D.—IA.

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with which certificates of character are obtained. Ido not doubt that, as a rule, the mere signing of a printed certificate would be regarded as much more a matter of form than would be the preparation of a written certificate. The unstereotyped terms of a written document are calculated to suggest many considerations as to the fitness or unfitness of an applicant, as to which an ordinary printed certificate would be wholly unsuggestive. It should never be forgotten by the department, that it would be better to incur all the expense of a passage in order to keep away from the colony an unsuitable emigrant, than to pay it to a shipowner for taking him out. lam not sure that it would be desirable to adopt, in England, the plan of requiring a certificate from " applicant's minister or clergyman." In Scotland, I believe, the people who are likely to emigrate are more directly in communication with their ministers than is generally the case in England. I think, therefore, that you should state that a certificate from a minister of religion would be preferred, but that it is not absolutely required. Similarly, the certificate of the applicant's last employer should be considered desirable, though it should not be stipulated for as indispensable. On the face of the instructions sent to applicants, it should be shown that you attach much importance to the written certificates. 5. I am, however, of opinion that even with a system of written certificates you do not secure the data for that full measure of careful discrimination and selection of emigrants which is desirable; and I do not see anything to invalidate the opinion, so often expressed in the colony, that, wherever possible, personal selection is greatly to be preferred, though, where this is not practicable, it should be optional to accept applicants without it. 6. I find that Mr. Carter has frequently visited different parts of the country to approve of applicants, and that the same course has been adopted by Mr. Barclay, Mr. Farnail, Mr. Birch, and Mr. Seaton. The reason why these efforts have not been so successful as they would otherwise have been, is that each officer has been far too much left to pursue his own course. I want to establish as a system the principle of visiting districts whence good emigrants are obtainable, which principle I know, spasmodically adopted, has never received your approval. To that end, it should be one of the regulations of the department —and it should be made known as widely as possible, as well as stated in the papers sent to applicants —that whenever twenty persons, or, if you prefer it, even a smaller number, send you a petition stating that they wish to emigrate to New Zealand, you will despatch one of your officers to see them. The form of petition you should have printed. You should arrange for its being readily obtainable in all parts of the country, and you should announce that a copy or copies will be posted to any applicant. When applicants state that they desire to go to a particular part of New Zealand, the officer sent to them should be the one best fitted to give them information as to that part. It should be the duty of the officer to appoint a time for meeting the applicants. He should have large powers of approval, subject to final approval by yourself. He should collect the certificates, authorize the sugical examinations (except in cases where he is satisfied of the physical unfitness of the applicant), and report to you. Further, when he discovers in a district a general desire to emigrate to the colony, he should endeavour to make of the first applicants the nucleus of a larger number, who, if sent out together, would be likely to enjoy in their new home the old personal friendships that have existed here, as well as the material advantages offered to them there. 7. The officers to whom lam now referring should, as a rule, be able to lecture ; and it should be your duty to determine where and how they are to employ themselves. When you have not applications for their presence, you should direct them to visit such places as you consider fit for lecturing in. I attach so much importance to this personal inspection, selection, and giving of information about New Zealand, that I shall recommend the Government to send home several gentlemen for the purposes I have explained. Meanwhile, I propose that the officers available for those purposes shall be Messrs. Carter, Burton, and Holloway (if an arrangement is made with him) for your agency ; and, as I will presently explain, that Mr. Adam and Mr. Barclay shall be attached to the Scotch agency. 111. —Surgical Examination. 8. You are aware that there is a strong opinion in the colony that the surgical examination of intending emigrants has been insufficient; and that it has been urged upon the Government to require that that examination, in each case, should be thorough and exhaustive, modelling it upon the plan adopted for life assurance, or for the passing of recruits, if not carrying it to the same extent as is done in those instances. In forwarding to you recommendations to that effect, I guarded myself from expressing an approval of them to their full extent; and I know that you are of opinion that such an examination would interfere with obtaining desirable emigrants. I have, therefore, to instruct you to adopt a medium plan. On the one hand, you should recollect that the colony, which proposes to incur large expense in sending out emigrants, has the right to require the knowledge that they are healthy persons: on the other hand, that, provided that the colony is duly protected, there is no desire to insist upon anything that can be offensive to the feelings of intending emigrants. Whilst, then, you should insist upon a satisfactory examination, you should feel yourself at liberty to direct that it be modified to such an extent as you consider desirable, from the forms generally employed in behalf of assurance companies. In other words, I mean that you should prepare a code of instructions to surgeons, setting forth particularly the nature and extent of the examination you think desirable ; and that you should make regulations by which surgeons would be guided in reporting to you, and by which you would guide yourself in case of a report being informal or not satisfactory. There is very great difficulty in the way of paying for such reports. If the applicant pays the fee, the surgeon may not consider that he is employed by the department; and if you directly employ him, there is the danger of having to pay for the examination of many applicants who are rejected. If you make it a condition that you will pay only for those who are accepted, an inducement to report favourably will be offered. I think a medium course may well be adopted: that you should pay as part of the fee a small sum, for which it would not be worth the while of a surgeon to seek to make examinations, but which would enable him to consider that you were employing him, as well as that he was employed by the persons he was examining. I understand from Mr. Carter that surgeons receive from Is. to 2s. 6d.