•I.—ll

36

W. V.—Went to farm at inception. Only worked a few months. Got a billet from the farm at a sawmill, has left that and is now the owner of two horses and a dray. He has a first-class home and has leased five acres of land from the Government, and is improving it highly. He has been a candidate for local bodies. This man was only a casual hand knocking about Wellington, and if he had not been sent away would probably have been in the same position now. P. N. was sent from Wellington to work on farm, a splendid worker, but only casually employed. In debt all over the place. Was on the farm about two years. Saved a good bit of money, as in all his contracts we allowed his boys to assist him. Left the farm and took contract to supply mill at Kereru with logs. He was doing well when attacked with internal disease. Family now about Levin, and according to latest accounts doing well. H. N. was on farm about ten months. Practically destitute in Wellington. Is now the owner of a section of land, Horowhenua, and doing fairly well. M. V.—This man and his family were destitute in Wellington. Helped him personally on several occasions with food and clothing for children. Was on farm about eighteen months. Is now the owner of a house and section, Levin, and doing well. B. V.—Brought from Christchurch ; living on the charity of his family. Is now in Levin, earning a fair living. (I am not sure whether he is the owner of the house he lives in.) M. F. has been on farm for some time, and is now working as ploughman and team-driver. Was in very straitened circumstances when he went there, has pulled himself round, has got his daughters into work in the district, and is now doing fairly well; and when his time comes to go will, no doubt, be able to hustle round, and make a comfortable home for himself. M. N— This man and his family were in an utter state of destitution, and to add to their difficulties the wife (presumably through her troubles) had taken to drink. They were sent to the farm, where the man worked for some time. We also found employment for one of the boys as mailboy and rouseabout. The wife pulled herself together, and gradually the family recovered their former respectability. The husband is now working on the Bast Boad, and the family is living in Levin in their own cottage, the boys being employed at the sawmills. If this family had not been taken at the time they were, the chances are that the woman would gradually have become more and more addicted to liquor, the children would have run wild, and probably got into the grasp of the law. There are many others whom we have not kept trace of, but judging from their general conduct while on the farm I should say that the start there obtained would enable them to become good citizens.

Department of Labour, Wellington, 30th September, 1898. Names and Ages of Men at present employed on the State Farm. Blain, O. J., 36; Cameron, _~ 61; Moncrieff, J., 39; Boberts, J., 41; Smith, W., 74; Waldron, J., 61Williams, W., 79; Becker, L. _~ 61; Newberry, A., 70; Gilpin, G., 61; Ingram, G., 20; Lester, J., 40; Palmer', Bobert C, 39 ; Fowler, Bobert, 33 ; O'Conner, A., 28. State Farm Levin. Dr. £ s. d. Gr. £ s . d . Land, 800 acres at £4 per acre .. .. 3,200 0 0 Land, 800 acres at £12 10s. .. .. 10,000 0 0 Parliamentary votes .. .. .. 8,289 6 4 Stock, implements, drays, buildings, Receipts, 1894 to 1898 .. .. .. 3,875 19 1 orchard, fencing, and roads ("value of Balance .. .. .. .. 1,405 10 2 buildings, £1,141 10s., not considered as permanent improvements) .. 5,651 0 5 15,651 0 5 Less fencing, roads made, and bush felled .. £1,739 18 11 Orchard .. .. 1,016 5 0 2,756 3 11 12,894 16 6 Beceipts .. .. .. .. 3,875 19 1 Total .. .. .. £16,770 15 7 Total .. .. ■■ £16,770 15 7 * Information asked for by Mr. Massey. Department of Labour, Wellington, 29th September, 1898. Actual number of men that have passed through State Farm, Levin, 129, with thirty-six wives and seventy-eight children.

APPENDIX M. STATE FABMS. State farms may be considered to mean farms where the ordinary operations of farming are managed or controlled, not by those working on the land, but by Government or its agents; or, in other words, farms owned by the Government, where those working have no direct interest arising from the profits or losses of the farm. In order that a State farm or other farm should show good financial results it must be managed with judgment, and the labour employed must be efficient: by this I mean not only that the workmen must be physically capable of doing a day's hard work, but also capable of performing the various operations of a farm efficiently and with expedition. As the objects for which it is proposed to establish State farms are—(l) To give employment to those who from old age, bodily incapacity, or inefficiency of any kind are unlikely to obtain regular employment elsewhere; (2) to give intending settlers some knowledge of farming operations (schools of farming, in fact); (3) to give men temporary work, and so help them to tide over a difficulty—l am of opinion that a State farm, worked by such men as indicated above, cannot pay its way unless the colony is prepared annually to vote large subsidies in support of such institutions, and that it will be unwise to establish State farms. It may be for the good of the State that assistance should be given to men of the classes above indicated, to enable them to support themselves ; but, if so, it is well to face the fact that money will be needed for that purpose, and it is suggested that the desired object can be obtained more economically than by the establishment of State farms.