LAND SETTLEMENT

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 188, 4 May 1908, Page 8

LAND SETTLEMENT

*- ——'.••■ r PROCRESS IN THE NORTH. , t A COMMISSIONER'S IMPRESSIONS.. t 0 ; (by TELEGBAPn—SPECIiI CORRESPONDENT.) a Atiohland, May 2. Mr.vJamcs Mackenzie, who has. occupied * the-' position of Commissioner of Crown ® Lands in Auckland for the-past four years, a will .lea've in.a 'few 'days to take up his now p duties' in - a similar . capacity at Wellington, 't Yesterday . Mr. : ' presided over a J meeting of the'Land'Board for the last time, 'J and advantage;.wasiiaken.of tho,occasion by the, mombers : to ' bid.' him farewell. Mr. J. J Rensliaw, as tho senior inember of the Board, oxpressed -regret at' v Mr. Mackenzie's apr proachini; departure and tho termination of ? a period; of :p'leaiant relationship. ' He. tteti-; " Jied:to the ability and courtesy with which ® the Commissioner had.-carried out. his duties. P Mr.' A. R. Harris, in; endorsing Mr. Renshaw's remarks, said that Mr. Mackenzie was l&okediupon as the 'backblccks settlers' ' friend. Messrs. M. .'W. Armstrong and J. T. Rounson also' spoko in high terms ,of the • services of'the dep_artihg Commissioner.' = . ' Mr. Mackenzie; in responding, reciprocated the kindly 'expression; of' members/of the n Board.'. He thanked'':Mr. .Leckie,; secretary j. to the Boardj and the indoor, and outdoor staff'generally for'.their zealous and energetic g work during . his- term of office: He' was g 'going back to'his old home, where lie had c formerly resided and worked for thirty years. « Ho referred to; his successor, Mr. John Strauehon, as an able and practical mail, in a whoso; hands .'the interests of Auckland would j| thoroughly safei: Iv, . p ; The: " Herald thus comments upon , the 0 observations of Mr. Mackenzie, Commissioner j of: Crown Lands, regarding the Auckland dis- s trict..,lands:—Nobody, can 'be expccted to s ! Jinow; the agricultural character and pro- a spects of a district more than an energetic Crown Lands'.Commissioner," and in Mr: r James Mackenzie Auckland has had a capable t and energetic Commissioner, who has spared u neither time, nor trouble in the discharge of v his duties. ' In addressing the Land Board b yesterday upon the occasion of his transfer- d ence:.fo the Wellington district, Mr. Mac- a kenzie ; summarised the impressions' made 1: upon him during \ his four years' work, in t Auckland, after a wide experience in other dis- i: tricts. Briefly, he pointed out that it was being c learned' that, under suitable cultivation and aided by the climate, even the poorer classes t of 'Auckland.land was. fit for profitable settle- t ment,'.; and was ; being, taken, up. He pro- v gliesied. that,.- "while other 'districts have s nearly approached their zenith, that of Auck- 1 land is ..stillVa long way off"; nor did he o hesitate; to'i say that,.;grcat as had been the v growth of Auckland .in . the past, it would bo a still , greater ,in : .tho,.future, and that the c coming; y.eaiv would, probably constitute a re- c cord'in land settlement. This induces us. to ask—as Mr. Mackenzie, being a civil servant, could not: ask—what is tho Government doing, to prcparo for v this anticipated wavo of' settlement? If the Public Works Depart;: mcnt' : wcro in close touch with the Lands Department it would be making roads, building bridges, and laying; railways into the Auckland' country, wliich is 'fast being turned by tho labour of-ourr settlers from wilderness £ into'pasture'lands; for. the difficulty in Auck- t land'iji not that, the.,seasons are not genial ( and the land, fertile under cultivation, but £ that, there are.-no adequate, means of reach- c ing. the land'or forwarding produce to market ( until' the Government- makes roads and builds 1 'railways.,.. /■ ' a