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No. 9. The Officer in Charge, Jackson's Bay Settlement, to the Under Secretary for Immigration. Sir,— Hokitika, 12th April, 1878. I have the honor to forward herewith, for the information of the Hon. the Minister for Immigration, statement of the accounts of the special settlement at Jackson's Bay, from its commencement to the 31st December, 1877. With regard to the sum of £4,587 10s. 9d., comprising the indebtedness of the settlers for stores, and which appeared to the Hon. Mr. Macandrew as unusually large, I find, on investigation, that this includes a number of other items, viz.:— £ s. d. Amount of indebtedness of settlers .. .. ~ .. 3,223 14 4 Cottages built by Government for settlers .. .. .. 840 0 0 Blankets, clothes, &c., supplied Italians before arrival at settlement 28 4 0 Rent of land charged in account .. .. .. .. 495 12 5 Total .. .. .. .. .. £4,587 10 9 In looking over the store account as a whole, I find that what appeared to be a large profit made by the Government for the sale of stores arose from the working expenses fairly chargeable to that account not being included in the former statement. You will therefore observe that, by charging only the expenditure that has been incurred in connection with the stores, the accompanying account shows as a result that the loss on the sale of Government stores is £41 19s. 2d., instead of a profit, so that to the fullest extent the original agreement made in the conditions of settlement has been carried out —viz., that goods were to be supplied at cost price. With regard to the sum of £3,223 14s. 4d. due to the Government by the settlers for stores, I beg to inform you that the sum of £1 is being deducted by the Resident Agent from the earnings of each settler per month (until further instructions on the matter are received), in accordance with section 5 of the " Notice to Settlers " re the state of Government stores, and which runs as follows :— " Government may deduct from any payments to the settlers rental for their sections, and. a rate to be fixed by the Resident Agent on account of their indebtedness to the Government. The maxium deduction on all accounts not to exceed £1 per month, the remaining earnings to be paid as before indicated. The Under Secretary for Immigration, I have, &c., Wellington. Edward Patten. P.S.—lt will take about two years to recover the debts due to the Government.—E. P.

Enclosure in No. 9. Statement of Accounts, Government Stores, Jackson's Bay and Okura. Dr. •ec, 1877. £ s. d. To goods aa per stores account from January, 1875, to 31st December, 1877 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 19,297 15 7 Cr. £ s. d. £ s. d~ To Cash remitted to Provincial Treasurer, Hokitika... 10,926 12 1 Value of goods expended on Government account 1,704 5 3 Cash paid by Resident Agent for goods ... 1,337 15 6 . 13,968 12 10 Cash indebtedness of settlers for stores ... 3,223 14 4 Houses built by Government for settlers ... 840 0 0 Goods obtained by Italian settlers before arrival on settlement ... ... ... ... 28 4 0 Rent of land charged in settlers' current account with store ... ... ... ... 495 12 5 Sundry accounts ... ... ... ... 269 13 0 Contra accounts ... ... ... ... 259 18 6 Stock on hand 192 0 6 — 5,309 2 9 19,277 15 7 Balance 41 19 2 19,277 15 41 19 7 2 £19,319 14