EMIGRATION TO NEW ZEALAND. (FURTHER LETTERS FROM THE AGENT-GENERAL.)

Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1874 Session I, D-03a

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1874. NEW ZEALAND.

EMIGRATION TO NEW ZEALAND. (FURTHER LETTERS FROM THE AGENT-GENERAL.)

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by command of His Excellency.

No. 1. The Agent-General to the Hon. J. Vogel. (No. 1214.) 7, Westminster Chambers, Victoria Street, Westminster, S.W., Sir,— 4th May, 1874. I have the honor to forward you herewith correspondence with Mr. TPRen relative to some persons who proceeded to New Zealand immediately before the passing of the Immigrants Land Act, but who arc nevertheless anxious to obtain the benefit thereof as regards free grants of land. The circumstances of the case are set forth in Mr. Lowther's minute, forwarded to me by Mr. Hamilton, of the Colonial Office. I have replied stating that I had no power in the matter, but would recommend the case to the favourable consideration of the Government. I have, &c, I. E. Featherston, The Hon. Julius Vogel, C.M.G., Wellington. Agent-General.

Enclosure 1 in No. 1. Mr. W. W. U'Ren to Mr. E. Horsman. Dear Sir,— 15, Cecil Street, Strand, W.C., 29th April, 1874, Thank you very much for your favour to hand. My friend, who left England on the 4th October, 1873, is my nephew; his name is Robert U'Ren; he took with him his mother, two brothers, and five sisters, and having paid passage of the whole, he claims the land grant for the whole—equal, I believe, to seven adults. They sailed in the ship "Agnes Muir," and they are now residing in Dunedin, Otago. lam certain that if he had known of the change of the law before sailing, he would have had no difficulty in producing such proofs of his respectability as would have enabled him to obtain the necessary certificate from the Agent-General of New Zealand; and if it will be satisfactory, I will undertake to procure certificates of his character of the highest order from respectable persons who knew him in England, and I will also do so, if necessary, for the other members of the family that he took with him. I have, &c, The Right Hon. Ed. Horsman, M.P. W. W. TJ'Ren.

Enclosure 2 in No. 1. Mr. E. Horsman to Mr. Lowther. Dear Sir,— 1, Richmond Tarrace, Whitehall, 29th April, 1874. Here is the statement you asked for : I can answer for the parties being of the highest respectability. The new Act passed on 2nd October, 1873; these parties sailed from England on the 4th, two days rfter it was passed in New Zealand, but long before the new law was heard of in England. Yours, &c, E. HoiiSKAN.

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Enclosure 3 in No. 1. Mr. Hamilton to Dr. Featherston. Dear Sir,— 30th, April 1874. I am desired by Mr. Lowther to forward to you a note from Mr. Horsman, M.P., with a letter from a Mr. LFRen, relative to some persons who are desirous of obtaining the benefit of a recent New Zealand Act respecting grants of land. I also enclose a minute by Mr. Lowther on the case, as stated to him in conversation by Mr. Horsman. Mr. Lowther would be glad if it should be in your power to assist these persons, who seem to be thoroughly respectable, to the accomplishment of the object which they have in view. I have, &c., I. E. Featherston, Esq., M.D. W. B. B. Hamilton.

Enclosure 4 in No 1. Minutk by Mr. Lowther. The case, as stated to me by Mr. Horsman, is, that the family referred to left England two days after the passing of the New Zealand Act referred to, in October, 1873. They were of course unaware of the change in the law, which was just commencing to take effect. They now want to have the benefit of the new Act, which confers the advantage of a grant of land to emigrants who have before leaving England obtained a certificate of respectability from the Agent-General of New Zealand. How should their friends be advised to proceed? 30th April. J. Lowther.

No. 2. The Agent-General to the Hon. J. Vogel. (No. 1222.) 7, Westminster Chambers, Victoria Street, Westminster, S.W., Sir,— sth May, 1874. I have the honor to forward herewith copy of a letter which I have received from Messrs. John Brogden and Sons, urging their claims on the Government in respect of the heavy liabilities they have incurred in connection with New Zealand emigration, and recapitulating the facts of the case. In forwarding this letter, I can only refer the Government to my despatch of 10th July, 1873, No. 502, in which I forwarded the proposal then made by the firm for an amicable settlement of their claims, and recommended it to the favourable consideration of the Government. In my letter of 16th May, 1873, in which I referred to the proposed abolition of the promissory-note system, I pointed out that the position of the Messrs. Brogden would be seriously affected by such a change; and seeing that free emigration has since been adopted by the Government, it does appear to me that the difficulty of collecting the promissory notes has been considerably increased, while the value of the securities in the hands of the Messrs. Brogden has been correspondingly lessened. I have, &c., I. E. Featherston, The Hon. Julius Vogel, C.M.G., Wellington. Agent-General.

Enclosure in No. 2. Messrs. J. Brogden and Sons to the Agent-General. Sir, — 5, Queen Square, Westminster, 25th March, 1874. Referring again to our emigration agreement, you will remember that in our interview with you and the Hon. John Hall in June last, certain proposals for an amicable settlement were discussed, which were afterwards embodied in our letters of 12th June and 10th July, and it was agreed that you would recommend the Government to accept our offer. Not having received any reply to our communications, our Mr. James Brogden waited upon you on the 18th March, to ascertain if you had received despatches from the Government enabling you to give a favourable answer, and we regret to find that you are still without any instructions. It appears that our representatives in New Zealand were advised last Session to petition the Parliament praying the recoupment of our losses under the emigration agreement, but without success. Since, however, our proposal to apply the amount recovered from the men pro rata, in. reduction of your passage charges, and our own advances has been before the Government, you have adopted the system of free passages, which was doubtless an urgent necessity in consequence of the greatly increased demand for labour; but you will not fail to see that our position is thus materially altered since our offer of June and July last, and that it will now be impossible for us to enforce further recoveries from our workmen. You will admit that the Government are in a similar position as regards the promissory notes taken from ordinary emigrants; and that a heavy loss to the Government, as well as ourselves, must inevitably follow the adoption of free emigration.

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Under the circumstances, we are again compelled to ask your reconsideration of our position, and to press our claims for the remission of passage expenses, and all other disbursements in connection with our emigration. The passage charges include— £ s. d. Promissory notes to Government .. .. .. 18,240 0 0 Payments in cash .. .. .. .. 97 10 0 Interest on promissry notes to 28th February, 1874 .. 1,275 12 0 . 19,613 2 0 And our other disbursements are as follows, viz.— Ship's kit for emigrants .. .. .. .. 1,791 15 0 Outfit, railway fares, dock dues, medical examination, &c. 9,619 13 9 Agency expenses for collecting emigrants, printing, advertising, journeys, commission .. .. 1,679 9 10 Immigrants' maintenance in New Zealand, boat hire, &c. 3,759 0 6 Loss of interest on advances to men to 31st December, 1873 .. .. .. .. .. 708 16 10 17,558 15 11 Total of outlay, exclusive of additional interest on promissory notes, accruing from time to time . . . . £37,171 17 11 Less repayments by workmen according to last advices .. 2,766 15 3 £34,405 2 8 We note that in a memorandum to the Cabinet, No. 66, April 1, 1873, the Minister for Public Works says : " The only thing which has kept the rates of labour from rising to rates ruinous to the various interests in the colony has been the shipment of so much labour by Messrs. Brogden;" and we feel assured that this testimony is supported by facts, and that the advantage to the country of our large number of selected labourers, and their families, dispersed through the various provinces of the colony, contributing to its revenue, and employed in developing its resources, can hardly be over-estimated. The following return, received from our firm by last mail, will show you to what extent, in point of numbers, the country has been benefited by the introduction of our workmen, viz., — Number of working men sent out .. .. .. 1,299 Number working for the firm .. .. .. .. .. 76 Number distributed throughout the colony working for other employers 1,223 We have a grave charge of complaint against colonial employers for enticing our men from their employment, and in several instances engaging the immigrants on landing, notwithstanding the employers were made aware of the engagement the men had entered into prior to leaving England. Our agent at Dunedin, referring to this subject, writes: " October 20th, 1873. Immediately the men were landed at these works, every artifice was resorted to by farmers and others to induce them to quit the firm's employ, and engage in farm labour, &c. Higher wages were promised, and every means used to decoy the men away, and in the greater number of instances with success. The men, on the other hand, do all in their power to avoid the repayment of their promissory notes ; and the proof of this assertion lies in the fact that of the whole number of immigrants who originally landed in Otago, only five continue in the employ of the firm." Our engineer on the Dunedin and Clutha railway works also reports that " The working of the immigration scheme in this province (Otago) has met with even worse success than that of Marlborough; for at the time of the landing of the immigrants per " Bebington," " Lady Jocelyn," " Christian McAusland/' " Zealandia," and following vessels, the labour market was by no means full, and a great many of the farmers in both the country districts adjacent to Dunedin, and more remote, enticed many of the men away by offering them 40s. to 48s. per week, and board and lodging. The honesty of the greater part of the men was not proof against this opportunity of getting rid of their obligations to the firm. There is no reason to doubt that the debt to the firm with which our men landed in this country is that which prompts them to attempt at once to get employment at the hands of some other employer." We have no wish to multiply similar reports from other provinces, showing the gain to the country from our imported labour, but we cannot help complaining of the recent action of the Government in entering into direct competition with us in the labour market, thus rendering it impossible for us to complete our engagements within the stipulated time. Our recent contract for completion of certain works at Auckland and Onehunga within the next three months, was entered into on the supposition that we should have only the ordinary demand for labour to compete with ; but we regret to say that our exertions are paralyzed by the withdrawal of our men for service in the railway corps on the Waikato extension —the Government offer of the highest current wages, with lodging, accommodation, and other inducements, rendering our efforts to retain our workmen wholly abortive. In urging our appeal, we must again reiterate that the importation of our immigrants was undertaken by us, not from any desire of ours to engage in this work, but at the urgent request of the New Zealand Government, in order to prevent the withdrawal of labour from the various

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colonial industries; that much pressure was put upon us by you to commence sending out emigrants before any agreement had been made, and without giving us time or opportunity to communicate with our firm in New Zealand. You will also remember that we repeatedly explained to you that we had had no experience of this kind, and sought for no profit, and therefore proposed to keep separate accounts of our expenditure and receipts, and be reimbursed by the Government our actual outlay on this account. Moreover, all the details connected with it were carried out under your advice and assistance; our emigrants were shipped from time to time under your instructions, and were landed at the various ports selected by yourself; and we cannot look at our position in the matter in any other light than as the agents of the Government, acting under their supervision and direction, and seeking only to be freed from any loss. The arrangement for taking the promissory notes from the emigrants was also made under your advice, and upon your assurance that we should be able to recover them without much loss, and the amount we were to pay the Government for passage was fixed by you and agreed to by us, again asserting, at the same time, that we relied on your assurance that we should thereby be amply secured from loss, and that in this transaction we sought no profit. We arc sure that in giving us this assurance you were judging from your enlarged experience, and that you did so in all candour and good faith; although we regret that, through no fault of ours, the results have been adverse, caused mainly by the disparity of passage charges between our own and the Government emigrants first causing dissatisfaction, then by the action of the colonists themselves, and subsequently by the granting of free passages. We learn that the Government has recently invited the Legislature to condone the penalties in the case of Mr. Webb's contract, on the ground that the colony had been benefited by the San Francisco mail service. It will surely be conceded that our claim is no trifling one, and that we are entitled to an equal claim for relief with Mr. Webb. The amount in question is too large for us to cease urging the Government to reconsider their determination. We have expended, including the amount of our promissory notes to the Government, upwards of j635,000, in introducing some 2,000 emigrants into the country to its great present and prospective advantage ; and in appealing to you for a reimbursement of our expenses in connection with this matter, we have no doubt that, in honor, you would personally feel bound to admit the justice of our claim; and we feel that the Government is also bound through you in all honor to make a similar admission, and recoup us the outlay incurred in benefiting the country. It cannot be for the advantage of any country to first urge responsible persons to undertake work at the instance of the Government, assure them throughout that the means taken for their reimbursement are sufficient, and then to leave them without remedy for the large outlay they have incurred, while the country reaps all the advantage. We have, &c, The Agent-General for New Zealand. John Brogden and Sons.

No. 3. The Agent-General to the Hon. J. Vogel. (No. 1224.) 7, Westminster Chambers, Victoria Street, Westminster, S.W., Sir,— 6th May, 1874. In my letter of 17th of April (No. 1202), I mentioned that " during the quarter ended 31st March, some ten thousand five hundred souls had been sent out." On a more careful perusal, however, of the lists, I find that the total number despatched during that period did not amount to more than 9,298 souls. I have good reason to believe, however, that between six or seven thousand will be sent during the months of May and June; and that the total number for the whole six months will not fall short of the Government order, viz. 20,000 souls. I have, &c, I. E. Featherston, The Hon. Julius Vogel, C.M.G., Wellington. Agent-General.

No. 4. The Agent-General to the Hon. J. Vogel. (No. 1254.) 7, Westminster Chambers, Victoria Street, Westminster, S.W., Sir,— 15th May, 1874. I have the honor to enclose herewith a Schedule of the Promissory Notes taken from Messrs. J. Brogden and Sons, showing the dates at which interest upon them is due, and the dates on which the several instalments have to be paid. The interest upon them has been paid up to the 28th March last. The instalments on the first two notes being due, application has been made for payment, but has not yet been met. I have, &c, W. G. McKellar, The Hon. the Colonial Secretary, Wellington. (for the Agent-General). N.B. —It has not been considered necessary to print the enclosure.

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No. 5. The Agent-General to the Hon. J. Vogel. Sir, — Hamburg, 14th May, 1874. Referring to my letter, No. 876, of the 26th December, in which I explained the arrangements I was endeavouring to make for the promotion of emigration from the Continent and Scandinavia, I have now the honor to report as follows : — 1. Mr. Sloman of this city, has undertaken to complete the contract entered into between myself and Louis Knorr and Company, in 1872, subject to certain modifications not of any material importance. The " Reichstag " sailed on the 10th instant for Wellington, with 280 statute adults, and the " Gutenburg " will leave for Canterbury on the 15th June. 2. The deed transferring the Emigration Contract between the Government of Queensland and Messrs. L. Knorr and Co. to the Government of New Zealand, has been duly executed. The number of emigrants to be sent under this contract is equal to 1,600 statute adults. 3. As soon as these two contracts are completed, Mr. Kirchner will commence to carry out the agreement into which he has entered, to procure during the ensuing two years 4,000 ■emigrants. 4. Mr. Sloman has undertaken to provide tonnage for the conveyance of these 4,000 emigrants, at the rate of £14 per statute adult. 5. I hope to be able to forward you copies of these agreements by the next mail. I have, &c, I. E. Featherston, The Hon. Julius Vogel, C.M.G., Wellington. Agent-General.

No. 6. The Agent-General to the Hon. J. Vogel. Sir,— Hamburg, 14th May, 1874. Referring to the telegrams that have passed between us relative to the combination of the three shipping firms to raise the rate of passage money from £14 10s. to £16, I have now the honor to lay before you the following statement of the facts of the case : — 1. Immediately on receiving your despatch of the 24th December, 1873, instructing me to give three-fifths of the Government business to the New Zealand Shipping Company, and the other two-fifths to Messrs. Shaw, Savill, and Co., and Messrs. Galbraith and Co., I intimated to Mr. Turner (then Acting Manager of the Company] my readiness to give effect to your instructions. 2. Mr. Turner, after duly considering your proposal, informed me that he was quite unable to take so large a proportion of the business. He very frankly stated, that his Company having scarcely any shipping of their own, he could not possibly command the requisite tonnage ; and further, that he felt quite certain that the other two firms would not only decline the share allotted or proposed to be allotted to them, but would commence an opposition that would be ruinous to the New Zealand Shipping Company. Under these circumstances, I offered no objection to his proposal that he should enter into negotiations with Shaw, Savill, and Co., and Galbraith and Co. 3. In a few days he informed me that everything had been amicably arranged—Shaw, Savill, and Co. and the New Zealand Shipping Company were to take four-fifths, and Galbraith and Co. the other fifth, it being understood that the latter firm would retain in its hands the emigration from the Clyde to Otago. 4. On Monday, the 16th February, I saw Mr. Galbraith relative to the Clyde shipping arrangements; and on the same day, at their own request, agreed to meet Messrs. Shaw, Savill, on the afternoon of the following day, and Messrs. Turner and Coster on Wednesday morning at 10.30, it being my intention to deal separately with them. 5. I was therefore extremely surprised, on arriving at my office on Wednesday a few minutes after 10, to find the three firms already waiting for me —Messrs. Shaw, Savill had failed to keep the appointment for the previous day without giving me any explanation. Mr. Savill, who was evidently put forward as their spokesman, commenced the discussion by stating that after having carefully gone into the conditions of the contract between the New Zealand Government and the New Zealand Shipping Company, they had come to submit certain modifications in them. He then proposed that I should guarantee a minimum number of 250 emigrants for the three ports of Dunedin, Lyttelton, and Wellington, and a minimum number of 150 for all other ports. To this I agreed, provided that if the numbers thus guaranteed were shipped, there should be no claim for short shipments in respect of any who might subsequently be promised, and for whom fittings, &c., might have been provided. He then urged that the contract should be for at least six months, pressing strongly for a year. I expressed my willingness to enter into an engagement for four months, with a promise that I would recommend the Government to extend it. " Then," continued Mr. Savill, " comes the question of price. We have made the most careful calculations, and we find that we cannot possibly carry on the service in accordance with your requirements for less than sixteen pounds ten shillings per statute adult." (Here there was a regular chorus of assent). Mr. Coster suggested that possibly it might be done for £16.

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I at once declined to entertain the proposal, on the ground, not only that the price was excessive, but that they were not justified in breaking an existing engagement without giving any intimation of their intention, and without allowing the Government a reasonable time for making other arrangements, more especially as they were aware of the large number of emigrants with whom I had already made engagements. The interview ended with an undertaking on my part to telegraph their proposal to you, and on their part to carry on the service to the end of April. G. On receving your telegram, in reply to mine of the 20th February, I communicated your decision to them. 7. Finding, after several personal interviews, that they were pledged to one another not to yield, I placed myself in communication with other firms, and instructed certain brokers to procure me ships on the best terms they could. In the course of a week or ten days, five ships were offered to me at rates varying from £3 6s. 6d. to £3 Bs. 6d. per ton register. These rates are high, but not so high as the New Zealand Shipping Company had repeatedly been obliged to pay. There was, however, no choice in the matter. I was committed to a certain course which admitted of no hesitation, I therefore agreed to charter all four vessels at the rates at which they were offered. 8. The prospect of new firms being introduced into the New Zealand trade, and of my reducing freights, alarmed the firms, and though they at first threatened to lower freights to the same rate I did, and to use their "utmost influence to prevent me getting an ounce of cargo/' they soon became convinced (especially when they ascertained that I had authorized the brokers to charter a number of vessels sufficient to meet my requirements for the next three months) that they would be playing a losing game —a game which would entail far heavier losses upon them than upon the Government, seeing that the Government could always give its ships a full complement of passengers, and had, fortunately, at the time an unusually large quantity of cargoof its own ready for shipment, and they therefore felt that they had no alternative but to accept the £14 10s., which they did barely in time to prevent my chartering two or three more ships. 9. The object of the Government being thus gained, and knowing that the Government would not desire to inflict unnecessary loss on them, I agreed to their proposal that they should act as my brokers, on their pledging themselves that they use the same exertions in procuring cargo for the ships as if they had been chartered by themselves. 10. Assuming that, between the Ist of April last and the 31st of December, 24,000 emigrants will be despatched, the saving to the Government effected by this arrangement (being the difference between .£l6 and £14 10s. per adult) will be £36,000. 11. There are still some details to arrange, but I do not apprehend that these will give rise to any serious difficulty. 12. I shall of course report fully to you on the financial part of the transaction. I have, &c., I. E. Featherston, The Hon. Julius Vogel, C.M.G. Wellington. Agent-General.

No. 7. The Agent-General to the Hon. J. Vogel. (No. 1275.) Sir, — 7, Westminster Chambers, Ist June, 1874. Referring to your telegram, received here on 19th May, relative to the character of Mrs. Howard's selections, I have the honor to inform you that before receiving that telegram I had expressed to Mrs. Howard my extreme dissatisfaction, and had dispensed altogether with her services. It was represented to me that the persons recommended were from an Orphan Asylum, and my authority was strictly limited to persons of that class. When too late to prevent the mischief, I found that Mrs. Howard had been taking all applicants indiscriminately, and forwarding the certificates for approval. I have, &c., I. E. Featherston, The Hon. Julius Yogel, C.M.G., Wellington. Agent-General.

No. 8. The Agent-Geneiial to the Hon. J. Vogel. (No. 1281.) Sir, — 7, Westminster Chambers, 2nd June, 1874. Referring to your despatch of 12th March (No. 57), and to your telegram thereon,, received here on the 26th April last, I have the honor to enclose for your information a tabular statement showing the number of emigrants ordered for each province from Ist March to 31st December, the number despatched to each province from Ist March to 31st May, and the number to be despatched between the Ist June and 31st December, 1874.

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Prom this statement you will perceive that, from and after 30th June, one ship only "will be required to complete the number of emigrants ordered for Canterbury. This ship will sail on the 15th July. The two ships laid on for Otago—Bth July from London, and 15th July from Glasgow —will complete the number of emigrants required for that province; the three ships appointed to sail for Wellington on the 15th July, 31st July, and 18th August, will complete the number ordered for that province; the eight ships appointed to sail for Auckland between the Bth July and 28th October will exhaust the number ordered for that province; the four ships laid on between 17th July and 14th October to Hawkers Bay will exhaust the number ordered for that province; the five ships appointed to sail between the sth July and 18th November will satisfy the orders for Nelson, Westland, and Marlborough; and the three ships to be laid on for Taranaki in August, September, and October (but not yet definitely fixed), will likewise complete the number of emigrants ordered for that province. With respect to Taranaki, I may state that hitherto shipowners have refused to lay on ships for that province direct; and, unless I can meet with some better success, I shall be obliged to send the Taranaki emigrants either to Nelson or to Wellington, for transhipment thence. The same remark also applies at the present time as to sending ships to Pieton. I shall nevertheless use my best exertions to obtain ships for both these provinces direct. I have, &c, I. E. Featherston, The Hon. Julius Vogel, C.M.G., Wellington. Agent-General.

Enclosure in No. 8. AUCKLAND.

Souls. Souls. Number ordered .. .. .. .... 4,500 Despatched between 1st March and 31st May .. .. 1,419 To be sent in June .. .. .. .. 450 1,869 Leaving a balance of 2,631 to be sent between 1st July and 31st December. ■ Eight ships will be required. Taranaki. Souls. Number ordered .. .. .. .... 600 Three ships required. * Wellington. Souls. Souls. Number ordered .. .. .. .... 4,000 Despatched between 1st March and 31st May .. .. 1,941 To be sent in June .. .. .. .. 960 o qm Leaving a balance of 1,099 to be sent between 1st July and 31st December. Three ships will be required. Hawke's Bay. Souls. Souls. Number ordered .. .. .. .... 2,000 Despatched between 1st March and 31st May ... .. 769 To be sent in June .. .. .. .... 769 Leaving a balance of 1,231 to be sent between 1st July and 31st December. iii^^=r Four ships will be required.

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Nelson, Marlborough, and Westland. Souls. Souls. Number ordered .. .. .. .... 2,000 Despatched between 1st March and 31st May .. .. 341 To be sent in June .. .. .. .... 341 Leaving a balance of 1,659 to be sent between 1st July and 31st December. "^^^^ Five ships will be required. Canterbury. Souls. Souls. Number ordered .. .. .. .... 6,000 Despatched between 1st March and 31st May .. .. 4,073 To be sent in June .. .. .. .. 1,640 5,713 Leaving a balance of 287 to be sent between 1st July and 31st December. =- One ship will be required. Otago. Souls. Souls. Number ordered .. .. .. .... 6,000 Despatched between 1st March and 31st May .. .. 4,002 To be sent in June .. .. .. .. 1,290 5,292 Leaving a balance of 708 to be sent between 1st July and 31st December. ■ Two ships will be required. Summary. Souls. Souls. Total number ordered .. . . . . .... 25,100 Despatched between 1st March and 31st May .. .. 12,545 To be sent in June .. .. .. .. 4,340 16,885 Leaving a balance of 8,215 to be sent between 1st July and 31st December. ' Twenty-six (26) ships will be required. By Authority : Qiokqe DrosBUEY, Government Printer, Wellington.—187*. 'rice 6£]