I.—ll

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not hitherto been successful in that direction, and they certainly will not of themselves form a solution to this problem. The best way of coping with the "unemployed" difficulty is to make it a responsibility not of the General Government, but of the local authorities. To leave it to the Government of the day means that they will try to lessen the pressure which is sure to be put on them by bor-. rowing money to carry out public works which are unlikely to be entirely remunerative, leaving a future generation to pay the interest on these loans and a still greater "unemployed" difficulty, which is sure to arise on the stimulant of borrowed money being taken away. INDUSTRIAL SETTLEMENTS. While numerous attempts have been made to establish labour colonies in various parts of the world, little has been done to promote industrial settlements. The Salvation Army tried to do so in England, but were unsuccessful. So far as these industries are connected with farming —such as fruit-growing, bee-farming, poultry-farming—it is desirable that any State farm that may be established should endeavour to combine as many different kinds of industries on a farm as possible; but the sub-committee do not recommend that industries suitable for cities should be conducted under State control.

APPENDIX F. DRAFT REPORT BY THE HON. MR. BOLT. In collecting evidence on the subject of State farms and industrial settlements as a means of alleviating the evils arising from irregularity of employment the sub-committee did not deem it necessary to extend their inquiry into the working of continental labour colonies. It is well known that those colonies are chiefly peopled by enfeebled persons, discharged prisoners, and suspected tramps; and, although we have representatives of these classes in this colony, they are not with us the pressing danger that they are in the congested populations of Europe. Fortunately, with us their number is small, and if State farms are established in our midst it will not be for the purpose of dealing effectively with them, but rather with the view of arresting the growth amongst us of such an undesirable element. With some modification, the above remarks will apply to the attempts now being made in England. It is true there are no State farms in the Home-country, but recently settlements have been started there by philanthropic effort which resemble State institutions in nearly every essential characteristic. The inmates of these English colonies belong, no doubt, to a higher social grade than those who drift into the labour colonies of the Continent; but the experience of both emphasizes the fact that intelligence and character in the people you are attempting to assist are the greatest factors in success, and that in this respect the labour colonies of Europe have much greater difficuties to meet than would have to be met in this colony. It also clearly shows that in our case the settlement should not be viewed as a home for the vicious or incompetent. The above-mentioned considerations induced the sub-committee to confine their view to what has been done in the neighbouring colonies of Australia. Induced, no doubt, by the great number of people who were out of employment at the time, the Governments of Victoria, New South Wales, and South Australia entered in 1893 on the establishment of various forms of settlement. Some of these closely resembled our own village-settlement scheme ; others our improved-farm system ; and provision was also made for settlements to be worked on a system of co-operation or collective ownership. The greater number of these latter were established in South Australia, and are occupied by registered associations of workers. In considering the fortunes of these Australian labour colonies or settlements, it is well to bear in mind the different systems of management. In South Australia, where the greatest success has been attained, the settlements were managed by " a board of not less than three trustees, one of whom shall be chairman, to be elected by the villagers in manner prescribed by the rules." In Victoria, where failure has been most pronounced, the land was vested in five trustees, and every man in the colony who chose to subscribe to the funds of the settlement had the right to vote at the election of a committee of management of four members, and had a vote for each member of the committee for every £1 so subscribed. In New South Wales the Governor appointed the board of control, consisting of not less than eight or more than sixteen members, one-fourth to be women. The Hon. W. P. Reeves paid a visit to these settlements some time prior to his departure for England, and in a report which he issued on his return he predicted the disaster which ultimately fell, and could not fail to fall on settlements so cumbrously and inefficiently managed. Indeed, it is difficult to understand what could have prompted the Victorian Government to attempt the promotion of an all but untried form of settlement on the lines laid down in Part 111. of the Act of 1893. The Surveyor-General's report for 1896, which declared that, so far as settlement under Part 111. was concerned, the Act had been a failure, should not have occasioned surprise to any one. The only settlement in Victoria which appears to be doing good work, and is instructive to the Committee, as it is a genuine State farm, is the labour colony of Leongatha, which since 1894 has been under the direct supervision of the Lands Department. In May, 1895, Mr. J. E. March, at the request of our Government, visited all the Australian settlements, and the sub-committee herewith place before the Committee certain extracts from Mr. March's report. Levin State Faem. The information sought for by the Committee regarding the State Farm at Levin will be found along with the reports and evidence respecting the Australian labour colonies now laid on the table. The statement brings into view the natural difficulties which had to be encountered __5