TOWN EDITION. The Daily Telegraph WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24, 1881.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3168, 24 August 1881, Page 2

TOWN EDITION. The Daily Telegraph WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24, 1881.

The Dunedin Star, of the 19th instant, has a leading article upm the East Coast and Native Lands Settlement Company, one portion of which, wa think, demands explanation. While Mr W. L. Rees is in Napier no doubt h° wi ll our readers with the explanation of the following passages :■—" The natives of the East Coast, throughout an extensive area of country conveniently situated and comprising land of very superior quality, have, it is confidently stated, demonstrated their approval of the proposals, and proved their readiness to co-operste therewith by agreeing to contribute 40.000 acre? at a nominal value of £12,000 before any European capital is called for, on condition of the company being floated ; and they have lands under survey which they are prepared, on tbe first allo'ment of shares, to bring in and contribute at equally lo* prices, and in extent greatly in excels of their proportionate contribution of £350,000, as defined in the distribution of the nominal capital of the company. The lands—4o 000 acres- already under contract, include, according to the prosupects, 'four-fifths of all the valuable land immediately around Gisborne and the township of Uawa (Tologa Bay; while the native owners have offered to assign to the company large areas of country beyond and surrounding these, extending inland and along the coast.'" The obvious inference to be drawn from the above quotation is that the 40,000 acres offered by the natives to the company at tbe nominal price of £12,000 include four-fifths of all the valuable land immediately around Gisborne and the township of Uawa at Tolaga Bay. Now, we would ask, is that so ? Are not tbe 40,000 acres that have been offered to the company situated in the Mangatu block, some forty miles from Gisborne ? Is it likely the natives would sell four-fifths of their valuable land immediately around Gisborne for a nominal Bum of 6s an acre P We think not. These questions should not only be asked, but they should also be answered. There should be no suspicion that a false coloring had been put upon the prospects of the company ; for although the promoters cannot be held responsible in the first instance for what may appear in a newspaper, responsibility would certainly attach to them if misleading statements were allowed to go uncorrected.