AFTER THE WAR.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1402, 30 March 1912, Page 14

AFTER THE WAR.

PERIOD OF DEPRESSION

RAILWAY'S AND PKOGUESS.

A long period of commercial depression followed the termination of the Maori war. In 1870 the white population of the whole province was only 4330, and as the Natives very generally cultivated a sullen disposition, there was littl* confidence on the part of New Zcalantlers, or anyone else for. that matter, to settle in tho district. About .10,000 ■acres of land were cut up in accordance with Alfred Domett's very excellent military scheme, which, by the' way, was partly a failure owing to the conditions of occupation being of a somewhat careless nature, Just lwfore then tho onlv settled irortions of the ynviiKe were narrow fringes of country along the coast between Wnitara and Tataraimaka on the north side of Mount Egmont, .and Patea and Haivora on the south side. In all, 1,200,000 acres of land—an area averaging 15 miles wide—between Whitecliffs and Patfci were confiscated by the Crown from those Maoris who took up arms against the Crown, but this included lands held by loyal.Natives, which were eventually returned to them. . Tho confiscation policy vastly extended the area available for settlement.

TIIB FIRST MAIL COACH. In 1871 the first mail coach camo through from Wangnnui to Now Plymouth,, travelling .by tho coast line, -arid even then far along the beach had to lie taken to, liocause Te Whit i, the Parihnka chief, refused to allow tiio vehicle to go through his territory. For many years afterwards the same chief was a cause of disaffection, which culminated in his arrest at Farihakaon November 5, ISBI. The coacli had left Wanganui early on the morning of. January 11, having as passengers Sir William lox, Prime Ministor, Messrs. Hirst and Keimenscheider, Andrew Young (proprietor), tho Chief Hone Pihama (who offered himself as hostage for the safety of tho trip), and an orderly. They reached Hawera that night. . Ne.it day nt Umuroa, To Whiti ordered. the expedition off his territory, declaring that it could use only such n'n area as was washed by the sea. The party, therefore, took to tho beach, and finally arrived at New Plymouth at 9.15 p.m. on Friday, January 13, a passage of three days. From that time onward tho coaching rervice was twice weekly, and from 'that day there was a steady" influx of visitors, S2ttlcrs, and business meit into the di'ttrict, which-liad. : made such a lot of ;history, in the previous ten years.

BAILWAY DEVELOPMENT. The first sod of railway was himcil in August, 1573, it being the bc.-iinmn? of hie New. Plymouth-Waitara line, and early in 1875 this section was opened for Iraflic. The lino reached Inglcw.-od in 1577, Stratford 187!), .and Hawora in An, gust, ISBI. The 48-mile run then absorbed, four hours. Just prior to the opening of the line, Mr. Chas. Chavannes, now of Wniiganm, drove the first conch from Hnwera to New Plymonth by the Mountain Koad, the journey occupying ten hours. J.etwoen 1872 anil 1871 the Provincial Council became possessed of 379,470 acres of land for settlement, including the blocks extending from Waitara to the Paten liiver, and also where the town of Stratford now stands, higlewood and Normanby were laid out in 1875, Stratford in 1877, and Mnnaia and Opunake in 1880. The, opening of the lands mentioned and the construction of the railway marked the beginning of the development of the resources of Taranaki, and even then there were serious handicaps to .be fought against—the isolation of the province, the want of n. Rood harbour, and the occasional disturbed stalelof 'the Native mind. In June, IS>7l. the telegraph-line had been opened between New-Plymouth, and Opunake, but. between New Plymouth and Hawora the morose Natives' would not allow the poles to be placed. Communication was effected between those two points by mounted messengers, and the line from sruthwards being -completed, a fairly rapid service was thus instituted between New Plymouth and Wellington. Later, when the "Mountain Track" (the present line) was opened in 187 C, direct telegraphic communication was installed along the route. The railways were a part of the public works policy of- the Fox-Vogcl Ministry, which also had an immigration policy, from which Tarauaki gained a substantial advantage. Good work in this direction was done by Mr. W. M. Burton. With the completion of the public works policy, however, the depression which, spread over the whole colony' was acutely felt, in Taranaki right through to the eighties, so that progress was slow, often painful, until about' ISM. In that year, tho. dairying industry, so to speak, found its feet, and since then Taranaki has never looked back. In the twelve years which followed 1801, the importance of the dairy industry and the immense- natural resources of tho district with respect to dairying have brought Taranaki to the front rank of tho colonial centres of population. The district near the coast tins been converted into a vast dairy-farm, and the establishment of cmunerie-, butter and cheesii factories, Government instruction nnd intense cultivation, have proved a source of great wealth to the di'trict, and also to the Dominion. With the vciy ovident possibilities regarding petroleum and irons.vid development, the province promises-to become one ol the wealthiest in New Zealand.