D.—No. 1b

ETJETHEE CORRESPONDENCE WITH

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9£ adults have paid full passage, 230J have given promissory notes for £5 per adult, 1 has paid £5 The passage money, (this does not include the agency fee) will be at the rate of £10 lis. per adult' The emigrants, as a body, seem to have been well selected, and will, I have no doubt, form a valuable addition to the population of Canterbury, to which Province I have, in the absence of instructions to the contrary, directed the " Friedeburg " to proceed. • I have, &c, The Hon. W. Gisborne. I. E. Featiiekston.

No. 3. Agent-Geneeal to Hon. Colonial Seceetaey. Sic,— Hamburgh, 21st May, 1872. I trust that the apprehension which has apparently been excited, if not in the mind of the Government, at any rate in that of many of my fellow colonists, by the arrangements I have entered into for the promotion of emigration from Germany and Scandinavia, will have been completely allayed by tho advices you will have subsequently received of the prospects of emigration from the United Kingdom. During the three months, commencing on the lßt of April last, and ending the 30th June next, there will (I estimate) have been despatched from the United Kingdom a number of emigrants equal to at least 2,000 statute adults, and from Germany and Scandinavia not more than 700. The contracts or agreements for the sending out of Germans and Scandinavians to the number of 6,000 adults will determine at the expiration of two years from the date at which they were entered into, when emigration from Germany and Scandinavia and all other foreign countries may be altogether suspended, should the Government deem it advisable or expedient to do so. I myself should deeply regret such a step, not only because I regard New Zealand as afield capable of profitably absorbing any amount of immigration, but also because I am satisfied that many industries, such for example, amongst many others, as the culture of the vine, the manufacture of sugar from beet, and of paper from wood, and the preparation of dessecated milk, can only be successfully established in New Zealand by means of emigrants from the countries in which those industries are thoroughly understood, and have been long carried on. It is recognised on all sides by its opponents, equally as by its supporters, that the present policy of the Government can only be carried out successfully by an immediate and large influx of population. To limit emigration to the United Kingdom might render it impossible to supply the Colony's urgent demand for labor; might indefinitely delay the execution of the great public works to which the Colony is committed ; might enormously increase their cost, and, as a necessary result, render the payment of the interest on the borrowed money, by which these works are undertaken, an intolerable burden. At the same time, it will, I trust, be clear from the strenuous efforts made to promote emigration from the United Kingdom, and from the stream already flowing, and which is daily assuming larger and larger dimensions, that it is neither my intention nor desire to flood the Colony with Foreigners to the exclusion or detriment of our own countrymen. I have, &c, The Hon. "W. Gisborne. I. E. Featjjeeston.

No. 4. Agent-Genebal to Hon. Colonial Seceetaey. Sic,— Hamburg, 21st May, 1872. I would venture to suggest to you the expediency of your ascertaining the rate of freight at which railway plant could be conveyed from Melbourne to the chief ports in New Zealand, as I am inclined to think that it could be conveyed more cheaply from London to New Zealand via Melbourne than if shipped direct. Dead weight has usually been taken to Melbourne at about 10s. a ton. Eailway plant regarded as measurement goods at from 17s. 6d. to 20s. or 255. per ton. At present, owing to the great supply of dead weight, the freight for it to Melbourne is considerably higher than for railway measurment plant, being for the former 17s. 6d. a ton, for the latter 125., but this is an exceptional state. Messrs. Shaw, Saville, & Co. are, I understand, at the present time charging merchants from 30s. to 355. a ton for dead weight, and from 455. to 50s. for measurement goods ; and they are already threatening to charge the Government similar rates, or rates approaching them. I have, in anticipation of this, for some time been endeavoring to come to some arrangement with Mr. Sloman, of this city, for the conveyance of our railway plant in his vessels either from London or Hamburg. In the tenders I recently invited for 3,200 tons of rails, the tenderers were required to state the prices at which they would deliver the rails free on board at Hamburg, as well as at the usual ports in the United Kingdom. The tender (which I accepted yesterday) was £11 10s. a ton, delivered at London and other ports in England, and £11 15s. delivered at Hamburg. The difference is so small that it materially assists me in my present negotiations. Mr. Sloman has my proposals under consideration, and I am in hopes that I may be able to communicate the result by the present mail. I have, &c, The Hon. W. Gisborne. I. E. Featheeston.