H.—ll

LXIV

made —159 married and 536 single women being sent to employers. Independent of the foregoing figures, there have been a good number of women, such as certificated nurses, mid wives, teachers, &c, assisted in finding employment, who for obvious reasons cannot be included amongst our statistics, &c. These women come from various parts of the Dominion and from overseas ; they are put into the way of finding employment at their professions, and thus a valuable work is being continually carried on in this direction which does not appear upon the surface. The office is also made a medium for obtaining information regarding women's work generally. Letters of appreciation and thanks are frequently received by me for the work done on behalf of women, and I think it is now generally felt that the fact that the maids are sent by the Department is a guarantee in itself. This confidence should exist, as care is always exercised in the selection of maids ; and equal care is taken, on the other hand, on behalf of those women seeking employment, that they are sent to suitable and reliable homes where life will be made congenial to them, and where they will be fit to undertake the duties required of them. It will be noted that 902 generals have been applied for and only 162 women have offered themselves for this class of work, thus showing the acute nature of the domestic problem. It is in the homes where this class of maid is wanted that the burden presses most; neither can I see a way out of the difficulty, unless some means could be found for bringing a much larger number of suitable girls from England. The shortage in the supply of this class of labour might be partially met if mistresses adopted the system of day-work which is much in vogue in England, America, and other countries where maids are engaged by the day and have their evenings free to spend with their parents and friends. I find the isolation of the life is the principal objection to women adopting domestic work as their vocation. Immigration. —The steamers from overseas have been met from time to time, but the result has been unsatisfactory, as with few exceptions the women landing as " domestics " are not domestics, and have very little knowledge of household duties ; they are principally mill and. factory workers without domestic training, and demand a wage much above the ruling wages paid, stating this is what they were led to expect before leaving the Home-land. Although this branch has done good business throughout the year,- its usefulness could be greatly extended if the facilities of the office were better known. The following is the classified analysis of applications received and dealt with and engagements made during the past year : —

I have, &c, H. R. Morrison, The Secretary for Labour, Wellington. Officer in Charge.

Applications received from Employers. Applications received from Workers. Engagements made. Assistants in housework . . Attendants Charwomen Clerks .. Cooks Companions Dressmakers Dispenser (chemistry) Generals Governesses Housekeepers Housemaids and waitresses Kitohenmaids Laundresses Lady-helps Matrons Married couples Nurses .. Pantrymaids Porters Shirt hands, &c. Saleswomen Stewardess .. .. Wardsmaids 123 4 37 1 290 2 4 902 3 85 413 28 65 100 7 23 58 18 22 59 95 6 103 3 170 8 12 1 162 10 101 369 19 37 49 6 14 22 16 6 56 2 38 114 5 114 2 43 222 17 30 34 3 1 13 6 5 1 1 2 3 1 "l Totals ., 2,247 1,213 707