D.—9

2

The initial agreement entered into on the 28th August, 1922, between His Majesty's Secretary of State for the Colonies and the Dominion Government had the effect of reducing the then current assisted fares from £26 per adult and half-price for children between the ages of three and twelve years to £18 per adult and children free. This agreement expired on the 31st March, 1923, and it is anticipated upon renewal that there will be a still further substantial reduction in adult passagemoney and also for juveniles— i.e., boys and girls up to the age of sixteen and eighteen years. If anticipations are realized it should be the means of inducing an increased number of immigrants to our shores sufficient to make up our total to not less than ten thousand per annum. There is .no doubt that if certain restrictions were removed and a more open policy adopted the number of immigrants arriving per annum could be doubled. Whilst fully alive to the economic advantage to the Empire as a whole of migration and settlement within the Empire, it would be useless to say, no matter how much they are needed, that we can take thousands and thousands of people from any country and plant them down in the Dominion without proper reception or without being able to assure them that openings and work can be found upon arrival. Therefore it is better to proceed as at present and consolidate our position rather than cause disruption and dissatisfaction. The total number of arrivals in New Zealand from the United Kingdom during the year ended 31st March, 1923, was 11,341, excluding returning New-Zealanders. Out of the total number of persons arriving, 6,737 were assisted by the New Zealand Government. During the year thirty-two steamers brought out assisted immigrants as follows :- -

Nominated and Oversea Settlement Passengers who arrived in the Dominion from the 1st April, 1922, to the 31st March, 1923.

Note. —(a.) Of the above nominated passengers (excluding oversea settlement scheme) 706 were granted applied passages in the United Kingdom, leaving a total of 2,549 nominated. (4.) Included in the above nominated figures are 550 domestics, of whom 126 were nominated and 424 were granted applied passages. (c.) Of the nominated passages 2,217 were assisted by the New Zealand Government and 1,038 by both New Zealand and Imperial Governments.

56 4 4 646 596 7 6 79 21 4 4