D.—No. 16a

RELATING TO IMMIGRATION

9

Enclosure 2 in No. 9. lEyxdence taken by the Immigration Commissioners on board the ship " Merope," in presence of the Officers and Agents of the Ship. Chaeles Wood, steerage passenger, states the supply of bread and flour was insufficient, especially for families of children ; thinks extra allowance wanted ; cheese would be a great comfort, often begged for by sufferers during sea-sickness. On Saturdays the captain supplemented 4 oz. of salt meat by preserved meat made into soup, with rice and barley. James Childs.—l have a wife and five children. The bread and flour were insufficient, especially for children. The Saturday's allowance was not enough ; if we had not soup on Saturdays we should not have had enough. I believe we had all our rations and more. Officers and all on board behaved always Tery kindly to us. James Paget.—l have a wife and six children. The bread and flour were insufficient; the Saturday's ration was also insufficient. The captain gave us soups from preserved meats instead of the ordinary ration. Thomas Sandekcoce.—l have a wife and five children. The only complaint I have to make is that we were short of flour and bread. Alpeed Elayell.—l have a wife and seven children. The allowance of flour and bread was quite insufficient to the wants of my family. We had sufficient meat. It would be very desirable if cheese were added to the rations. John Peeve. —I have a wife and three children. I acted as constable. I saw the provisions weighed; full supplies were always given according to scale. People generally complained of supply of flour and bread; my own family would have liked more flour and bread. Ido not consider Saturday's allowance sufficient; 4 oz. of salt beef would have been useless. Soup, with barley or rice, was supplied by the ship. The single men in a body made the same complaint of insufficient supply of flour and bread. The captain concurs ; he thinks, also, when there are so many children, there should be a special ration. Extras have been supplied from the captain's table. He also thinks it would be advisable to supply a better class of biscuits in smaller quantities. The surgeon concurs in the above statements.

No. 10. Memoeandtjm and Compaeative Statement of Dietaey Scale. Sib, — Immigration Office, Christchurch, Canterbury, 15th August, 1872. In a Memorandum I had the honor to address to you on the 29th April last, on the subject of the draft contract proposed to be entered into by the Agent-General for the conveyance of emigrants to New Zealand, I alluded to the dietary scale, and remarked that, with the omission of one article (cheese), the scale was exactly similar to the one in use on board Canterbury immigrant ships for several years past. I stated that the scale was ample, and would without doubt give the same satisfaction as heretofore. I find, however, that the present scale, made by the Agent-General, is different from that shown in the draft contract, and I desire to direct your attention to the alterations. The following articles are now omitted in the weekly allowance to each adult:—Cheese, 6 oz.; currants, £ lb. ; carrots, £ lb.; celery seed, i oz. The following articles are reduced, as under: —Preserved meats, -j lb. less; flour, -J lb. less ; rice or oatmeal, £ lb. less; tea, | oz. less; coffee, 1 oz. less; suet, 2 oz. less ; potatoes, fresh, 1 lb. less, or preserved, -} lb. less. The following additions have been made:—Salt beef, i lb. more ; biscuit, 14 oz. more; butter, 2 oz. more; raisins, i lb. more. I attach table comparing the present dietary scale with that under the Canterbury contract, and also with the scale allowed by law under the Passenger Act. I have, &c, J. Edwin Maech, The Hon. the Resident Minister. Chief Immigration Officer.

TABLE showing present Dietary Scale, the Scale under the Canterbury Provincial Government, and the Scale allowed under the Passenger Act.

Aettcee. Present Scale. Canterbury Scale. Scale allowed by law under Passenger Act. Preserved Meat Salt Beef Salt Pork Biscuit Plour Bice or Oatmeal lbs. oz. 1 0 li 0 1 0 3J 0 3 0 1* 0 i pint lbs. oz. H 0 1 0 1 0 2 10 3i 0 14 0 i pint lbs. oz. 1 0 li 0 1 0 Si 0 2 0 1* 0 If pint Peas