11

D.—3

Sub-Enclosure. Memorandum for the Agent-General for South Australia. Government of South Australia, 8, Victoria Chambers, 21st November, 1883. -Eeperring to your letter of the 14th instant, and enclosures, transmitted to Sir Francis Dillon Bell, K.C.M.G., Agent-General for New Zealand, to the correctness of every particular of which I can testify, I beg to add a statement which you may perhaps think it desirable to forward to Sir F. D. Bell. In September. 1882,1 paid a private visit to Plymouth in company with a Naval medical officer of high rank in the service (Deputy Inspector-General of Hospitals), and, he having expressed a wish to see the emigrants depot, I took him there ; our visit was quite unexpected, so that no special preparation was made for our reception. We found the depot nearly empty ; some twenty or thirty emigrants had just arrived for Queensland. This circumstance enabled us to inspect the dinners —it being just dinner-time—which consisted of roast beef, roast potatoes, and bread. The quality and quantity were tested by my companion. We then inspected the day-rooms of the single women, the married couples, and single men, the sanitary accommodation, and finally the dormitories of the different sexes, to the very top of the house. My friend, who, in the exercise of his duty both on board ship and in naval hospitals, was, in my opinion, a very competent judge of what was calculated to promote the health and comfort of the emigrants during their stay in the depot, expressed his amazement both at the food and other arrangements ; carefully examined a bed, and the walls and floors, which were scrupulously clean, and stated that he had no idea that emigrants were so well treated. Mr Arthur Hill's pamphlet on the depot, or rather depots, for there are two now, is so exhaustive that I will not repeat anything that he has said, except to remark that, when a batch of emigrants has been embarked, the depot is immediately restored to the state in which my friend and I found it. Not having received permission to mention his name, I cannot do so; but he is still on the Active List of the Boyal Navy. Saml. Deering, Assistant Agent-General and Assistant Emigration Agent.

No. 8. Sir Saul Samuel, K.C.M.G., to the Agent-General for New Zealand. Sir, — New South Wales' Office, 5, Westminster Chambers, 19th November, 1883. I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 13th instant, with copy of a " Eeport of the Commission appointed by the Government of New Zealand to inquire into the Case of the Emigrant Ship ' Oxford, , " a strong opinion being expressed in that report with regard to the state of the Plymouth Depot. I have much pleasure in complying with your request to furnish you with my experience of the general management and condition of the depot. Having on several occasions visited and carefully inspected that establishment immediately previous to and at the time of the embarkation of emigrants for New South Wales, I can, without hesitation, state that the depot is well adapted for the purpose for which it is used ; the internal arrangements are excellent, and there is an order, neatness, and perfect cleanliness about the establishment which do credit to the master and mistress in charge, The beds and bedding, which I have myself examined, are particularly clean. On the occasion of my last visit one set of emigrants had just left the depot for Queensland, and all the bedding had been changed for the reception of the people coming in to embark for New South Wales. On each occasion I conversed freely with the emigrants, and no complaint was made by them either with regard to the food or the arrangements generally, but, on the contrary, they all appeared well satisfied, and on their departure cheered heartily the managers of the depot. I have every reason to believe that the cases to which I refer were not exceptional. In consequence of allegations which had been made by discontented emigrants, I have procured reports relative to the depot from Dr. Francis Fox, Port Sanitary Medical Officer of Plymouth, and from several experienced medical officers going out in charge of emigrant ships under my direction. Copies of these reports I annex, by which it will be seen that the complaints which have been made are perfectly groundless. I consider, on the whole, that the depot and all the arrangements are as suitable and as complete as any that can bo procured, unless birldings are specially erected for the purpose. I may add that in many instances amongst the e-migrants there are discontented and disappointed persons, who are prone to make unfounded complaints against any one or all concerned in the management of the several emigration departments here. This discontent and disappointment may be brought about either by illness amongst their families, or having to endure discomforts to which they have been unaccustomed, but which are nevertheless inevitable in an emigrant ship or in a depot, with a large number of people strange to each other and gathered from various parts of the kingdom. I have, &c, The Agent-General for New Zealand. Saul Samuel.

Sub-Enclosure. Report by Dr. F. Fox to Sir Saul Samuel. Sir,— Plymouth, 26th July, 1883. Having been requested to inspect the emigration depot here with reference to its sanitary condition and its suitability in other respects, I have to make the following report: The building may be divided into two portions, one of which has been in use up to the present time, the other being a recent addition, not yet completed in its internal arrangements. I will first speak of the part now in use. The women's mess-room is a large, lofty room, well lit and well ventilated, capable of containing from 150 to 200 emigrants ; the dormitories are large, well lit and ventilated, the arrangement of the bunks good, and the lavatory requirements sufficient. The mess-room for the men is well suited to the purpose; the dormitories for the married and single are on the same plan as the women's, and quite equal to them in all respects. In the recent additions to the d6pot lam