ft.— 4

8

I would remind you that I have repeatedly asked you to furnish me with the names, designations, the places where selected, the ages, the number of families, and the terms of the engagements, including the amount of wages or equivalent in tonnage that the Government agent promised the men said to be engaged for the Westport Colliery Company; then I shall be in a position to judge whether the Government have engaged the men in terms of my letters of request. When you give me a reply to the above request, and when my official instructions reach me from Dunedin, I may then be in a position to answer your question, " When will the Company be ready to receive the miners at Westport ?" I have, &c, The Immigration Officer, Nelson. A. J. Burns.

Enclosure 5 in No. 31. The Immigration Officer, Nelson, to the General Manager, Westport Colliery Company. Sir, — Immigration Office, 24th December, 1879. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 23rd instant, re the coal-miners by the ship " Opawa/' and I regret that you are unable to give me any satisfactory reply as to their employment by your Company. I must say I read with surprise the statement that you had " repeatedly asked " me to furnish the names, designations, and places where selected, &c, as 1 have no recollection of your ever having made any such application directly to me, although an application of that character ■was made to the Under-Secretary and forwarded to me by that officer, when I forwarded to you a complete list of the emigrants by the " Opawa/' showing the ages, designations, and counties where selected. I now forward a list of those in the depot who were engaged for the Company in compliance with the terms of your letter of the Ist March last,* addressed to the Hon. the Minister for Immigration. I have, &c, The General Manager, Westport Colliery Company, Alfred Greenfield. Nelson.

No. 32. The Immigration* Officer, Christchurch, to the Under-Secretary for Immigration. (Telegram.) Christchurch, 2nd January, 1880. Messrs. L. Harper and H. Cracroft Wilson request me to telegraph to the Hon. Mr. Eolleston as follows : Springfield Coal Company will find work for twenty miners. Must be hewers. Will take ten or fifteen married men and families. Can accommodate men, but Government mnst find house-room for wives and families until cottages can be built—say four weeks. Wives and children could be housed at depot in Christchurch, and husbands allowed free passes by rail to Springfield occasionally to visit them, until cottages built. If no single men, cannot take more than fifteen families. The Under-Secretary for Immigration, Wellington. J. E. March.

No. 33. The Manager, Brunner Coal Company, to the Under-Secretary for Immigration, (Telegram.) Greymouth, 2nd January, 1880. Re your telegram of the 12th ultimo, will now take ten of them. Must be good miners, and married men. Their families better remain back for few weeks. Advise if they are coming forward. The Under-Secretary for Immigration. M. Kennedy.

No. 34. The Under-Secretary for Immigration to the Immigration Officer, Nelson. (Telegram.) Wellington, 3rd January, 1880. Springfield Company in Canterbury will take fifteen families miners. Must be hewers. Telegraph whether you can arrange for that number and description to be sent, and what passages will cost. The Immigration Officer, Nelson. H. J. H. Eliott.

No. 35. The Immigration Officer, Nelson, to the Under-Secretary for Immigration. (Telegram.) Nelson, 3rd January, 1880. Can send fifteen families. All the miners coal-getters. The passage is ten per cent, less than ordinary rates. The Under-Secretary for Immigration. A. Greenfield.

* No. 31, D.—l., Sess. 1., 1879.