EMIGRATION TO NEW ZEALAND (LETTERS FROM THE AGENT-GENERAL RESPECTING). FURTHER CORRESPONDENCE. [In Continuation of D.-3, 1886.]

Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1886 Session I, D-04a

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1886. NEW ZEALAND.

EMIGRATION TO NEW ZEALAND (LETTERS FROM THE AGENT-GENERAL RESPECTING). FURTHER CORRESPONDENCE. [In Continuation of D.-3, 1886.]

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

No. 1. The Agent-Geneeal to the Hon. the Ministeb for Immigeation. Sib, — 7, Westminster Chambers, London, S.W., 15th May, 1886. In continuation of my letter of the 9th ultimo,* I transmit herewith copy of a letter I have received from the Colonial Office, in reply to mine, asking to be informed of the nature and extent of the financial arrangements in contemplation for giving effect to the suggested principle of State-aided emigration. You will observe that, as Her Majesty's Government have not yet come to a decision upon the1 principle itself, the details have not been settled. I have, &c, The Hon. the Minister for Immigration, Wellington. E. D. Bell.

Enclosure in No. 1. Mr. E. Wingpield to the Agent-Geneeal. Sic,— Colonial Office, Downing Street, 12th May, 1886. I am directed by Earl Granville to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 19th ultimo, requesting to be informed of the nature and extent of the financial arrangement in connection with the system of the suggested State-aided emigration. In reply, I am to inform you that Her Majesty's Government have not come to any decision as to the adoption of the principle of State aid to emigration, and it is therefore impossible for Lord Granville to say what financial arrangements would be proposed if that principle were adopted. I have, &c, The Agent-General for New Zealand. Edwaed Wingfield.

No. 2. The Agent-Geneeal to the Hon. the Ministee for Immigeation. Sie, — 7, Westminster Chambers, London, S.W., 3rd June, 1886. I transmit to you herewith copy of a letter I have addressed to the Colonial Office, recalling. Earl Granville's attention to the proposal which, in compliance with your desire, I brought before Lord Derby, early last year, for concerted action between the Imperial and Colonial Governments for the proposed crofter settlement at Waikawa. I have been for some time in communication, unofficially, with the Earl of Dalhousie on the question, and at an interview this morning, in the presence of Sir Robert Herbert, K.C.B., Undersecretary of State for the Colonies, and Sir Eeginald Welby, Permanent Secretary to the Treasury, it was settled that I should be placed in official communication with his lordship, as Secretary for Scotland. I hope to be able to say more definitely to you very soon whether the Imperial Government will join in sending out the first pioneer families. I have, &c, The Hon. the Minister for Immigration, Wellington. F. D. Bell. • No. 15, D.-3, 188C.

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Enclosure 1 in No. 2. The Agent-Genebal to the Undee-Secbetaey of State for the Colonies. Sib,— 7, Westminster Chambers, S.W., 28th May, 1886. I beg permission to recall to the recollection of the Secretary of State the proposal, submitted by me last year to the Earl of Derby, for concerted action between the Imperial and Colonial Governments in the formation of a settlement of Highland crofters and cottars. After Lord Derby had honoured me with an interview on the subject, I sent in a letter describing the proposal formally, and you were directed to inform me that his lordship was in communication thereon with Sir William Harcourt. I presume that the postponement of the Crofters Bill prevented any decision being come to then. The reintroduction of the Bill this session, in a new shape, had led my Goverment to hope that Imperial assistance to the crofters for emigration would be granted, and the necessity for such assistance in districts where numbers pressed so heavily on means of subsistence was strongly urged in the debates upon the Bill during its passage through the House of Commons. But Ido not understand that any definite provision for the purpose has yet received the approval of the Imperial Government. In the meanwhile a circumstance has happened which seems to present a good opportunity for reconsidering the proposal I had the honour to make last year. One of the best and most experienced of the officers in the immigration service of the colony has been sent over by my Government, and is now in communication with the crofters in the Isle of Skye, where he was himself born. I beg permission to enclose extracts of a report I have just received from him ; and I cannot doubt chat some plan for concerted action between the Imperial and colonial authorities would be eminently successful at this time. So far as the Colonial Government are concerned, their thorough co-operation, in what they have always looked upon as a matter of Imperial concern, has long been assured. An excellent site has been set aside for the proposed settlement, 10,000 acres in extent, and in a position specially fitted for people like the Highland crofters—on the seaboard, well wooded and watered, with a good soil promising plentiful crops of wheat, oats, and potatoes, and afterwards good grass; a fair harbour for vessels of twelve to fifteen feet draught, and on a coast abounding in fish; with a temperate climate, where cattle have never to be housed at night; with ample religious and educational provision, schools being established wherever there are twenty children of school-age, and education free to all without regard to sect or creed; and where each crofter settling on the land will have a free grant of ten acres for every male adult, and will be able to get more at 20s. an acre. All that I have asked, for the present, on the part of the colony, is that the Imperial Government should take a part in this plan for a Highland crofter settlement, by contributing half the cost of sending out some pioneer families. If the plan turns out well, it may becone an Imperial object to extend it, and to send out considerable numbers ; but this can be left for future arrangements between the Governments. The time seems propitious, if Her Majesty's Government should see fit to decide whether it is worth their while to make a beginning. I have, &c, The Secretary of State for the Colonies. P. D. Bell.

Enclosure 2 in No. 2. Mr. Colin Allan to the Agent-Genebal. Sib,— Isle of Skye, Arnisort by Portree, 24th May, 1886. I have the honour to report that I arrived here on the 17th instant, in prosecution of the mission intrusted to me for inducing some of the Skye crofters to emigrate to New Zealand for the purpose of occupying the special settlement set apart for them under "The Land Act, 1855." During the short time I have been in the island, I have met with some encouragement, and believe if I could offer the islanders a free passage to New Zealand, which I have not now the power to do, a healthy stream of a most desirable class of people could be induced to emigrate to our shores. You are aware that the immigration regulations now in force in the colony apply only to persons nominated by friends there. Under them payment in cash must be made at the rate of £10 for persons over twelve years of age, and £5 for children, the Government assisting the immigrant to the amount of one half. It has been calculated by the department that every adult immigrant introduced into the colony under those regulations costs £20, which includes d6pot expenses, payment of surgeon superintendents and assistants, schoolmasters, matrons, constables, &c. In conversation with several of the crofters, I found that they were not in a position to pay any part of their passage-money, the utmost they could do being to rig themselves out in suitable clothing for the passage. It is evident that the Colonial Government are not in a position to defray single-handed the passages of the crofters, and I now write to recommend that you, as AgentGeneral for the colony, make application to the Secretary for Scotland, the Earl of Dalhousie, for a grant from the Imperial Exchequer to promote this desirable object. I have every confidence that a well-organized scheme of emigration under your auspices and my own superintendence, all the emigrants selected being subject to your approval, would go far to solve the crofter difficulty in the Highlands of Scotland. The islanders are a fine stalwart race of people, enured to toil and hardships, and, when placed in circumstances in which they could see a prospect of improving their condition in life, they would prove a most desirable element of the bone and sinew of any country where they would meet with kind treatment and a cordial welcome. Some of them have acknowledged to me with shame that they were led astray by blatant agitators and unscrupulous

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journalists. They now see their mistake, and are prepared to look at events in a more subdued spirit. I am satisfied of their suitability in every respect to occupy the settlement set apart for them at Waikawa. I may here state that I had the honour of a visit in my office at Dunedin of the Earl of Dalhousio, when lately in the colony. His lordship interested himself in our immigration regulations, and was good enough to accompany me on a visit to our immigration depot at Caversham, with the accommodation and arrangement of which he seemed well pleased. I have arranged for meetings with the crofters at several centres of population, but, as you may well judge, my hands will be tied until I can state positively whether a grant will be received. I enclose a copy of my "appeal,"* which may be attached to any application made to the Government of the United Kingdom. As all my official correspondence will be with yourself, be pleased to communicate to the Government of New Zealand the substance of this letter. I have, &c, Colin Allan. Immigration Officer for New Zealand. The Agent-General for New Zealand, London.

* Enclosure 2 in No. 9, D .-_, 1886.

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Authority : Gboege Didsbubt, Government Printer, Wellington.—lBB6.