D.—3,

1886. NEW ZEALAND.

EMIGRATION TO NEW ZEALAND. (LETTERS FROM THE AGENT-GENERAL.) [In Continuation of D.—2, 1884.]

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

No. 1. The Agent-General to the Hon. the Minister for Immigration. Sir, — 7, Westminster Chambers, London, S.W., 28th November, 1885. I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of Bth October, transmitting the correspondence between your department and Mr. W. Courtenay, and am glad to find he has been re-engaged for another visit to this country, as his lectures were popular and useful when he was here, and are likely to be even more so now that the Government have decided upon granting assistance to small farmers towards their passages. I have, &c. The Hon. the Minister for Immigration, Wellington. F. D. Bell.

No. 2. The Agent General to the Hon. the Minister for Immigration. Sir, — 7, Westminster Chambers, London, S.W., 30th November, 1885. It was with very great pleasure that I received your letter of Ist October, with the welcome news of your general concurrence in the views which I had ventured to lay before you last June, in favour of granting assisted passages to small farmers. I have been constantly occupied since getting your letter in considering how best to give effect to your instructions, and I hope soon to write to you more fully. But I cannot let a mail leave without asking your reference to one part of my letter of 15th June, which I ought not to refrain from once more impressing upon the Government, namely, that success in such a policy will require a great deal of organisation and some expense in this country. Permit me to assure you very earnestly that we must not content ourselves with advertising, however widely, the regulations you have sent me. The object to be gained is one of such importance to the Colony that if it is to be attempted at all it ought only to be carried out in a thorough way, with complete and most careful preparation, with a methodical organisation in the agricultural counties of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and above all with sustained and persistent efforts, steadily continued over a reasonable time, among the special classes to which the offer is made. There are sure to be plenty of applicants belonging to other classes to whom we should not think of giving assisted passages; and not only the general method adopted, but really every single case, ought to have the personal attention of the Agent-General. It would be utterly impossible for me to attempt this at all without an appreciable addition to the staff here, already much overworked ; and I have even serious doubts whether it would be wise for the Government to confide the scheme at all to any one whose tenure of office was so precarious as mine, or who was not really going to carry it out himself. The announcement that the views which I had so long advocated had at last commended themselves to yourself and to Parliament was so unexpected, that, except as a mere scheme, I had never thought I should be called upon again to speak of it; but the more I have had to think over it since your letter came, the more sure I have felt of being able to make it a success—and, yet, the more impressed have I been with the responsibility of the work that will have to be done if success is to be achieved. I shall soon address you again, but for the present I shall venture to assume that you really mean the work to be gone about in a thorough way. I will take the first steps in it with all the economy I can, and as only a small expense can be incurred by the time you get this letter, there will be ample time —if I have in any way mistaken your intentions—for a telegram to be sent me for my guidance. I have, &c, The Hon. the Minister for Immigration, Wellington. F. D. Bell. 1. D,—3.