THE Grey River Argus PUBLISHED DAILY FRIDAY, JULY 24, 1874.

Grey River Argus, Volume XV, Issue 1862, 24 July 1874, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus PUBLISHED DAILY FRIDAY, JULY 24, 1874.

•1, X'JXIL/JX 1 , t/UJJX if±, lOlt. |It: wilt be remembered that during the ■last session of Parliament the member for ithe Grey Valiey drew the attention of the Government to a complaint that had ; been made by certain applicants in the Grey district for nominated passages for „ their friends in Ireland, to the effect that the Sub-Emigration Agent at Gal way had refused passages to the nominees on the ground that in the case of single women a separate warrant should have been pro- : cured for each nominated immigrant— the result being that six of the nominees who had prepared to come to New Zealand emigrated to America. The Minister for Immigration took prompt steps to bring this matter under the notice of the, Agent-General. On the 22nd September he forwarded a copy of a memorandum from ; the Immigration Officer \ at Greymouth upon the subject, and desired the Agent-General to call upon the Sub-Agent at Gal way for a' full report of the case. , The Minister, , in his memorandum referring., to /the "extreme hardship inflicted -on the nominee " by the action of the Gal way ' Agent, says-^-"It is needless . for me to point out to you the very iriJ jurious effect it will have'bn the system of nominations if jyour; local agents take upon themselves to refuse passages to nominated persons on insufficient grounds," and he proceeds to request that if any of the -persons named in the passage orders are willing to emigrate to this I Colony, they may be ! provided with

passages. Mr Wylde in his memorandum, which was enclosed to the Agent-General, says — "It is much to be regretted that any difficulty should have been placed in the way of these people, as I have good reasons for believing that they would have been the commencement of a large stream of nominated immigrants from the same district. The Flahertys (the nominators) are representatives of the best class of settlers on the Coast, and they assure me that thousands of people in the part of Ireland they come from would emigrate to New Zealand in preference to America, if any facilities were afforded them of doing so. Patrick Flaherty, in addition to the eleven nominated in January, has applied for six more passages, but does not like to pay the passage, money until assured that no further difficulties will be raised at home about the passages." The Agent-General's reply to the Minister's memorandum is dated the 19th December j in which lie says that a copy of the complaint referred to would be forwarded to Mr Flynrij the Agent at Galway, who would be called upon to furnish a full report, of his action in the matter; and that if his explanation should be unsatisfactory, his name would be removed from the list of agents, and he would be forbidden to act in any way in connection with New Zealand emigration. The Agent- General further added that a communication would be addressed to the nominees who' remain in Ireland, inviting them to renew their application for passages.; It will be observed that the Government was in no way responsible for the action of the Galway Agent, and that every means have been adopted to counteract the blunder of itsj subordinate. It is singular, however, that so far, the Ascent-General ha 3 been remarkably unsuccessful . in obtaining immigrants from Ireland, in spite of the fact that now that passages are : given free there is a strong disposition to emigrate to this Colony. Out of a "total of 22*600 souls'sent out, only 3QBO are returned as Irish, and most of these were Irish people located in England. The special Agencies in Ireland have apparently not worked well. Mr Farnall. who was sent out by the Government frnm this Colony as Agent for Ireland at Belfast, at a salary of £700 a year, did so little that the Agent-General had ,tp dispense with his services. All that he appears to have done, is to have initiated, along with a Mr George Vesey Stewart, a special settlement of Orangemen in the Province of Auckland. The Dublin Agency appears to have been a little more successful. Mi Mason, the Agent, in reporting the proceedings of the Dublin Officfc for the -year 1873, can only specify 60 persons who had left during that period', and 30 others engaged to leave, but he is of opiuion that the emigration: would largely increase. He had received and replied to 284 letters, asking for information,- and he expected the system of free passages would very much assist in promoting emigration to New Zealand. He adds, " The desire to proceed^^o proceed to Americahas diminished, and a good many are returning home again. Applicants who come here give as a reason for preferring New. Zealand, " that the Irish are not now so well treated as formerly in the United States." A greatgjdifficulty, however, appears to be the great poverty of the people. "At present," says Mr Mason, "the laboring classes can hardly get the small amount now necessary to enable them, to proceed," and *he advises that t.hft GnTCrnmfitit bVioiiUl provida them with' .the' : : means-.. 0f reaching the port of embarkation. ■ , ; Tha only direct shipment from Ireland has been an unfortunate one — we refer to the females by the Asia to* Dunedin. The papers show, without doubt, that the women sent out were the pick of the worst inmates of the Cork Workhouse. It ia not a fair . objection, to single ■women that they are paupers, for paupers may have good characters, but inthis case it has been proved by the conduct of the immigrants after arrival that they ought never to have been brought out at the expense of the Colony. Mr Vogel's memorandum to the Agent-General on this subject is very strong; In it he severely denounces Mrs Howard, the agent appointed by Dr. Featherston, and orders her instant dismissal. In a" despatch dated the 11th February, 1874, Mr Yogel draws the Agent-General's attention to the operations of the agent at Dublin, the report of which he "hiis perused with feelings of very great disappointment," and he proceeds to say — "emigration to this Colony from Ireland continues altogether so slack, although thousands of most desirable emigrants annually leave that country for. America and the North American Colonies, that I am inclined to think that some person is required as the officer of the Central Agency, who would devote his whole time to its duties, and be in constant and personal communication with the classes of people ■ whom it is desirable to induce to emigrate, aud I consider it absolutely necessary that such an officer should have a knowledge of New Zealand, and be able to speak from personal experience of the inducements held out, facilities of settlement, and character of employment in the various Provinces and districts. (Jnder this view of the' question, and considering that you appear to have; failed in connecting anyone possessing these qualifications with your Department, I shall be glad to hear your opinion as to my sending home a suitable : person to be at your disposal for this purpose." From the foregoing it will be seen that : the Premier is anxious to promote, as much as possible, immigration from Ireland. We may add that an excellent agent, Mr O. Cochrane, late of Auckland, has been appointed agent at Belfast.