The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo. TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 1904. THE MATAMATA ESTATE.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXV, Issue 135, 7 June 1904, Page 4

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo.

TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 1904. THE MATAMATA ESTATE.

for the mm that loom* atoiotmmee. For the wrong that ammo reoietamou, War the future in the, distance, Am 4 the good that vie so* do.

The people/: 6f7 New Zealand 'are by this time only too familiar with .the unscrupulous tactics employed by certain Conservative journals in their hopeless attempt at discrediting the policy of the Seddon Administration. But the "New Zealand Herald" has'to-day surpassed even its own record for inaccuracy and misrepresentation. In an article on the Matamata leases, the "Herald" asserts that the opening of the Matamata Estate has been a failure, and bases its opinion on the statement that only 37 farms were applied for, and that 39 remain on the hands of the Land Board. Without beating about the bush, we may say at once that this is a shocking mis-statement, and we must leave it to the "Herald" to explain whether it is to be attributed to ignorance or sheer recklessness. The facts are these: that there were 117 farms offered for allotn?ientj and of these only 42 are left on hand, 75 having been already covered. The grazing run of 3000 acres has been taken up, and about half the suburban sections have also been applied for. Turning to the question of area, we find that out of 42,000 acres offered for settlement, 25,000 acres have already been applied for, leaving about 17,000 acres still uncovered. The "Herald" appears to be entirely unaware of these interesting facts, but we appeal to the common sense of the general public as to whether such a result is not in the highest degree satisfactory. Within a month oil advertisement nearly twothirds of this, large and valuable estate have been taken up. Moreover, many applicants are engaged in examining the plans at the Land Office, and inspecting the lands —a task which has naturally been delayed by the recent wet weather. On the whole we' think that the Government has every reason to be gratified with the way in which the Matamata lands have gone off, and we are in a position to state that this is the opinion generally held on the Land Board and by the Departmental officials. It is true that only a small proportion of the township allotments have been taken up. But suftb sections can hardly be expected to go off rapidly till the country round is in working order, and in any case we see no reason to regret the absence of the speculator in "town lots," who is usually.; the ■worst enemy of the bona fide settler. Possibly the large area of many of the unclaimed sections has something to do with the reluctance of applicants; for it is noticeable that nearly all the smaller sections weTe taken up first. However, these are comparatively minor points, and they represent nothing that detracts from the success of the settlement scheme. The fact that 25,000 acres of valuable land have been thrown open to a large number of capable tenants in so short a time constitutes a success with which the Department may well feel gratified; and it effectually disposes of the "Herald's" contention —not more valuable than the figures on which it is the lease-in-perpetuity deters would-be settlers from taking up Crown lands.