D.—3.

41

No. 59. The Agent-General to the Hon. the Minister for Immigration. (No. 994.) 7, Westminster Chambers, Victoria Street, Westminster, S.W., Sir,— 9th February, 1874. I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your letter of 19th November, No. 257, covering reports of the Immigration Officer and of the Immigration Commissioners in respect to the ship " Punjaub." I beg to express my gratification that the Government have taken proceedings against the ship for breaches of the Passengers Act, as I have no doubt it will have a very salutary effect. I have, &c., I. E. Featherston, The Hon. Julius Vogel, C.M.G., Wellington, N.Z. Agent-General.

No. 60. The Agent-General to the Hon. the Minister for Immigration. (No. 997.) 7, Westminster Chambers, Victoria Street, Westminster, S.W., Sir,— 10th February, 1873. I have the honor to enclose a report by Mr. C. 11. Carter, of a meeting held by him at Islip, and the arrangements made with Mr. Leggett, an assisted emigrant in the " Ballochmyle." I have, &c., I. E. Featherston, The Hon. the Minister for Immigration, Wellington, N.Z. Agent-General.

Enclosure in No. 60. Mr. Carter to the Agent-General. Sir, — 7, Westminster Chambers, sth February, 1874. I have the honor to report to you that, on the 27th ultimo, I attended a large meeting of farm labourers at Islip, an agricultural village in Oxfordshire. This meeting was especially called for the purpose of my being present to deliver an address on New Zealand, and thereby to assist Mr. Leggctt in securing a large body of farm labourers to sail in the " Ballochmylc " for Canterbury, on the 27th instant. The results of the meeting were very satisfactory : by means of it about fifty eligible emigrants of the rural class were procured. Since then, over one hundred more have been approved. Mr. J. Leggett, a most intelligent country mechanic, and Secretary to the Oxford District Agricultural Labourers' Union, having expressed a desire to you to go out to settle in New Zealand, and also to select from one to two hundred emigrants from agricultural districts to proceed in the same ship with him, I, acting under your instructions, have made arrangements with him as follows :— 1. Mr. Leggett and family are to be provided with a free passage in an enclosed cabin in the steerage of the " Ballochmyle." They arc also to be supplied with ship's outfit, bedding, &c., without charge. 2. He is to receive for outfit expenses and railway fares to Plymouth for himself and family, the sum of £20. 3. He is to be appointed schoolmaster in the ship in which he sails. I have, &c, The Agent-General for New Zealand. C R. Carter.

No. 61. The Agent-General to the Hon. the Minister for Immigration. (No. 1001.) 7, Westminster Chambers, Victoria Street, Westminster, S.W., Sir,— 11th February, 1874. I have the honor to forward herewith, for the information of the Government, the Rev. Mr. Barclay's Emigration Report up to the 31st December, 1873. I have, &c, I. E. Featherston, The Hon. Julius Vogel, C.M.G., Wellington, N.Z. Agent-General. Enclosure in No. 61. Report, Ist October to 31st December, 1873, on New Zealand Emigration. My last report left me at Dunrossness, in Shetland. From that I got to Lerwick on the 2nd October, having had a most successful meeting on the 30th September. I fancy that this year, 1874, a good many will go to New Zealand, making their arrangements in spring to leave in autumn.,