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and may, for sufficient cause, disenroll and remove any member from the labotir settlement, and may include therein any new member." Only three settlements have been established—namely, at Pitt Town, Wilberforce, and Bega. The total area occupied by these settlements is 5,140 acres, namely : — Acres. Pitt Town ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 2,150 Wilberforce ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 1,630 Bega ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 1,360 5,140 The number of settlers originally enrolled was 145 —namely, Pitt Town, 96 ; Wilberforce, 35 ; Bega, 14 : total, 145. The expenditure has been about £8,900 —namely, at Pitt Town, £6,705; Wilberforce, £1,540; Bega, about £655 : total, £8,900. The value of improvements, including working-plant, are estimated as follow : Pitt Town, £5,992 ; Wilberforce, £1,718; Bega, about £600 : total, £8,310. It cannot therefore be said that the settlements are a success financially, and the cause seems to me apparent when the manner in which they were formed and the quality of the soil are taken into consideration. .First, with respect to Pitt Town, some seven hundred men were registered at the Labour Bureau as applicants for land in this settlement, and about one hundred men were selected and sent to occupy an area of 2,150 acres of second-class land. Many of the men had no previous experience, their wives and families were in a destitute condition, their landlords were turning them out of their houses because they were unable to pay their rent, and these men, with their families, were sent to settle on a block of land, a large proportion of which was only lit for gazing purposes. Under such circumstances, how can they be expected to succeed ? And this is not all. The Act provides that Boards of Control may be nominated or appointed for the management• of these settlements. Unfortunately, the original Board appointed to manage the affairs at Pitt Town was not a success. It is stated that the Boaixl permitted an undue waste of money in the purchase of luxuries. For every shilling spent for bread twice as much was spent for butter, and it is alleged there was extravagance of all sorts. Then, again, it is said the Board did not agree amongst themselves, nor were they able to work together. It is true the Board was composed of men, many of whom had philanthropic views and kindly dispositions, yet, through weak management and internal dissensions amongst themselves, the Board soon became a source of weakness rather than of strength to successful settlement. It is not surprising, therefore, tha,t the members resigned, and the Government appointed a Board, composed partly of Government officers and representatives nominated by the settlers, to manage and control the settlement. The number of settlers now at Pitt Town comprise eighty-eight men, eighty-one women, and 275 children under fourteen years of age; of the eighty-eight men, seven are single. The Board of Control appoint a Superintendent, who is the responsible Executive Officer for the direction of the works undertaken, and the management of the settlers in relation to their employment. The men are put into gangs by the Superintendent, and work forty-eight hours per week under his directions, and under the co-operative system, they draw for food and clothing goods to the value of ss. per week for male adults, 2s. for female adults (wives of settlers), and Is. for each child. The maximum amount must not exceed 14s. per week for families and ss. per week for single men. In the building used as a store I observed the following:— " Notice. —On and after Monday next, the 18th February, absolutely no credit will be given at the store or butcher's shop. Settlers who are short must borrow from each other. George Waite, Superintendent." If it was necessary to show the mistake of placing a large number of people on inferior land, a better illustration than the above could hardly be given. It is not the fault of the settlers, or that they are idle, as the Superintendent assured me they all worked very well, but in the fact that too many men have been placed on poor land, and consequently it cannot yield sufficient to support the number. A good schoolroom has been erected at this settlement, and at the time of my inspection 150 children were on the roll, and the average attendance was 120. The master of the school, Mr. A. J. Bennett, informed me that all the children attending belong to the families in the settlement. They are strong and healthy, and their conduct is very good. The school has now been established one year, and is entirely maintained by the Government. It was a very pleasing feature to note that education was in no way neglected, for in addition to the master there is an assistant master, a mistress, and assistant mistress. It was evident that the children were well cared for and carefully taught. There is abundance of good clay and shale on the land; bricks are made by the settlers, and a brick building 60ft. by 30ft. was in course of erection for religious services. In order to form a correct opinion of the future prospects of this settlement, I think the views of the settlers themselves are of value. I interviewed several. The first I spoke to was an old Canterbury settler, Mr. H. L. He said, "The co-operative system under which we are working is a failure. The men do not agree amongst themselves, some think favouritism is shown. Many of us remain here in the hope that the Government may do something for us by removing part of our number to better land ; there are too many altogether in this settlement to make it a success, when you consider the quality of the land." Another settler, J. C, said, "There are about thirty in the settlement who have known each other over two years, we like the co-operative system, and we are prepared to go together anywhere the Government like to send us, and work under that system, provided the land is fairly good, or we would remain here, by ourselves, and we think we could,