FOUNDING THE SETTLEMENTS.

Evening Post, Volume XCIII, Issue 45, 21 February 1917, Page 11

FOUNDING THE SETTLEMENTS.

HISTORY OF NEGOTIATION

AN AUTHENTIC ACCOUNT.

SOME INTERESTING FACTS.

In most successful settlements in New Zealand there has been some original foundation scheme. With spasmodic settlement progress has seldom been so rapid as in cases where some definite organisation has been.done. The Waira-

rapa is a case in point. The organisation for settlement there was most complete, and, more than that, it was in the hands of men who will for ever rank among the best colonists this Dominion has ever been favoured with. They were strong men, knowing just what they wanted and making sure that they received nothing which might have been termed "just as good." General good rather than personal gain urged them forward, and few of the original enthusiasts lived to reap the full benefit of their work. The parent, then, of settlement in the Wairarapa was the Wairarapa Small Farm Association, a body of colonists formed in Wellington. Little of the actual history of that association is known,, but, through the courtesy of Mr. R. Brown, of Masterton, The Post is privileged to publish a short, account of its formation as written by Mr. Joseph Masters, who vouched for the correctness of his facts. ,THE FIRST STEPS. In the. beginning of the year 1853 (he wrote) I had an interview with SixGeorge Grey, then Governor, and as he was about to introduce now land legislation in accordance with the despatch received from Earl Grey, the then Colonial Minister, directing him to ascertain the opinion of the colonists as to the propriety of setting aside the Australian Land Act and reducing the price of Crown lands in this colony; at the same time expressing his own opinion that the minimum upset price might be most advantageously reduced from £1 to 5s per acre. In order, therefore, to strengthen Sir George Grey's hands, as there was a very great deal of opposition, George Moore, Esq., drew up a petition, which I undertook the charge of, and which I delivered to the Governor numerously signed, at the same time suggesting that the man of small capital, if only possessed of £20, should bo allowed to invest as well as the man ot £1000. Sir Geor/e Grey agreed with me, and said lie would put it in the Land Regulations', of which shortly after he sent me a proof-sheet, and called himself at my shop (o see if that would suit me. I said, "No; I want a block of not less than 25,000 acres set apart, through which the main road will pass so as to give employment to the new settlers." Sir George Grey Mien said. "If you will go and take it at Ahuriri. T will sot apart 100.000 acres." This I declined, stating that I hnr] great respect for Wellington, and should prefer it in the Waitarnpa. Sir George Gr*,v said; ->,Tb.t GoveiTwacnl'Jjave ha laud

there, but if you could induce the Natives to sell such a block I.will send Mr. M'Leau to purchase.it." INTERVIEWING THE MAORIS. I therefore at once got a pack-horse, with tent and other articles, and got Mr. H. Jackson, to go with me as interpreter, calling at the residence of Mr. Borlase on our way up to Ngamutana, where we had a long '-onversation, part Maori and part English; however, we made Isaiah understand, who conversed with Richmond, the chief, who said: "If it be true what this man says, we will get the Natives to sell the land." j In order to ascertain the truth. the old man ordered his son-in-law, Isaiah, to go down to Wellington and see Sir George Grey. Isaiah was satisfied, and he said ho would use his influence to induce the Natives to sell - the land I wanted. Sir George Grey put his hand into his pocket and took out a 1 quantity of sovereigns, which he handed to Isaiah to pay his expenses, saying that Mr. M'Lean would be up in a few days and would purchase the land for Masters. ASSISTANCE PROMISED. A public meeting was shortly afterwards called by me, in order to form a committee to assist me, in whose names Sir George Grey had promised to invest the 25,000 acres. The committee, in conjunction with Mr. W. Allen, drew up the rules, which were considered only temporary, as the Governor had got a Hundred Act passed, which .he expected to bring into force as soon as there were the required number of settlers. Mr. M'Lean, having succeeded in making the purchase, Sir George Grey sent for the Hon. Mr. Tollemache, Dr. Featherston, and myself. The Governor said: "Mr. Masters, I have ascertained that Mr. Tollemache is the only person who could injure your scheme, and he has promised' me that he would rather encourage it," and Mr. Tollemache said: "Not one.-farthing of my money pr scrip, shall be brought into operation in that part of the country you have chosen." I thanked him, and Sir George Grey, addressing himself to me, said: "Mr. j Masters, I am about proceeding to the Cape of Good Hope in a. few days, and Dr. Featherston has promised me that, he will assist you in all that lays in _his. power." Dr. Featherston said : "I will." I am happy to say that Mr. Tollemache honourably kept his word. ' INITIAL SUBSCRIBERS. The committed at first consisted of the following : •• Messi's. Masters, . Allen, Carter, Jackson, Renall, George Luxford, P. Trotter, and Braithwaite. The last three, however, declining to act, left the remaining five as.committee. I then proceeded up to Wah-arapa with a depnta-' tion consisting of Messrs. Chew, Tocker, and Jackson, to jmeet Captain Smith. R.A. We met Captain Smith, and I pointed, out the site of the farthest town, and we adjourned to Adam's.wharo; he was present during our discussion. I next pointed out tho site for the first town, but the association having no I funds. I went to tho. Land Office and paid £50 for the farthest town, to float' the scheme.. Mr., Corbett was engaged ttf ■ commence the survey, but the committee had to.advance him £25 to buy an instrument before he could commence. As soon as the farthest tow.was surveyed we commenced receiving deposits for membership. Up to 6th December, 1853, I received £62, which I handed over to • Mr. W. Allen. There wore thirty-six subscribers to this sum who never became members; for, according to our bylaws, each member had to show that he had purchased his forty acres from the Government, for which Mr. Lewis gave him a printed receipt with his signature. The names of those who, I believe, paid £1 each for educational purposes and, I believe, never intended to become members, are:—Revs. H. Creed and J. Watkin, Messrs. F. Boulton, Browne, Harvey, Homer, G. Howe,

J. Howe, Hunter, Mace, Milson, Minifee, Mitchell, Quin, S«rd, Somerville, Tuke, Waitt, J. H. Wallace, R? D. Wallace, J. Watkin. jun., Burton, Crowford, Loxlej'j Weafflin; the remaining eleven forfeited. ■■ • ■ NAMING THE TOWNS. Twenty acres in each township were given by the Government, not to the association, but to the inhabitants generally. Mr. Corbett finished surveying the town lands, and had nearly completed the suburban land, when the Natives interfered, and the lower portion of the section was struck off by the Government. The committee then engaged. Mr. Hughes. However, it had not proceeded far before he ceased work, and demanded a guarantee of. payment from me. . I was not ablo to give a guarantee without consulting Mr. Perry, my partner, who went to Mr. Dillon Bell, • tho Land Commissioner, who agreed that he should bo paid in land as. the Government had no funds. At this time I was in the Wairafapa, and at tho request of the committee, I undertook to see each section, as far as possible, get a fair share of bush land; this was in October, November, and December, 1854. On 4th March, 1855, the ballot took place for number and choice of town acres, which was also to bo the number for suburban sections. Afterwards,, at a dinner, Mr. Allen in the chair, he said: "As Mr. Masters is the . founder of the scheme, it is only right that he should have the honour of naming the first town." I arose and said: "As Sir George GTey had treated the scheme so graciously it was" only due, to him to name it Greytown." Then the chairman begged the honour due to him as chairman, of naming the next town Masterton, after the founder of small farms in the Wairarapa. ROAD TO.WELLINGTON BLOCKED Mr. Hughes was continuing the survey on the Taratahi,. January, 1855, when we had the great earthquake which blocked up the passage over,the llimutaka, and the Government was unable, to make .'roads, both for want of men and money. This delay naturally damped pur. progress. About this time I asked Mr. Allen ;what he had done with the £25 I had collected for educational purposes. He replied: "I have purchased the 48 acre belt at the back of Greytown, which I consider will some day be a good endowment." All parties were friendly then, and Mr. Jackson proposed me as a member of the Provincial Council for Wairarapa, and I fought hard to get a, bridge over the Waiohine, when one of the Government members asked me if I' would vote for another loan of £10,000 (lighthouses), £5000 for Wanganui Bridge, £2000 for the Waiohine Bridge. I said : "That is what I am fighting so hard for." Mr. Renall, the member for the Hutt, voted on the same side. I was unbraided .by the Opposition for selling myself to tho Government. The session closed, however, and Governor Gore Brown, by tho advice of his Ministers, refused sanction to the Bill. The Superintendent called the council together, and I went down expressly to support the Government., I called at the office of the Provincial Secretary, Mr. Fiteherbert, to endeavour to get tho road opened for carts. Mr. Fitzherbert desired me to call at 2 o'clock, and the engineer should be there. Accordingly I met Mr. Roy, who persisted in saying there were not sufficient funds, he wanting to make a good road eleven feet wide." ' I said: "According to your own account yon have sufficient-to make an. eight foot road, and we will be satisfied with that." Mr. Fitzhcrhert ordered it to be done at once. INAUGURATING THE POSTAL . SERVICE. Shortly..after this I induced Mrs. Bannister, then Mrs! Irons, to act as postmistress at Masterton; Mrs. Moles, at Greytown, and Mrs. Halls, at Tauherenikau Hotel—all without pay. I afterwards saw Mr. Hoggard, the chief postmaster, and furnished him with a list of all the residents in the Wairarapa; ho

courteously entertained the matter, and ! Mr. C. Cundy offered to carry the Wairarapa mail bag for a time gratuitously. Thus was our mail first established. THE ASSOCIATION'S REGULATIONS. The remainder of Mr. Master's interesting story deals mainly with a dispute which arose over the appointment of a trustee or . trustees—a dispute which grew rather heated. However, there is no occasion to go into that matter here. The first rules 'and regulations of the Small Farm Association a.re appended:— SMALL FARMS ASSOCIATION. j Rules and Regulations. For the Purchase o£ Land in the Reserves made for the Small Farms As- . sociation in the Wairarapa. Each reserve to be divided in the following manner, yi'z:— A township to consist of not less than 100 acres, which will be laid out in 100 allotments of one acre each. Immediately contiguous to the town' wiil be laid off 100' suburban sections of 40 acres each. • The residue of the Teserve will be laid off so that purchasers may take any number of acres.from 40 up to 100 acres, and which will be called rural sections. The townships will, be purchased from the Government in one block each, and must necessarily be surveyed and laid off at the expense of the association in order to be exempted from the Government Regulations for the "salo of land in townships." ' The whole of each township to be invested in trustees, who will, at the expiration of twelve months, to be calculated from the date of selection, convey to each purchaser his town acre, provid-' ing he shall have fulfilled the conditions hereinafter required: That is to say, ha must have resided .upon some portions of his purchase at least, three months, or have expended theram not less than £30 in improvements; he must also retain his interest in the whole of his property purchased under these'regulations, or forfeit his right to the town acre. . At the expiration of twelve months, as. before mentioned,, all conveyances will be made by the trustees to the person entitled to the same and all town acres remaining unappropriated will be then sold by auction and the proceeds applied for the benefit of the 'town under the direction of the wardens. Each purchaser under these regulations will be allowed to select one town acre, for which he will be charged £1, also 40 suburban acres at the Government price-of 10s per acre. Rural land will come under the same regulations, as to price, as the suburban land, but each purchaser will be allowed to select, in addition to his suburban land, any quantity from 40 acres up to 100 acres; or a purchaser may select rural land without a town acre, or suburban allotment. ' Actual, occupiers, with families, will have the option of taking a rural section for each male child, but this privilege can only be accorded bona fide occupiers. One pound deposit wDI be required from each intending purcliaser, and so soon as one hundred names are recorded the order of selection for town acre and suburban allotments will be determined by baliot. . The next orders of choice will in like manner be determined by ballot monthly. By order of the Committee, William Allen (Chairman).