D.—2

44

mess to have, as it were, a small compartment of its own in which the meals were eaten, with a sliding table, which, when not required, could be lifted and fastened close to the roof of the cabin. Tho whole arrangements of tho three compartments it would, in our opinion, bo advisable to adopt in all immigrant vessels. We have much pleasure in recommending the following gratuities to be paid to the officers : — To Captain Rankin, £25; to the surgeon-superintendent (Dr. Pearde), £50, and 10s. per adult landed ; to the chief officer, £10 ; to the purser or officer who served out the provisions, £5 ; together with the usual other gratuities to matron, constables, Ac, and schoolmaster, who appears to have given every satisfaction. In closing the report, the Commissioners beg to express their high estimate of the zeal and capacity displayed by Captain Rankin, the surgeon-superintendent (Dr. Pearde), and other officers of the ship, and have little hesitation in attributing the healthy condition in which the immigrants were landed, and tho good order and cleanliness which prevailed on board the ship, in a large measure to Captain Rankin and Dr. Pearde being total abstainers, and are of opinion that it would be of great advantage to immigrants if men of a similar stamp predominated in the service. W. H. Peaeson, A E. W. Toeath, M.R.C.S., >■ Commissioners. Thos. Thomson, )

No. 47. The Hon. J. Vogel to the Agent-Geneeal. (No. 129.) Sic, — Immigration Office, Wellington, 7th May, 1874. I have the honor to forward herewith copies of the following documents relating to the ship " Woodlark," which arrived in Port Nicholson upon 29th March ultimo :— 1. Report of Immigration Commissioners. 2. Report by Surgeon-Superintendent. 3. Memorandum by tho Immigration Officer addressed to the Superintendent of Wellington, and His Honor's minutes thereupon. 4. Report upon immigrants ex " Woodlark," by the officer in charge of the depot at Wanganui. 5. Certified list of deaths upon the voyage and in quarantine. 6. Memorandum by the Immigration Officer addressed to the Under Secretary for Immigration. 2. I regret to have to call your particular attention to the very unfavourable character of the Commissioners' and Immigration Officer's report relative to some of the immigrants by this vessel, and which have been fully borne out by the subsequent conduct of several of the single women, both here and at Wanganui (see report of officer in charge of depot, forwarded herewith). Drunken, dissipated, and immoral, they reflect most strongly and unfavourably upon the department which selected and shipped them to this Colony. 3. The Commissioners' report with regard to the medical inspection of the immigrants by this vessel, which is borne out by the surgeon-superintendent vide paragraphs 3 and 4 of his report, is very unsatisfactory. They speak of this inspection as only a " cursory one," while the surgeon stated " medical inspection was an impossibility." Under such arrangements, I am not surprised that ship after ship arrives with disease on board and w-ith large mortality on the passage. Tour attention has again and again been directed to the insufficiency of the medical inspection, but the case of the " Woodlark " proves to a demonstration that no practical result has followed, but that the inspection is still confined to " a hurried march past Dr. Humphries." 4. I have also to direct your consideration to paragraph 9 of the Commissioners' report, in which they allude to the embarkation of the emigrants " in a dense fog," and the discomfort consequent thereupon. Tho surgeon, you will observe, expresses his opinion that " the spread of the scarlet fever Was greatly accelerated by the dampness of the bedding and clothing, caused by exposure to the fogs. It may sometimes no doubt be necessary, in consequence of shipping arrangements, to embark emigrants upon an unfavourable day as regards weather, but it appears that in this case the ship was not ready for their reception, as " the bedding and luggage, w-as strewn about the decks for hours, exposed to the falling fog, whilst the people themselves were huddled.together in groups wherever they could find the least shelter, many of them not having anything to eat until late in the evening." 5. With regard to the children's dietary scale, upon which the Commissioners and the surgeonsuperintendent remark at some length, I have already instructed you, in my letter No. 37, of llth February, to the effect that your ships should be victualled according to the number of children on board, and not according to the number of statute adults ; and you have no doubt carried my instructions into effect. The report of Dr. Meadows is altogether a very valuable one, and I trust w-ill receive at your hands the consideration it merits. 6. The Immigration Officer directs attention, in a memorandum, copy of which is enclosed, to a most extraordinary proceeding on the part of your agent at Portadow-n, Ireland, who, it would appear, issued contract tickets for " AVoodlark " to emigrants proceeding to Canterbury, by which ship they embarked at the very time when a vessel for Canterbury must have been lying in the docks. I must request that you will inquire into and report upon this matter. 7. In conclusion, I must impress upon you that the character of the class of immigrants now arriving in the Colony is a source of very grave anxiety to the Government, and is creating great uneasiness in the Colony. I have already been officially informed that the shipment by the " Asia" to Dunedin includes a number of girls out of the Cork workhouse, some of whom are notoriously loose. I.am cabling you on the subject, drawing your attention to the report of the proceedings of the Cork Board of Guardians, a copy or precis of which the Super-