded them of doing so. Patrick Flaherty, in addition to the eleven nominated in January, has applied for six more passages (application enclosed for your information), but does not like to pay the passage-money until assured that no further difficulties will be raised at home about the passages. I intend to visit Callaghau's Creek neighbourhood aa soon as I have your reply, and I shall bo glad to have a letter from you which I can show to the Flahertys and others, to assist me in removing the unfavourable feeling which has been caused by the action of the agent in Galway. James Wylde, The Under Secretary for Immigration, "Wellington. Immigration Officer. I—D. 1.