EARLY OTAGO

Evening Star, Issue 16197, 19 August 1916, Page 3

EARLY OTAGO

GeissMs of .Diuiedln.

Letters »i Rev. Burns, B.D.

1857-1868.

!2y J. W. H. BAToreawußj

The Information oontuhnod in this short sari as ia obtained from the letters of tho late Rev. Thomas Burns, D.D., first minister to tho Otago Eattl&ment. The letters ware diiKovarad In cngland only n few months ago, and Jhey contain valuable first-hand r6feronoes to the aarly days af the province. Unfortunately, one section (1852-57) was lo*t <m board the llHated Arabic. 0

Wlthoa* nrry indication of the stirring years to follow, tho Otago Settlement pushed steadily on «u an industrial community. During the Grat three years of this section of Dr Bums' conrospondence, he has nothing but praLsa to give for th* painstaking, steady advancement, mad<> in Bvery direction by the stiudv pioneers oi '.he colony. They were breaking down a friklerness, which they were transforming Into beautiful arable land by tiio simple Application of fins—clearing the btish and harnessing the rich virgin land into neefulness and profit. By thia time settlors had penetrated into the vast interior, and the Southland plains had been divided into pastoral runs, which had been eagerly taken up. Invercargill had been founded, and Riverton was then a town and port of importance, and Southland was even seriously considering taking the etep of separating from Otago and founding a provincial district of its own. Br Burns summed up the scantily-populated portion of Otago as " a wide and destitute bat rising district." INDUCEMENT TO EMIGILATION. " The Provincial Government have resolved to lay out £20,000 on emigration from the Home Country. The money will bo Taised by debentures, and Mr W. H. Reynolds (brother-in-law of Mr Jas Macandrew) is on a visit to the Old Country with the debentures in his possession—at least so many of them as mav he necessary to set the emigration scheme fairly afloat. This will lead to a series nt vessels sailing direct for Otago, either From the Clyde or some other convenient port. The Provincial Government have also offered for sale 600,000 acres of thpix best land an blocks of not less than Z.OCO acres at 10s per acre without the usual conditions of expending not less than 40s per acre in improvements within four years. It ia thought that these 600.000 acres may all be disposed of to Australian capitalists. Should this succeed, Otago will go ahead fast, but it is to the emigration scheme that I look to as our surest source of future progress. Then, arain, the Government soheme of education ii going forward swimmingly, and a rector.

three male and ono female teachers have -wived and opened flourishing schools in Jhinedin, Port Chalmers, Taieri .and Tokomairiro. These teachers are all excellent, and the Government have sent Homo or six more. Furthermore, the Presbytery, at its last meeting decided to send Jiome tor three more ministers. The yernment have given the £20,000 emigration contract to Macandraw and Co° to tne chagrin of the anti-Scotch partv." I have no donbt that it will lead to a "shipPing connection with Otago from Glasgow, Liverpool, Dundee, or Leith, inst as the stream of emigrants may require. IMPROVED PROSPECTS. There is another source of brightness t<>. which I might refer. Within tie last few month the value of town sections in -Uunedin has taken a start upwards, and it that continues I anticipate that all thow good friends at Home to whose lioerahty Otago » indebted for its existence as a Free Church Colony, will suffer no pecuniary loss. On the contrary, I hope that, they will reaUso handsc-jne m he way of profit. One sec? tion, and not the very best, has been estimated at a value of £3OO. It was in connection with a proposal to establish a bank, and this section was to be the Jh,t hj, that Pi,ce. Another thing that has greatly pleased me is the prospect that Otago will £

future, progress, realise its early prowise ol being an out-and-out Scotch good to the settlement immeasurably beyond any rnere indulgence in nationaf partialities or sectarian prejudices. Inshort dim would require himself to be in the midst of a young colony like Otago to be able to understand the inestimable importance of a pure nationality in facilitattrig the planting and early growth of all wstitutions-Boaal. educational, and ecc eaaatacal-for the wholesome training S,n„-t g J t Upbnn S in g ° f a community In my opening address at the naugiiration. of our Presbytery I pressed Uus point very broadly; iAct* so br£dfy that at brought down upon my head tho ™ ttcr of all tho opponents of our Ckss Settlement. W«ll, despite their enmity, the ideal kds fair to accomplish£2o,ooo which, has been voted by the Provincial Council of Otago for emigration, and arrangements have been made that Scotland shall have the first offer. Letters have just come to hand from Scotland giving good groundafor the assumption that the whole £2O COO will .be expended in bringing out Scotch settlers. In mv opinion this £20,000 worth of emigrants I 1 } 1 Scotland a. demand for another £2OOOO worth, and that, consequently, the- stream will ho kept running. x

TRUE COLONISAITOX. I confess to a very high senso of gratification at the prospect of all this It wa ß the idea that first fired my imagination when tho Now Edinburgh Scheme wm first broached to-me in Juno. a few weeks after the Disruption, -when I and ray congx«gation loft the Established Church It was that idea which supported me m cuaging to the Otago wopoeif from I \ l^? tdon l 1 J 1843 "* wmpletion In. 1847 amidst the womdacmisar and chß»w of QuixoUbb>, romance, "bee-in-tlie-bonnetism " try which I wsa aeaailed by the entiie body ol my clerical brethren in fiw Free Church, Attar 14 years' exponent in Otajto I now more proncWedly than ever Wlare the class (settlement to be the only- dhdatdan mode of colonisation. I h*T O felt H my duty til along to assert v *°f 'H "W who emigrated under ehnikr impulses as myself that the contract V> which wo beoatne partias «JwuW fee maintained and ful|UW; The faithful Mowing oat of this by all ooocepjod can constitute the only tru» foundation whereon the hitnro prosperity and lasting happiness <d 4ha asttl*-fcc-eat cad be baaed.

THE BLUFF. . "My wife Lail gone 00 a rfasi* to fcer daughter (Mis CfepUin Elba) at fchiff wbera she arrired safely after a aiMndaya-' e«ver© tooting. There to no otter way of reaching the •onth«nurvo 9 t part of this island, at least for TOrawrfoJi, and the eoa {a In any can the ■ quickest method. It tafces about gin* d»ye to walk ov«riand io ttie site so tfutt, given aayfting Hk«. feeble rwttwft th* w* Is ftarilr ttu, way . The little T*nel waa <JrW back the day Km called tram hare. N«ck day sbe reads another atari, but dW «*ttnding Ctpo fieemder* aho a foul wind, end F • waola day and night she lay tceatag Jnat opposite Danadln. We caw th« roaml B4Aou the Is&rnss tfoat separates |h» upper and of Otago Harbor from tb* eVsiftc Cocao. .However, she go?T a &ar •tod uqxt morning thai carried hor to algi* of tha haadkada of tibe Bhiff •/here aaottter fad wind oawght h«x and* P*7» W tteW b*ek to tie Nogarta as Jh» «oaA d $» £la&* Biro. A&*

arwHaring there she to«k advantage oi another opportunity end got within Foveaus Strait when a furious aout&-«a#ter caught the araf t and dzo<r» Lex -' with a epeed/ cays my wife, ' awiftor titan tlie svditsat ;roiVny speed, far post Brnff.' Luckily, she ran under th« krfty heights of Stewort Jakvnd, which put my wife strongly in mind of ths p*&ka of Airnn. There was perfect shelter, and thoy rode out the gal« ihv.ro. Bv dint of good tuck she got across to JMni on the ninth dasy out. • Daring all thai time vny w'if 9 took notbin«j to eat, and I ara. ihanliful to gay that eh.e wnScsn now no til effects ocncoquent to bar temseoteono royafie. Xh© Bluff I tray add, la the only cat* harbor &j° *** wothsrn port of Otago. There is hardly .anyone tWe, bar. the whalers and a Maori eflttlemer.t, but when Otago becomes more thickly populated, and rldmikrly wat part of Otago, tho Slug bound to l.oroma «. pla«e "oi some importatKjs. BTJRST OF PROSPERITY.

"There is at present (1853) a hurst of prosperity in Otago, largely due to emigration and to the steam awrvice, both of which are due to Mr Macandrew singly and alone. As I say, Otago ia in great vogue now in thia part, of the world. Maoandtrow has launched out in a way itaat surprises everyone. Hie has purchased a large steamer for £7,000, another for £5,000, and a smaller one, of which I do not know- the price. The first of them, fox which the Government pay him a bonus of 34,000 a year, ran* monthly between Otago and Melbovcme. the fwcond between Otago and Wellington, and the third up and down the harbor three or Jour times a day. I hear that his business mj bringing him in £12,000 a year. The Pirate (.>&icandr<rw , a steamer) bring* over every month shout 6Q passenger* ■of the married class mostly, from ivlelbaarna to settle in Otago, and always a full cargo of goods, horses, cattle, aheap, in fact, everything—bringing Mac&ndrew a profit for the last, two trips as maab as £2,000. Really, Otugo ja tlhriving, and its fanw is far npread. For example, a letter hj lying on my desk all the way from Sarawak, in Borneo, begging i M to send some account of Otago, and whether the writer would be justified in emigrating thitinen with his family. CHURCH PROGRESS . "The Dunedin charge isto b© divided, aa being too much for one minister, which I am very glad of, and another minister has been sent for to supply the second parish. .Another minister (Mr Todd} is on his way out, and daily expected, to supply Tokom&iriro, halfway betwet-n Dunedin and Clutha. Out Parebytery will then con&ist oi six ministers. We wjwit on© more for Dunedin, one for the north, and another for the south (Inv«rcurgiii), and then wo will be nine. My Deacons' Court are nowill good funds, and they have paid up all the arrears in which my stipend of £3OO a. .year had been occasionally short. My church is nice again, at tho point of being too small, and the other Sunday 100 people went .way from the door,"being unable to obtain seats. The forenoon congregation is usually made up of one section, and tho afternoon to a. great extent of another. I have in consequence begun to preach three times a day—a heavy practice, the effects of which 1 have a vivid recollection of in Scotland at the time of the Disruption. We are now a well-equipped colony oi between 7,000 and 8,000 persons, and I liave myself baptised 674 children since I came to' Otago, and marriages in proportion. A BANKER'S HARVEST.

" There' is one thing that I dislike about the credit system in this colony—the system on which all business, nob only "in Otago, but in all the colonies in this part of the world, is conducted. A farmer sells £I,OOO worth of wheat, and gets a bill to that .amount, or he gets it discounted at the bank at 10 per cent. Or perhaps he sells 20,000 ft of sawn timber to settlers here, and before he can get liis money he has to wait six or twelve months. It is all due to the pressure of money, and such is the pressure that the banks are all reaping a glorious harvest. It is a common' thing to have to pay per cent, and 15 per cent on mortgages 'of land. Still, despite these exorbitant charges, the settlers .seem to succeed. The wild country of the interior has all been taken up for sheep runs, as far back as the West Coast, and in two years' time there will not be an unoccupied bit of country to bo had for a sheep or cattle ran. IMMIGRATION IN 1860. "Ever since my visit to Invercavgill nine months ago I have been under a special pressure of professional duties, partly due to the increased population due to immigration, and partly in connection with the erection of a second church in Dc.nedin. The rapid influx of population during the past nine months has been such that the town of Dunediu, despito the very large absorption of new arrivals by the rural districts, has spread and in an extraordinary way. When I wf.rit to Invercargill my church was not cnly crammed to overflowing, but even now matters are so little improved that a new church for my own congregation (First Church) and an addition of one-third to the accommodation of Knox Church, large as it is, have become an absolute necessity. The confusion resulting from the division of the original charge, the adjustment of two kirk sessions, two deacons' courts, and the working of two sustentation funds instead of one, also the visiting of so many new arrivals, have absorbed my time to* a degree that I have not experienced since the Disruption. My three mouths at Invercargill set me up in health in a -say that, despite my advancing vears, I am able to tramp all over my wide parish in a way that really surprises me. INVERCARGILL AND CLUTHA.

" The Provincial Council of Otago i« now sitting, and it is confidently affirmed that Invercargill is on the eve" of being separated from Otago Province. The first step of the Provincial Council of Invercargill will be, it is said, to reduce the price of land to 10s per acre. This a & step resultant to the fact shat the price of land was recently raised to 20s per aero. The Invercargillitos calculate that this will drain the Otago population bv attracting them south. The worst sequel to be feared from this separation, and the competition thai it will entail, will be the stoppage of the present system of immigration from tho Old Country, and it may also serve to retard tho present wave of prosperity in The wave of progress has teen general all throughout the province—the Ciutha as well a3 Invercargill. Changes tako place overy day, and how different tho country appears now to what It was in 1848—now over 12 V6ars ago. At the Ciutha things are beginning to wear a different aspect. There is a township laid off at the mouth of the river, roads are laid off, and houses are springing up where no one ever thought people would settle. The river i 3 to be declared a port of entry, and I nearly forgot to add that a coalfield is being opened up..by the Government there. If this sort of thing toes on it is thought that the Cloths will ultimately become a place of somo importanoe.

THE GOLD DISCOVERIES. "Ton -will have seen by the papers accounts of the goklfields discovered in the north of Otago, 'and if they continue to work the cold there successfully I can eee 'that it will very greatly change the charactor of too population. As a matter of fact) Otago is suffering from an extreme paroxysm of gold fever. Every male who oaa get away has gone to the diggings, and basiriesa fcu Dunedin (1861) has become dead. Tho arrival of the Storm Cloud with 320 emigrants has for the time given our streets their former busy aspect, bat it will be merely a flash La the pan. The country people, as -well as the town-folk, aro off In the same direction, leaving everything at the roadside. Mosgiel ia quite deserted, and fox,, from Wag the busy, bustling spot it 'usually ia. The blacksmith's forge ie, blown out. t-bo carpenters have bolted, the saw-mili ia eilentl Sixteen area from oaie employer iejjt in a body for a month'b teiai at the diggings. It la a K»/si marvellous upturn, and you wfll «aa by the newspapers that- worHagj man have been literally shovelling gow. Why, -oven now, ihe freight 6am Port Gh&imera to Dtxnediu ia eaoai to half the whole freight from LoacWt to Qtagpl

GABRIEL'S GrjILY. ' | " Toaneka is agxsat sight, and the now- j fjKnoua Gabriel's Gully is only about three xnil&s long by 200 yds -wide (on .an average),> with a small stream running through it. Tho sides of -the "gully are very steep, and rise about 300 ft' from the bottom of the stream. It js just honeycombed with about 3,000 diggers turning the soiloTOr. You can imagine that quantity of ground trenched on an overage 6ft deep in the space of two months, and so form some idea of the turmoil of gold digging. It is no uncommon thing for a party of fouoor five men to arrive at Gabriel's Gully about noon, peg off their claim, and have a hole sft deep -and 6ft square bottomed before 5 p.m. the same day. Business men tell me that they were greatly struck with the first appearance of the coggings, after riding 40 miles and seeing nothing en route except the wild'' birds in" a wild, mountainous country, some parts of which are 3ft deep in snow. Then they suddenly ■drop into a gully inhabited by 3.000 people, collected from all points of Australasia, and dumped into a canvas town. There must now be about 8,000 or 9,000 men engaged in tho various Otago diggings, and all thia in six months time! It lb a singular feature of a digger's l character that if there ia gold coming to Dunedin by esoort, it ia of no use telling him not to go on to the diggings because the diggings are done; yet, it is just as useless to attempt to start him off for tho diggings unless gold has come to hand. BUSINESS DISORDER. " It would luv?e taken 12 v«ars of the old order of things to have put Otago in the position that ,six months of the gold diggings have done for the province. Our population is oertainly not improved bv the class we have got from Australia. So far as the diggers are concerned, the bulk oi them are qukt, .civil, hard-working fellows; but it.is '£he nop-workur who comes with them who causes e& the trouble. They will not work, but they manage to exist in some way, and incidentally keep our police force very busy. It is a strange thing tuat better order is maintained at the diggings '.'nan hi Dunedin, there being only two policemen at Gabriel's Guily, and very little for them to do. But things in general are not good. Over-trading in Dunedin has'run its course, and everyone ia a storekeeper or owns a,gin palace. Our hotels are magnificent structures. The consequences of all this are looked for every day with rueful apprehension. Rents have rim up to an absurd and wikllv extravagant figure, even to £lO and £l2 per foot frontage, and even more. They will never be paid. On the other hand," Melbourne is at the present moment depressed beyond all precedent.. There is an apprehensiveness amongst the diggers in regard to the cold of the New Zealand winter, and many of them axo beginning to leave, with the result that the gold returns are already falling off. 'Dull' is therefore the word. iihnployors cannot get employees, and the inarket is flooded with flour from Victoria and Tasmania, and particularly Adelaide. Local products are having a dull time, firstly through shortage of labor, and' secondly through cheaper importations. Otago has been the dumping ground for all the sweepings of the Australian stores. Still, niost of the diggers intend to return in the spring, and possibly bring others with them. But the gold is such an uncertain thing. A rich paying goldfield discovered in Canterbury, Wellington, or Auckland would carry off the whole swarm of diggers, and down would come the storekeepers of Dunedin." RECORD ESCORTS. Writing in Fobruary, 1863, Dr Burns said: "The news I have to communicate is not very encouraging. On the one hand the goldfields are rapidly enlarging both _in extent and in richness, last fortnight's escort bringing down 34,9100z of gold, showing an increase on the previous fortnight of 9,7040z. This is considerably in excess of the quantity received from the goldfields. ot any other colony, and must silence those Victorian

papers whose chief delight is to write down the diggings of Otago. From New Year to 10th February 5,936 passengers arrived at Port Otago, and the departures were only 672, so that we had an increase of 5,264 to our population in, roughly, a month. The gold fever is, as I "say, spreading, and the popular fancy isfanned by the reports of new finds of almost fabulous amounts chronicled every escort. Men are growing rich in a day, and some of them live for the day and expend their new found wealth in riotous living. The diggers have penetrated as far as the borders of the West Coast, and the fields seem to increase in richness the further back they go. £4,000 FOR DUNEDIN SECTION. " On the other hand, money is very scarce, and numbers of small stores are shut and ticketed 'To Let.' Town properties are beginning to fall, but I don t think that the principal business farts of the town will be much affected, notice that almost all old settlers are selling out, and their places are being filled by needy Victorians with only a moderate amount of capital. In fact, they are ' hard-up,' and when they buy they must have half the price left on the property, the payment of which is always uphill work with them. I said that the business part of the town will probably not be affected much by the slump in property, and I will give you an instance. I have acted as agent for section No. 54, with an 82Aft frontage, since 1848, and the absentee owner (Mr Gilbert Burns, ,of Dublin) gave me instructions to sell. The Bank of Australasia were anxious to purchase, and I offered them the whole section for £4,000, the bank io deal with the present tenants. They said uo, but offered £4,000 for 48ft of frontage and for me to deal with too tenants. The tenants took a stand, aud demanded £2,000 lor thf» balance of their lease, which had years to run. But for the encumbi&nc* of the lease the 48ft frontage would have beeo sold for over £B3 per foot. That does not look like a slump in business property, does it? The Bank of Australasia would not agree to oarter with, the tenants, and they chose another dte. However, the Bank "of New South Wales next made an offer of £2,400 for 48ft, the bank to arrange with the tenants, and I accepted. I sold the balance of 34jft to Mr Wilkio for £1,650, and ao the whole of section No. 54 realised the handsome figure of £4.050, which is really fabulous considering the few shillings the section cost, in 1848."