WELSH SETTLERS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1424, 26 April 1912, Page 6

WELSH SETTLERS.

EXODUS FROM PATAGONIA. EMISSARY IX XKW ZEALAND. (By Telejraph.-Specinl Corresjondent.) Christchurch, April 22. There is a WeUli fcttlement in Patagonia which, is not at all patisfioil with its adopted emintry. Jt has a vehoment ilusire to settle down again ruder the Union Jack, an:l it sent out au emissary to. spy out other lauds, and that emissary, Mr. O. C. Jones, has been spending a few weeks in New Zen la n<l. To-day he was in Chrislchurch, and he Rave a member of tho "l're-is" stair a low particular* of his finding of the promised land. The fiuindiiiK of- the Welsh settlement in Catatonia has in it a touch of romance. It seems that one .Michael Jones had political ambitions which were (jrievnusly disappointed in his own native Wales, ile came to the conclusion that he could do better' elsewhere, and he sent out » few men to the Argentine -In find land which would be suitably for Welsh settlement. Their- reports were such that a very considerable number of Welsh people, said farewell to their old homes and soiled for Patagonia. On arrival there it was found that the advance guard liail not penetrated very far, and that the amount of agricultural land was strictly limited. The pioneers of this new land, which "was then a "No Man's Land," found their dreams of a Welsh colony under the AVelsh flas; disappearin;,'. Hardship »nd toil descended on them, and finally a British warship called to take the settlers back to Wales. Some refused U go, but others did go. Those who stayed took possession of a valley which they cut into farms, and for the last forty years or so they have reared' their families nnd made their livelihood there. They find now that there are too many \Velsh people, and too little land. There is no room for the rising generation, and they are seeking for pastures new. The Patagoi'ians do not make the .most lovable of friends and neighbours. It is not a case of a word and a blow, but two words and a knife or revolver. The settlement wishes to sell out, and come to some land which will give opportunities for advancement. Their children attend schools and learn the .Spanish language, and the younger generation born in Patagonia has to undergo compulsory military training and be ready to defend a land for which they have little affection.

Mr. .Tones travelled to "England, and ' fhonce to Australia and Ken - Zealand. Ho is looking for a country which offers a sufficient area for a settlement on terms which will be reasonably generous. He hns no time for the leasehold tenure which was offered by an Australian State. It was of no use to the individual, and of no advantage to the State. New Zea- ; land was the best country he had been ;in .yet. A3 far v as Canterbury was concerned, he was afraid .that the high price of land precluded the possibility of-a. general settlement being effected here.by men of small capital. Down south' the prospects were tetter,'but the climate was colder, and there wero "two or : three 'rabbits-;too many." He wns inclined to look to'the north- of Auckland as • offering the • best- chances. The' probability of ■ the-pimflelds-of the north being brought into profitable. occupation for sheep-growing seemed to impress him. The land should be cheap, and if offered on fair- terms it should accommodate a fair number of settlers. Ho did not anticipate that there would, bo anything like a gener.il exodus from Patagonia. If they all left in a body there would be a great depreciation in the value of their farms. It was their intention to sell out gradually.