BACKBLOCK SETTLERS IN THE KING COUNTRY.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 948, 15 October 1910, Page 10

BACKBLOCK SETTLERS IN THE KING COUNTRY.

; / Sir,—'YVellingtonians;. have.'.-, not .-yeb come to know that as soon as a railway/is made from Kawhia to ' tho Main Trunk;. Wellington, . instead of Auckland, will';got,all our trado of .export and import. . Kawhia-entrance, although reliable.;to pilots who .' know where the channel 'is : will 'not be a port of call for, ocean . vessels, for some time, until a wall two miles long is made from' the north side of the entrance to deep water. The outside : channel is' liable. to shift repeatedly, as it is formed :by the tide and shifted by storms. /Unless a suitable pilot service; was arranged it is •' not safe for . vessels. drawing over 24ft. at spring tides. ; The usual average depth at low / water is 17ft.', at springs 31ft. If w;e 'had the' railway system coastal steamers .would: come * hero .'.from Wellington. If the railway, connection is made soon our business and trade goes south. If Auckland makes a canal through to Onehnnga our 'trade will 'go there. Our wool must .all -go ,to; Wellington. There is a steady increase, of sheep each year. There are 8000 lambs for freezing this' season. We keep the ewo lambs. Butter' production Has not caught on, as the areas are large enough for sheep to pay, .'and save, the slavery of. cowspanking. : ,But' now tho milking machines have' proved -they can do the' work cheaper and better /than- labour an inducement to increase the revenuo of our holdings will make many take to. butter-making. /The cui'so of unoccupied Native land robs the country Of some of our most excellent land. Kawhia .County at present consists, iof several isolated settlements surrounded by idle . Native land. If the people of the towns, only knew the dreary isolation of, our lives','- the Certainty,of. this part gradually .expanding its productiveness until -all lis. settled,/also tho certainty of our. trade going to Wellington as soon as, we are connccted by rail, they, would, help, us by .using" their influence to open up these rich areas to productiveness, and thus increase the wealth of 'their city. Money spent now in. opening up this Garden of Eden will come back a hundredfold in a few ! short years. If we here start dealing with'the, south wo shall not shift, especially wool and butter, which with frozen meat are to bo our chief exports." Fruit can bo grown ■ here to perfection, especially : grapes, which grow wild and do well. All wo want now is a little more consideration from our .capital, "which' will be repaid very soon.—l am, etc., ' „ M.H.G. Oparau, October 10. ...../