VILLAGE SETTLEMENT.

Auckland Star, Volume XVII, Issue 286, 4 December 1886, Page 8

VILLAGE SETTLEMENT.

A meeting of persons interested in the motion of the Village Settlement SchS" was held last evening in the Temperaa"" Hall, Albert-street, at 8 o'clock. <n'^ was a good attendance, B&veral ladies b present. : . -*8

Mr George Warburton was voted in tt chair, and opsned the proceeding* b» rending the advertisement convening «/ meeting. He said he was rather interest.! inanyecherae propounded by the GoVnwf - ment that had the object of BettlineSlT?" on the lands. He had como out under £i. Williamson's forty-acre system, but L W yet been utterly uaable to find his sectin He thought the present waa the beatsvS yot propounded by the Government and k might mention that Mr Ballance 'and M/ Lundon woro virtually the fathers of tki scheme. ™B

MrLundon thon came forward, and eWil that hia reason tor calling them toeethM was *.o say that the Auckland EndowtnS was now open to selectors under the VillaSS Settlement Scheme. It was- situated btt* navigable river, and was called the Pnnij;! katcri Block. In a fortnight's time tnti? block would be thrown open. It was the bW block yot offered, as it was within halta mile of where the s.s. Hannah Mokari used to ru-j. There wore still some lota open tor selection in the Victoria ValW Ihe land waa worth £10 an acre, and they could kick a crop in, and then kick it out again, the land was to good. It was a disgrace to the unemployed that such wj was left abegging. Men might go there and form homesteads, and thus become in; dopsndent. The Albertland settlement years ago had been pitched on bad land and yet none of theeo settlers had come back to live in tho Old Men's Refuge. When ho" heard that there were 400 unemployed in Auckland, who went down to the wharf to hear Mr Garrard talk nonsense, he thought it was tima to offer them land. They could now chooao from any land that -waa' in the possession of the Government. He. had not yet heard of any settler who ; had thrown up hia selection and come back to town dissatisfied with his choice, They should remember that they were really masters of the Government, and that if the Ministry did not please they could kick them out every three years. He reminded them that Mr Ballance had promised to put the women and ohildren on the blocks free of charge. What was more, the promiie was being carried out. There was another block of 27,500 acres in the Manganuaha Block, near Hokianga, which waß also open for selection. There was ' a graded,' road to that land, and if twenty men would select there he wbald' put them on at one time, and during taV winter they would be put on to make the roads, as £33,000 had been voted towards'■making roads to the lands. At Arakenu there waa a block of immensely rich land. It was near Whangabay Harbour. If 35 or 20 men would "select land there, Captain McGregor would put on a steamer to take them down. There were plenty of pigs and fish to be had for catching, and a gumfield of 100,000 acres was not faraway. Another block was at Mongonui BWff,"not" far from Kaihou Valley. As the Union SasK and Door Company had a Bplendid bush close there, it waa probable that there": would shortly be plenty of employment., When they got their lease, they were also supplied with a license to dig gum, and no: other but selectors had a right to dig on these fields. There was. a lot Vof bad land in the North between hero' and Whangarei, but at the Bay of Inlands there waa really good land.* Unfortunately, it was at present held by the Maoris and missionaries. AtHbTtfaf nga there was 400,000 acres of real gobjj land Somehow,the people dow' there had' not cultivated the land. It was becaueethere wa.i so much timber to be cut otifc* He would say to the young men: .".Gejtaj wife and two fifty-acre lots and forin '<i\ homestead for yourselves." He meant to' represant Hokianga at the next election and if they found him mis-stating thingfc* then they need not vote for him! .In tho country the young people' get' marritby but they could not afford to do so in; tpyri,; however fine they looked. He specially' wished them to consider the Auckland endowment, which, as he had already eaid, would bo opoa in two weeks. He would guarantee them work in the winter^ but not in the summer, as the settler would need to fell his bush and get a house built: before the bad weather commenced. Mr Lnndonresumed his seat amidst considerable ap. plause. , Ihe Chairman slid that a fortnight ago he had come across a village, settier at Swanson who waß well satisfied; with the choice. He was within five iniit" utes' walk of tho railway station. It was truo tho land was not of the best, but still it adjoined tho railway, and was also close to the city- The Government were still cutting up' blocks in the same neighbours: hood, which would be open to selectors He then neked for persons to ask question or make complaints if they had any. 5 ,, In reply to questions, Mr Lundon stated that the £10 for clearing the land was only: lent to the settlers, for which they had to, pay 5 per cent. ; but perhaps in the future the Government might see fit to condone those claims. The monej was really tentf in order to further the scheme. : :i 'The; Auckland endowment.contained 1,500 acree, and was half-a:milo from the landing pTaiSif A selector got a title within six months offiii selection. Surveyors were already wbrWng on all the blocks at present open. - ■. ♦ :^ After eomo further discussion the meetiigj terminated.