A.—9

4

The existing regulations as to hire, transport, and treatment of labourers can be applied only to those who are actually in Samoa. It is, therefore, desirable that a Consular officer should be appointed to watch over the embarkation of the labourers. Mioko or Matupi would be suitable headquarters for such an official, whose supervision would, in the end, be equally conducive to the interests of labourers and employers. At the same time, a gunboat should be permanently stationed in these waters, so as to be at hand in the case of excesses committed by labourers or islanders. Punishment ought to be prompt and severe. Messrs. Hernsheim, who have no plantations, and only employ a limited number of natives, most earnestly desire the presence of such an official and of a man-of-war, in order that life and property may be protected. On Hermit Island the agent of this firm was buried alive, and nine Solomon Islanders in his employ were murdered. When the German war-ship " Carola " meted out punishment to these islanders, they were found in possession of remains of the German ship " Eliso." A few years before they had plundered an English vessel and murdered its crew. Although no means should be neglected for winning the confidence and goodwill of the islanders, it must never be forgotten that fear with them is still the most effective deterrent. The commercial interests of England in the New Britain archipelago and in the Solomon Islands are at present of little importance. The only Englishman who has acquired a piece of land there is Mr. Parrel, who owns several thousand acres at the Gazelle Cape (New Britain), and has begun its cultivation. On the other hand, the engagement of labourers for Queensland and Fiji has recently been carried on with much energy in New Britain, and, notwithstanding the presence of Government labour agents, not always without the use of violence. The requirements of Queensland and Fiji are continuously increasing. The English Consul-General and High Commissioner for the Western Pacific is about to establish a Deputy-Commissioner at Matupi, whose house has already been got ready. Whether this is the first step towards annexation is not at present clear. If England is permitted unchecked to spread a net of her officials over the Pacific, the whole of the labour market must pass under her control. The protection afforded by the English flag will attract Australian firms, and our German firms will thus be pushed into the background. Even as it is they have recently lost ground. The Germans will, in the end, apply to the English authorities whenever they require assistance ; whilst the natives will associate the existence of law, order, and peace with the name of England. Eeligion and language depend upon the nationality of the first missionaries, and these, throughout the Pacific, have hitherto been principally English. The Germans have done nothing, and yet German missionaries would find a fertile field there for useful activity. It has been asserted that the South Sea Islanders will not work as long as they remain in their own islands. Yet Mr. Earrel, on New Britain, employs natives who had formerly worked in Samoa. The islands of Western Melanesia are not inferior to the others in fertility of soil or wealth of tropical productions. They possess even certain advantages, for large tracks of prairieland are met with, instead of the primeval forests of Samoa. Provisions are cheaper, too. In Samoa the daily ration costs 5 cents, in New Britain hardly half a cent. The question is, not merely to find a recruiting ground for labourers to work in Samoa, but also to open up to German trade and civilization a considerable number of the South Sea Islands. But whatever is to be done must be done at once. In a couple of years we may be too late.

No. 5. — German and Foreign Interests in New Britain. By Dr. Stuebel. (Dated Sydney, 20th April, 1884.) The trade of New Britain is (with one exception) in the hands of the German Trading and Plantation Company, and of Messrs Hernsheim and Co. The headquarters of the company are in the port of Mioko. There are eight trading stations on the north coast of the Gazelle Peninsula, also stations in TJtuan (Duke of York), Kurass (south coast of New Ireland). The company, in addition to its chief agent and two clerks, employs five white and five native traders. Messrs. Hernsheim and Co. have their headquarters in Blanche Bay, Matupi Island. Twelve trading stations are maintained, and there are eight white and four native traders. Each of these German houses exports annually about a thousand tons of copra. ' The Gorman Trading Company owns one or two thousand acres of land in Duke of York Island, whilst Messrs. Hernsheim owns about fourteen thousand acres in various parts of the archipelago. Mr. Fairel, until recently one of the agents of the German company, owns a station in Blanche Bay, and exports about a hundred tons of copra annually. His plantation consists of thirty acres planted with cotton. He claims to have acquired many square miles of land beyond this. The High Commissioner, by a notice published on the 2nd January, declines to register titledeeds referring to land purchased outside British territory.

No. G.— Dr. Busch (by order of Prince Bismirck) to Dr. Stuebel. (Berlin, 29tli December, 1883). It appears desirable to me, after having read your communications, that the representation of German interests in New Britain and New Ireland should be intrusted to a Government official, who would reach New Britain in the course of the next labour season. As this official will have to act under your responsibility, I leave it to you to select a suitable person, and this all the more, as your decision will depend upon the other requirements of the Imperial Consulate at Apia. As regards the instructions which you will have to give to this official I specify the following : It will be the duty of this official, supported by an Imperial man-of-war, to control the execution of the regulations made with reference to the recruiting of labourers and their transport in German