PITIFUL PLIGHT.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 85, 11 April 1927, Page 10

PITIFUL PLIGHT.

OF NGAROMA SETTLERS. i UTTER HOPELESSNESS AHEAD. TRAGEDY OF THE BACKBLOCKS. ■ I (IVuni- t!"- "titers" Special Ohi-.sj <lent.) Xo. T. I n!e-- a person went into the Xgaroina settlement and saw the conditions iinir-r which the people have to live, the story of their pitiful plight, and strugr p'rain.st homeless despair would seem ■•■> :->uible in this Dominion of New Zea\f. 'I. Those r><-onle are not living, they ;;m-- liiireiy exiting, and most of them h hungry. Their land is poor —very i =••>:■- -iiiid their stock die of sickness. '" ;• ;<c of those men with families have 11' Ti. hi (here for M years trying to make s " .In"' of thiiitfs. iSeventy-five per cent 0 ; Jit* manhoou on the block went to t' ,- - war, and some came back with 1 ! 'i hopes of success. They were not -',';kers. and took up sections on which i'i- fiovernment said was good land and itrild be made a payable proposition. i vt> of those men have paid for the "\perk'ni-e with their lives, whilst others hiivc siven up the task as hopeless. Several have hung on, thinking the Government would help them out of the mess. They, too. have lost hope and are about to give up. A few were optiin'.sii.- concerning the future and had not openly or public-ally complained of their treatment. Hope' deferred has made their heart- sick, with the result, that a "Star" , representative was asked to go out to the Xgarouia country, 40 miles back from Te Awanmtu, and see conditions as they really are. To say the lenst they are pitiful. Sad Story of Failures. There is no doubt whatever concerning the amount of hard work which has been done in the strenuous endeavour to make the Ngaroma country productive. Jt ia a block of 22.000 acres, which was opened up for settlement by the Government in 1012 on the O.R.P. tenure at a value of 35/ an acre, rent being payable from the outset. During the whole of that time practically every penny earned has had to be "put back into trie land." These, people are not satisfied with the way the Government and the Lands Department have treated them, and now the crisis has come. To date 10 sections, consisting of 5829 acres, have been abandoned, and 17 sections, aggregating 7073 acres, are about to be walked oft". There were originally 44 sections in the block, and a total of 27 sections, consisting of 12.002 acres have been lost to production after 15 years' work. Men have also lost all their life savings amounting to some thousands of pounds, and to-day there are 120 men, women and children in Ngaroma. the majority of whom don't know where the next* meal is coming *KMp. Some of those families iiave not

tasted meat for weeks and montn*. Their homes are slab huts with earth tloors. Others, have floors covered with sack;. Some of the women, whom tinwriter met. complained bitterly of tintreatment which has been meted out to them. Judging by what they said, and what was vouched for by their neighbours, they apparently have legitimate grievances. All the settlers are behind with their payments. The arrears are a constant millstone round their necks. As one man put it, it is a case of hopeless waiting to see the end. What is to be done with these people? That is the problem which faces the Government and the Lands Department, even yet, in spite of the recommendations of the Soldier?,' Revaluation Committee and tlie Deteriorated Lands Commission, some of which havu been carried out more or less. One man's place was written down by £.">7OO, and yet it has done no good. That the whole country at Xgarouia is and has been cattle sick there is no doubt. And these settlers have indisputable evidence that the Government knew that such was the case when they put settlers on that block of country. This and other phases of the question will be discused in a subsequent article. Women and Children Suffer. The wives of the settlers at Ngaronia have had to live under circumstances which the average woman, or man for that matter, would not stand for a week, let alone for years. It has been a hard, hard struggle. Some have families •—boiiiiie'little kiddies of whom anybody would naturally be proud. But those children have to go to school, 2G of them, ill-fed. They want nourishing food and clothes. They are cold. It is bleak away up there at Ngaronia, 2000 to 2700 ft above sea level, Where the Punu and Waipa rivers have their source, and the Waikato is. only a few miles away. Is it any wonder that the school inspector's reports are not satisfactory and the children are backward. Given the same chances as those on good producing country, where a living at lea.-t could be made, they would have a chance of making good. It is their heritage. At Ngaroma there are children cloth-..i with bags. Mothers have utilised flourbags for the purpose of underclothes a in! sheets for beds. Some of those ehildn-n have never seen a railway train, and they are only 32 miles away from Te Awamutu. One girl was 12 years of age before she saw a piano, and then ■she nearly "went mad over it." The mother-women work, plan, t-crap J and save just as hard as their menjtolk to try to make a Mo of things" some of th hav( , not Wn oi]t of t!) -settlement for years. On..- woman, who ITL T a ■'- 00,1 !,onU! ■'" Knj. and." mut 7 lt - hi,S ~0° " n »t <« To Aw a"hew wT '" 12 ?*"*> : '" 11 ""- ■»" h —'- have no' monev ani i tw T " th ° V not presentable.' hCU " Cl ° the * are When the day's work is o'er thev in , tumble into bed becmiee thev "I tired to do anything else-aiul there U no-money to buy ii iht ui 5 but plenty if

wood fur tires. To lie a fiirm<M''* v-ifi , i on tin , Npamina s-ettlenient. and to in-!:. mill »i\i- encouragement "to her in.in to go on' , is no sinecure. I'olit ic.ia II- illlil Others ha\e >ellt ll|i tli;' <tv. "Kci-p tlii- cradles full." "".\iori , 1 nxliii linn ii!T the land," etc., etc. Hut what art , they doiiiir to help pay for ih ,, expen-e to the sot tier and his wife, who are both doing their duty to the country in every way'.' Why it eo.-ts eight Iμ twelve guineas to have a doctor pay one short visit to Ngaronia. Government Does not Realise. The la-t linn , the lion. A. 1). MeLeod was nil hi- way out to X-jaronu lie pot us fiir a- tin- Whar-.-pMhiiiig.i l'ost oilice i:i -hi'd on tin- -iiii• hi ;!,.- roaili. l<«ok"<l ahead into the lain covered hills, an-l the day road winding up and up. :-l k his head and ,-aiil he would hack to 'I'e Av.anuuii. That itiie port of M'tiled Lrown land, it is contended, the Miui-trrs nf the Crown. and especially the Mini.-ter of Lain!-. should pi-r-onallv know about. How can men lie expected ti> Ii \ o "ii a yearly return of i-'i from cig!;- n>v..-. or £50 from twelve cow-, and keep a family or even think nf viiinj married. One bachelor has been waitinu eight year* for his hridc, and his net income for the l>ns-1 seven years has hoen £70. This returned soldier"? total gr >>■; income been £.">sl. and hi- '•:ii•»I.< • ■ amount to £ll<in. The Lain!- eDp.n '. menl liave allowed him that £70 fn» the seven vonrs otf hi- stock. '1 here is not a rabbit on the whole block. They could not live. The eountrv is too poor. Even wild pigs are scarce. If there were rabbits the.i settlers could pet a decent meal sometime*. But it is only when someone manages to shoot a pig that meat is ta-ted in many Ngaroma homes, if they could !>■ caller! such: With a view to having him see the conditions for himself the Ngaroina settlers invited the Hon. A. D. McLeod to call in there on Hood Friday on hiway bnek from the Tlauraki Plains m Wellington. The Min!-ter of Lands replied t" the eiTect that "'i account. <if his impending \i-it to Australia it would be ins;. for him to do s (1 . T.ast Thui-d.iv. ••; a full meeting of 'men and women -et*lers in the Nsaroma Hall, it wadeeiilctl to send telegrams to each mem her of the Cabinet, telling them thai the position was serious, and asking them to vi-it the settlement. It \vaalso deciderl to -end a depiitat ion ol live -ettlers to Frank toil Junction t< meet the Hen. Alel.eod there this morn ing and try to convince* him and tin Government of tlio anpallinir state o affairs which cxi-t "ti the frown land -it Kgnroma. Many times previously Inthis 'in"i done, so far without ie-ult. i To lie Pont inued.)