CARE OF FEMALE IMMIGRANTS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1709, 28 March 1913, Page 7

CARE OF FEMALE IMMIGRANTS.

STATEMENT BY THE MINISTER. COMMENTS ON CRITICISMS, {THE PAST AND THE FUTURE. /'The following is a copy of tho material •bafts' of a tetter, addressed by the Hon. 11. D. Bell (Minister for Immigration) ,to the chairman of the Doiainions Trade Commission, and of some of the enclosures whicn : accompanied . tlie letter. ■I'll© letter rs dated March 13, 1913: . "Sir,—You are aware that the evidence on tlit> subject .of immigration was given before the Commission at Wellington on the last two. days -of its sittings here. •My attention was. immediately called to the press .reports of eomo .ot that evidence,'but tne time -remaining before the departure of the. Commission was too short to enable me to obtain and present to the Commission in the form of evidence the reports and official information .which were necessary for tie presentation of other fact 9 for the consideration of the .Commission. ' "I venture, .therefore, as Minister for Immigration, -to request the permission of the Commission to submit this present letter,' and the 'accompanying-reports as ■an official statement by the Department Of Immigration of New Zealand upon the subjects referred to, and to respectfully ■ask that the matter f now present should liave the same prominence in the printed repsrt of the .Commission as tie evidence given verbally, and should be taken into consideration by the Commission before its final report is issued.

Miss Prisoner's Statements. "% refer specially Ho the statements Snade by Miss.E. ;.fi. 'Bremner, of the Labour .Department, li' tha,t lady's statements ane .accepted by the Commission as evidence of the existing facts, and the . 'Cojniniestan's report " is. founded ' upon 'those statements, it is manifest that the 'desire of the present Government to increase the immigration jnto the Dominion of domestic servants from England ,may be to a large extent frustrated. ' Iri-jio instance oan it be said that the statements of Miss' Bremner are statements of facts within her own knowledge. They are opinions elicited by the Cbminission from- a lady, employed in a very subordinate position in the Department of .Labour—opinions which, I venture to ■submit, could-have 110 possible weigfht, '.unites it be assumed that it was any part of the . witneib's official duty. to.inquire into or Teport upon either the arrangements made in the- steamers for the charge of the girl immigrants, or the ' arrangements made at the ports of arrival for their reception. , The fact is that Miss Bremner .has nonfunction of any kind in either respect. Her duty was - simply. as. an -officer of the Labour Departtnent, to see, if necessary, that employment was offered'to the girls, on their arrival, and to place ■ the services of the Labour Department at their disposal if advice or assistance were required in obtaining temporary lodgings pending employment. The report of the Under-Sec-retary for . Immigration, which accom-: panies this 'letter, states clearly, the nature of .the duties which''Miss Bremner. was called upon to perform, and the subordinate character of her Government employment; (Note.—The letter of the Under-Secretary states that Miss Bremner is employed at a salary "of £3 pel week.) Ido not mean to convey the im- . jpression -that Miss Bremner expressed to the Commission opinions , which she did not hold. ;

•. A Separate Department. , "I aider, as a mtter of . some importance in. (relation'to the'.weight: \vhich they.'.Should' attach :to. jjiy. Own inquiries : 6n, .the' sntn ject, .that the statements and opiiions ' ; of- the Witness reflect, not ,so mncti upon the Government of New Zealand at pre T . &fcnt in power as upon the Administrations which preceded it: for shortly after the jfesent .Government took office it determined to establish a separate Department :of,lmmigrationrand the control of. . affairs was only left.in the hands of the previous officers to be administered according, to previous methods until the establishment of the new Department in the month of February, .1913. ,'But w:hen .the Government took office in •July, 1912, .I,,'having'beta appointed to. the portfolio of Immigration, took steps without' delay 1 to myself make inquiries upon, the two "subjects in respect of wftich Miss Bremner has now adversely «com.mented, and I ask leave of the Commission to state the nature of the inquiries I then made, and their result. , "In the first place, with regard to the care of tho female immigrants -on the voyages, I made the fullest possible inquiries on this subject, 'and I satisfied myself that the matrons appointed to take charge of the girls , were ,in every case responsible and suitable women. I further satisfied myself that there were no such conditions 'existing . as,Miss.,Bremner refers to—namely, the intermingling of the sexes within the. berthing accommodation, though the cabins occupied by. men were not divided by barriers from those occupied by the female immigrants. . This was ascertained, nol; only by the Government's inquiries from •this officers of. the then Department of L4nds and Immigration, but from interviews. on some occasions, with matrons, nhd from information received from tho shripping companies as to the accommodation 'provided on the ships. On this point, however, I K did find reason for suggesting more'complete separation. I . also, thought that arrangements might - be made to provide special lavatory accommodation within a berthing area reserved specially for tho assisted women ■immigrants,, so that at night the girls should have no reason for leaving that area and becoming separated from tho guardianship of the matron. During the Voyage.

"I wrote a letter to the sapping companies on October • 29, 1912, a copy of which is enclosed, marked 'A.' £ have since • Teceived replies from the" companies, which, while expressing some objection on sanitary grounds to the . extension of the number of lavatories in the ship, lead me to believe that the companies' will accede to my request in this .respect. I refer especially to this request 6f mine, as-proving that tho Government was satisfied that there were no other precautions required for the complete protection of the female immigrjuits during the voyage. These young women stb, during the voyage,, under the protection and care of the Government Of an. English dependency. On behalf of that Government, I ask that the ComiaisHon should satisfy itself by inspection of tho ships, and by close examination of the shipping companies, before it casts upon that Government sb grave an imputation as that it failed in its duty to young women who had placed themselves under its care. And I repeat that here I am Epeaking not only for the- present Government, which is not responsible for the arrangements mAde in the past, but on behalf of n.ll New Zealand Governments; and os regards the present Administration, I say • that- the Government has made inquiries into this particular nibject with a full ■ Dense of its responsibilities, and that the Government is satisfied that if thecommission mako the same inquiries tliey will arrive at the same conclusion, the Government's duty in respect being precisely the same .as I. understand that of the "Commission to be.

Hostels. "Secondly, as to the provision of hostels at tho ports of'arrival; This subject has received great consideration. Sinco tho present Government assumed office a number of persons havo advocated the establishment of such hostels for the reception of immigrant women, and a number of such persons have at the same time recommended themselves di' others as suitable persons to occupy the position of matron of such establishments. Furthfer, several quasi charitable associations have applied for Government financial assistance to their "eneral purposes' ilpon tho condition that °he homes of such associations should bo open to, and available for the reception of women- immigrants. ■ • "The first question the present Government decided was that, under present circumstances there was not any necessity

for the establishment of Government buildings in the ports, with bedrooms under 'the care of Government officials. It must be conceded that if one such building is to be established, there must Ijo four—one at each of the four portsAuckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin: for the demand for women immigrants for domestic service is eo great that no part' of tho Dominion would be content tliat a special Government reception establishment should be set up at any single port to the exclusion of the other three. I found that in practically every case the assisted women immigrants were engaged before they left the shiip—and this is' clearly homo out by tho evidence of Miss Brem'ner, who says that in no caso did'any womnn find it necessary tn apply to the Labour Bureau for 'employment. - tfhero was therefore clearly no necessity for any Government establishment in the nature of a hostel, for there would have been no occupants at the, present rate of immigration. "But as the Government had announced 1 its intention to endeavour to largely increase the influx of domestic servants, 1 thought it necessary to make provision for the possible stay n.t the ports of arrival of some of the larger number, whom it was hoped it would have to be provided for. 1 therefore considered the application, of the associations to which I have referred, and on December ft. 1012, I wrote to Mrs. Crossloy, wife of the Bishop of Auckland (who had presided at a conference of the Girls' Friendly Society), a letter, a copy of which I enclose, marked T3,' and shortly afterwards in a. confidential memorandum to my colleagues I stated that I had decided to nse the homes of the Girls' Friendly Society at each port as the official places for the reception of girl immigrants, and 1o grant financial assistance from the public funds to that society for that purpose. "The reason for the delay in providing official establishments for. the. reception was that the Government were compelled to await the report of the High Commissioner before they could be satisfied that any considerable increase in the number of immigrants was probable. The present High Commissioner was appointed by this Government in July last, and his first complete Teport on the subject of immigration has.only T>een received during the ccurse of the present week. It was unfortunate that the Commission happened to sit in Wellington immediately prior to,' the point of time when it might be said that the occasion had arrived for arrangements wifi the Girls' Friendly Societies, pursuant to my letter of December 9, 1912. "(Signed) H. D. BELL, "Minister for Immigration. "The Chairman, Dominion Tiade Commission, Auckland." Letter to Shipping Companies, Following is. the enclosure marked "A" (in letter addressjd to shipping companies) to. which the Minister relers in his letter

"Referring to the letter addressed to you by the Under-Secretary for Immigration on September 25 oil this subject, I have the honour to say that the Government i 9 desirous that if possible some arrangement should be made whereby a portion of the third-class accommodation on •your vessels carrying immigrants from Home should be set apart for the use of assisted domestic servants .coming to N6w Zealand, and closed off at night, so that the girls arid the matron in charge may Temain together and separate I'iom other passengers. "You will understand that it is ,an exceedingly difficult matter for a matron, however zealous and capable, to exercise proper supervision over a number of girls located in different parts of the ship; and tfho Government is most anxious that these young women, whom it assists to come to the Dominion to take up domestic service, should be permitted 'to- travel under the most favourable conditions possible -from the standpoint of their personal well-being. '-'I shall be glad therefore if you will plade the matter before your London office for consideration, and I would express the hope that your company may see its-way to make some provision in the direction of itfufse; be necessary, in order to make the proposal really 'effective, that sufficient law . tory and ;'othcr Accommodation 'bo provided within the \area"set- apart. : "Copies of the correspondence have 'been forwarded to the High Commissioner for New Zealand, and he has been instructed to communicate with your head office regarding the proposal. ,

" (Sgd.) H. D. BELL, - "For Prime Minister. • "The-Manageir,-N.Z. Shipping Co., Ltd., Christohurch. (Sent also to Shaw, Savill C 0.)." " Girls' Friendly Society. / Following is the enclosure marked "8.," mentioned, by'the Minister;— ; "Madam,—l have the honour to acknowledge receipt, of your letter of the 16th instant, forwarding three resolutions passed by the Dominion Conference of- the Girls' Friendly Society, to the effect that all girl immigrants should be sent out under the care of a qualified matron, that the Girls' Friendly Society are willing to accept immigrant girls into their lodges, and that the High .Commissioner be requested to use the services of the Girls' Friendly Society or British Women's Emigration Society or Scottish Colonisation Society for instituting inquiries as to the character, etc., of girl immigrants. I havo to convey to you my thanks for sending me the resolutions, wtoch will have! consideration and attention, and I have also to thank you for the intimation that the Girls' Friendly Society is willing to assist in the selection, protection, and housing of girl immigrants. ' I think it probable that the Government will avail themselves of the offer you convey, but it is necessary to await further information from the High Commissioner before finally deciding the question. In that event the Government will propose for your. Society's consideration the financial assistance which it could provide.; "(Sgd.) H.D.BELL, "Minister for Immigration. "Mrs. Crossley, Bishopscourt, Auckland."