A.—7

2

Under such a scheme, agreed upon with the Government of New Zealand in June last, assisted passages are granted to approved settlers according to the scale set out in Appendix A. In exceptional cases the settlers contributions may be advanced by way of loan. The classes of persons who may receive assisted passages are — (a) Those with relatives or friends in the Dominion who may nominate them ; (b) special types of workers whom the High Commissioner is authorized from time to time to accept without nomination, such as fully qualified farm labourers, single farmers, bricklayers, and stonemasons ; (c) domestic servants. 3. Itinerary.—We arrived at Auckland on the 10th September, and were there received on behalf of the Government by the Under-Secretaries for the Departments of Internal Affairs and Immigration. An itinerary, extending over a period of one month, was at once discussed and agreed upon with them, as detailed in Appendix B. It was not possible for Mr. Smith to accompany us, as he was still engaged upon his investigations in parts of Australia. Plans were so arranged, however, that he was eventually able to visit several centres of agricultural importance which the rest of the delegates had not covered. The range of inquiry was thus considerably extended, and districts were visited which had unavoidably been excluded from the original itinerary. An outline of the two tours is shown in the enclosed map [not printed]. From Auckland we proceeded to Wellington, arriving there on the 11th September, on which date conferences were held with the Acting Prime Minister and other Cabinet Ministers upon the general subject of our mission. Having discussed the terms of the assisted-passage agreement referred to in paragraph 2, Ministers made it clear to us that no other agreement was at present contemplated under the Empire Settlement Act ; that the Crown lands available for selection were strictly limited ; and that such lands were already being largely applied for by residents in the Dominion. The absence of any specific land-settlement scheme for British settlers naturally affected both the scope and immediate value of our inquiries. We trust, however, that the information contained in this report may be helpful in the event of any development of land policy in the future. 4. Meetings.—Leaving Wellington on the 12th September we visited all the centres named in the itinerary, completing the work in Auckland on the sth October. Public meetings were arranged for and addressed by us in most of those centres, and on all such occasions we explained that our primary concern was to explore the possibilities for settling people on the land ; to examine the arrangements for the reception and welfare of new settlers ; and generally so to acquaint ourselves with actual conditions that we might report upon the facts in a clear light. Representatives of many sections of the community attended the meetings, at which useful discussions and conversations took place. We also availed ourselves of every opportunity for getting into personal touch in the country with as many leading men, farmers, individual settlers, and agricultural workers as possible. Not only were we thus able to glean information, but we have reason to believe that the publicity given to our visit aroused a good deal of public attention to the pressing importance of the problem of migration in its widest sense. 11. METHOD OF DEALING WITH IMMIGRATION. 5. The Nomination System.—The flow of immigration into New Zealand is now largely regulated by what is known as the " nomination system," which applies exclusively to residents in the United Kingdom, and may briefly be described as follows :— Under certain conditions, permanent residents in the Dominion may nominate for assisted passages under the Empire Settlement Act any persons residing in the United Kingdom, provided that they do not fall within the prohibited immigrant class. (Appendix C.) The nominator enters into the following obligations :— (a.) That he will find employment for his nominee ; (b.) That he will make provision for the nominee's maintenance after arrival in the Dominion : (c.) That the nominee will reside in New Zealand for at least five years ; (d.) That, if the representations which he makes are found to be incorrect, he will pay the difference between the full passage-money and the assisted rate. Nominators are warned that assisted passages cannot be granted to unhealthy persons, and that when cases of lung, chest, or other like complaints are discovered in any member of the family by the Medical Officer at London, Liverpool, or Southampton the whole family will be forbidden to embark. Assisted passages are available only to those persons who are British by birth and parentage. Employers and social institutions may nominate specific persons, or individuals or groups to be chosen by their own representatives in London, or by the High Commissioner for New Zealand, on their (the nominator's) behalf. Bona fide general servants, cooks, housemaids, parlourmaids, waitresses, laundresses, or nursemaids, between the a.ges of eighteen and forty years, may be nominated for free passages, under the same general conditions as those persons nominated for assisted passages, provided they undertake to spend their first year in approved service. The general procedure in carrying out the above method of nomination is described in Appendix 1). One of its many advantages is that it assures a friendly welcome on arrival and assistance to the settler at a time when he is most in need of advice in establishing himself in a new environment. The system has been in operation for some years past, and is generally admitted to have, had very satisfactory results.