Institutions,
presented in 1888, an extract from which appears in the Appendix of this
report. In the brief space of fifteen years the dire consequences of the
mistakes made in previous immigration without due regard to its quality
had already become apparent, and in the most impressive terms Dr.
Macgregor, who was an exceedingly able and far-sighted public servant,
pointed out that the evil done by the introduction of an undesirable
class of immigrant is never finished.

"The impaired health, low morality, and insanity descend to the
offspring, and are a continued drain upon this community."

The benefit of a well-regulated stream of immigration into this country
is not open to question. A substantial addition to our population is now
more than ever needed if this country is to progress and its resources
are to be developed sufficiently to enable it to bear with ease the
heavy burden imposed on the community by the Great War. The point which
it is desired to emphasize is that constant vigilance is necessary to
keep up the standard of quality of the new-comers in view of the very
natural desire to send off to a new land those who are physically or
mentally unable to maintain themselves in the land of their birth. Such
vigilance, it need hardly be pointed out, is especially necessary at the
present time when the volume of immigration is greatly increased owing
to the condition of affairs in the Mother-country.

As a matter of fact, there seems no doubt that immediately after the
conclusion of the war the system of control and medical inspection was
not so strict as it should have been, especially in the case of the
Imperial Government's overseas settlement scheme for ex-service men and
women. The New Zealand Government, however, sent Home an officer from
the Immigration Department to rectify matters and to provide for a more
thorough examination of assisted immigrants.

Under the system at present in force a special roster of medical
referees has been compiled, and no person is accepted as an assisted
immigrant without a certificate of physical and mental fitness from one
of these doctors. The medical examiner, in the instructions, is
particularly requested "To satisfy himself that the applicant is in
every way a fit subject to pass a thorough medical examination, as
applicants are liable to rejection both at the port of embarkation and
at the port of arrival." Finally, the doctor is required to sign the
following s