11

D.—2

ships, I have the honor to call your attention to my previous communications on the subject,* in which I pointed out the difficulty of my exercising discretion in the matter of allowing such passengers to proceed in emigrant vessels. Under the provisions of the present shipping contract, which were arranged in the colony, I am, as 1 have pointed out in previous letters, practically unable to deal with the matter. Even if I could make searching inquiry into the character of every young man applying for a saloon passage in an emigrant ship, yet the fact remains that the influences which bring about an undesirable state of things by his being on board, still exist, notwithstanding that the young man may be proved with every certainty to be steady and of good character previous to the time he embarks. It therefore appears to me that, even if a young man is of good character, yet there still exists a very considerable objection to his being on board a ship in which he must, as a saloon passenger, be every day in close proximity (for the single women occupy half the poop-deck, and the saloon passengers the other half) to a large number of single women of a class perhaps inferior to his own. I would venture to suggest, therefore, as the practice is considered and proved to be of an objectionable character, that in the next shipping contract (if any is made), single men, as saloon and second-class passengers, be excluded altogether; for experience has shown me that it is quite impossible to make inquiries as to the character of such passengers of such a conclusive nature as to insure an emigrant ship freedom from the evils complained of by Dr. Russell, as well as by several other of our staff surgeons. I have, &c., Julius Vogel, The Hon. the Minister for Immigration, Wellington. Agent-General.

No. 23. The Agent-General to the Hon. the Minister for Immigration. Sir, — 7, Westminster Chambers, London, 11th November, 1879. Referring to your letter No. 88, of the 29th March last, in which you requested me to require each person receiving a free or assisted passage to sign an undertaking of the truth of his representations, and making himself liable for the payment of the passage in case such representations prove false, I have the honor to transmit herewith twenty of the forms which have accordingly been prepared under Messrs. Mackrell and Co/s advice, and which have lately been brought into use. Under this arrangement the emigrant has to complete the form of application, with the conditions attached thereto, and the form and conditions have then to be forwarded to the colony, so that the declaration of the emigrant can be confirmed by him, in presence of the Immigration Officer, on his arrival, and can then be used against him in case any of his representations prove thereafter to be false. The certificate and schedule mentioned in the conditions are retained at this office for future reference if necessary. A number of the emigrants by the ships "Canterbury" (for Otago), " Westland" (for Canterbury), and "Earl Granville" (for Auckland) have used these forms, which I propose to forward direct to the Immigration Officers of the district to which the emigrants are proceeding. I have, &c, Julius Vogel, The Hon. the Minister for Immigration, Wellington. Agent-General.

Enclosure in No. 23. Emigration to New Zealand. Free and assisted passages granted by the Government of New Zealand are subject to the following conditions and regulations : — 1. The classes eligible are married and single farm labourers; also single women, such as cooks, housemaids, nurses, general servants, dairy-maids, &c., who are not under fifteen, nor over thirty-five years of age; also, persons nominated by their friends in New Zealand, provided such nominations have been approved by the Government in the colony. In all cases they must be sober, industrious, of good moral character, of sound mind, free from bodily defect or deformity, in good health, able to perform the duties of the occupations to which they belong, and must be going to the colony to reside and settle there. The charge for ship's outfit must be paid in advance. (See clause 12.) 2. The Government will not give passages to families having more than three children under twelve years of age; this does not, however, apply to approved nominated families if the number of children and their ages are correctly given in the nomination. Persons who have been in Australia or New Zealand are not in any case eligible.

* No. 8, D.-2,1879.