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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 199, 23 August 1877, Page 2

Among the papers recently laid before the House is one containing the Commissioners' and Inspectors' report on the twenty-six emigrant ships which arrived here between July 1876, and April of the present year As far as can been seen from the reports, the different officers at this end do their duty without fear or favor, praising where praise is due, and fearlessly exposing abuses such are foun Jto exist. In four ships the flour was found to be so bad that substantial fines were inflicted upon the contractors; m four the conduct of the surgeon was the subject of investigation, and in three of these cases different penalties were indicted, all, however, involving a loss of their positions as emigranfi ship: surgeons. The captain and surgeon disagreed n several instances, and in one ship there was a lively triangular duel between the captain, the doctor, and the matron In this^case the matron only, was exonerated, the Commissioners thinking that, while the doctor was greatly in fault, the captain, owing to his violent temper, was quite unfit for the command of an emigrant ship Only one ship was considered unfit for the conveyance of emigrants, and the discontent m this vessel is attributed to that cause, and not to any dereliction of duty on the part of the officers. In one. case the gratuities of both captain and third mate were stopped because of violent-language, the latter being described as " a coarse man," who frequently used.-not only bad, but absolutely indecent language in the presence of the female emigrants, and he will not again sail in an emigrant ship for New Zealand. The most minute points appear to have been thorou-'hly invettigated by the Commissioners. Where the fire-drill was irregular, and did not take place at least once a week, as provided by law, the captain was fined £10. It is saddening, in one or two cases, to read of the reduction of the passengers by pestilence and sickness, and once a touch of real romance appears in this matter-of-fact parliamentary paper, where it is told how one poor woman died, leaving behind her two children, who were adopted by a fellowpassenger. The unsuitability of individual passengers is frequently commented upon, and this shows "a screw loose" somewhere in the inspection of candidates in England Iv oue instance, an imbecile, who was refused a passage as a saloon passenger by the owners, was actually accepted and sent out as a suitable emigrant.' In other places, the character pf the female emigrants fs unfavorably commented upon. It is no use shutting the stable-door after the horse is stolen, but in this .instance the New Zealand Government are certainly guilty of this foolish act. If rigid inspection and enquiry as to the character of each emigrant is not made in England, it is very little use finding out and commenting upon, tbe neglect at this cud. Ihis is simply another instance ofthe inefficiency of bur cumbrous English Agency' and the sooner a- Hercules appears and cleans out that Augean stable, the better it will be for the colony.— Post.