WANGAREI AND MANGAPAI.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXII, Issue 2829, 20 August 1866, Page 4

WANGAREI AND MANGAPAI.

To the Editor of the Datlt South»rn Citosa. Sik,— ln the Weekly News of August 11 1 observe a letter headed " Wangarei and Mun^apai ;" *nd as some of the statements contaiued thereiu are calculated to mislead the public, I have to request th»t you will allow me to offer a few remarks on the subject. Ie has been rumoured for the last two or three years that the Resident Magistrate of the district was to be removed either to GrahamstJwn or Wangarei. If to the latter place, I cannot see that any great injury would be inflicted ou the residents of Mangawai, Mangapai, or Wangarei Bfeads. In the first place, the Mangawai people, while they, have two Tustices in their district, would Dever com© as far as Wangarei Heads or Maungakaramea (the late residence of Mr. tfcott) to seek justice. At Wangarei H eads. there is geld om, if ever, anylitig*tion ; and at Mangapai, but for the assertion made by the Mangapai settlers themselves, that there were no residents in the district qualified to become Justices of the Peace, Justices might be appointed who could perform all the judicial work of the district. At the present time a post-office at Grahamstown is nut required, and could not benefit^ the Mangapai people ; and Grahamstown is so situated that It is only available >by land to a few. scattered settlers, until large sums of money shall have been expended in forming roads, bridges, &c, to connect it with Wangarei. If they do not get tfceir. mails regularly, why not petition the Government to establish an overland mail service between "the would-be capital without the Head" and Mangapai, or else have a depdt at Grahamstown, where the mails could be left if the steamer should be behind her time ? As for the cutters that tide it up Mangapai river, they are invariably Wangarei traders, and could obtain their clearances easier in Wangarei than at either Grahamstown or the Heads. The "spectacle" of vessels "sticking in the flat mud" would probably be as frequently seen in Mangapai river win Wangwei, did the vessels risitftoafc

place oftener, and the statement that the Wangarei ohanael is annually filling up it entirely without foundation. Bat let Grahamstown he the head-quatters of the Resident Magistrate, and I am sure the Wangarei people will hare more sense than to kick at any arrangements made that will conduce to the benefit of the whole district. I cannot conclude without a word of advice to the Mangapai settlers. If Wangarei possesses more natural advantages, and is far in advance of Mangapai, instead of fostering, as they always have done, a jealous feeling towards it-, let them strive to emulate it ; and if they cannot lead, why let them follow, and not always blame Wangarei for every real or imagined slight cast upon them. Trusting that you will excuse me for trespassing so much on your space,— l am, 4c, A Wangarei Settler.