D.—3

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results of Mr. Mason's operations continue to be unsatisfactory, to exercise the power which I have of appointing another agent in his stead or closing the agency altogether. I have, &c., I. E. Featherston, The Hon. Julius Vogel, C.M.G., Wellington. Agent-General.

No. 92. The Agent-General to the Hon. J. Vogel. (No. 1202.) 7, Westminster Chambers, Victoria Street, Westminster, S.W., Sir,— 17th April 1874. Referring to your telegram received 22nd October, 1873, in which you say that you would be glad if " 20,000 emigrants could be sent during the next six months," I have the honor to state that there is every prospect of your wishes being complied with, provided the requisite tonnage can be obtained. During the quarter ended the 31st March, some 10,500 souls have been sent out, and during the present quarter that number will be exceeded if I succeed in securing vessels. It is infinitely easier to procure 40,000 emigrants, now that the Agricultural Unions have taken up emigration, than it was to obtain 5,000 when they were opposed to it. All the Unions are working heartily with me, being convinced that they can only hope to succeed in their present struggle by shipping off the surplus labour. The number sent away has already had a very appreciable effect in the labour market in certain districts in the County of Kent, and the employers are so alarmed that they constantly refuse to sign certificates of character for intending emigrants. The stream thus set flowing will not easily be stemmed, especially if the reports sent home by emigrants to their friends continue as favourable and encouraging as hitherto. The only real difficulty is the scarcity of tonnage. Since the New Zealand Shipping Company, Messrs. Patrick Henderson and Co., and Messrs. Shaw, Savill, and Co. combined to raise the rate of passage money from £14 10s. to £16 per statute adult, I have had brokers employed, but up to the present time they have not been able to charter a single vessel. I have also been in communication with shipowners in Liverpool and Bristol, but they one and all decline to enter into the New Zealand trade against such formidable competitors as the three firms just mentioned. I might probably have chartered the " Great Britain," and two other steamers of above 4,000 tons register, belonging to a company called the English and Australian Steam Company, but it was in each case a sine qua non that they should be permitted to call at Melbourne. I have offered also to charter the steamers of Mr. Sloman, but the same objection is started: "We have no mercantile connection with the Colony, and we therefore don't see our way to securing freight either outwards or homewards." lam aware that the difficulty is not recognized by you. You believe, as you say in your letter of October, that any broker would any hour charter for me as many ships as I required; but I have little doubt that the late manager of the New Zealand Shipping Company, Mr. Turner, will disabuse your mind of this idea. I will only further add, that I shall not agree to the terms of these firms until I find it utterly impossible to find tonnage outside of them. I have, &c., I. E. Featherston, The Hon. Julius Vogel, C.M.G., Wellington. Agent-General.

No. 93. The Agent-General to the Hon. J. Vogel. (No. 1203.) 7, Westminster Chambers, Victoria Street, Westminster, S.W., Sir,— 17th April, 1874. Referring to your letter of 6th February (No. 21), I have the honor to state that, in the particular instance referred to, it was quite impossible for me to attend personally at the meeting in Oxfordshire. Although I have not actually attended these public meetings, I have been for the last twelve months in almost constant communication with the Executive Committees of the several Agricultural Labourers' Unions, and I have lost no opportunity of enlisting their interest in New Zealand as a suitable field for emigration. I have offered to attend their meetings, but the representative men seem to prefer me at my office, where they can discuss questions in the freest manner, and obtain the information required by the Associations for which they are acting. I have, &c, I. E. Featherston, The Hon. Julius Vogel, C.M.G., Wellington. Agent-General.