THE BIG PROBLEM

Gisborne Times, Volume LXV, Issue 10392, 9 May 1927, Page 5 (Supplement)

THE BIG PROBLEM

PROBLEM OF LACK OF TITLES. MR. CL A. deLAUTOUR RECALLS early Difficulties. Amongst the earlier Mirrors who did good service for the town is Mr. C. A. deLautour, who, in his retirement, enjoys the esteem of a host of friends. Mr. DeLautour was born in India and came out to New Zealand in lSfiJ, landing at Auckland, lie first settled in Otago and gained a seat on the Provincial Council, and, later, was a member of the House of Representatives for Mt. Ida. Coming north again, Mr. deLautour paid his initial visit to Gisborne 48 years ago., hut he spent two years in Napier before peimanently settling in Poverty Bay, where he has been prominent in local body and business circles. in the course of an interview, Mr. deLautour threw some interesting light on the relativity of Gisborne to other parts of New Zealand and on the trials of the settlers in the good old days of nearly half a cemitry ago. GISBORNE IN EMBRYO. When lie arrived in Gisborne, Mr. deLautour remarked, the .town a::ea consisted of a thousand acres, bounded by the Taruheru river, the Turanganui river, the Waikanae stream and what is now called Lyttou Road. In those days, the last was merely a line on the survey maps, hut the Actives who owned the adjacent land were quite familiar with the boundary and were always ready to assert ihc-ir rights. A great willow tree f-omc.tly marked the termination of this hue and was one of the land-marks j! 'he district. This area had been purchased from the Natives, Ripirata Kaiiutia, a famous chieftainess being the one most interested. Whataupoxo was practically- unsettled, the only two houses there being one on the Point, owned by the late Mr. Vi . Dean Lysnar, and another, further to tile north, belonging to Mr. Y\ y;ie. North Gisborne was described by Mr. deLautour as "‘hefty scrub,"’ the only clear spot being what is now termed the Parle, in Russell Street. Kaiti was much the same, only more swampy, and the only habitation there was a Maori pa near the present Kaiti freezing works. There were, then, of course, no bridges, but a ferry, worked by a wire rope, crossed the Turanganui for the convenience of Coast travellers. To reach AA hataupoko, small boats were available, but when on horseback, one had to swim the animal behind the boat. "‘There were strong expectations in the south, then,” said Mr. deLautour, “that good things were to be made

out of the East Coast of this island. The south was then the dominant portion of XZ. and the north had only been opened up on the coasts, little being known of the interior. Southern farmers wore then looking towards the north for estates on which to settle their sons and there was. consequently, keen inquiry in this direction.'’ DEPENDENT OX SEAWIS-E TRANSPORT. Passenger trade to Gisborne u;,.. then entirely by coastal vessels and no journeying was done overland. The Union Shipping Co. maintained a service of four boats from Dunedin—the Wanaka' Rotorua, Taupo, . and Hawea —these travelling jointly j to Wellington ana then separating, j two going up the East and the others ; up the West Coast. The Australian ! trade was in the hands of a firm, * McMickin and Blackwood, who had j two boats travelling more or less reg- j ularly between Melbourne and Xew ; Zealand. Most Australian cargo de- 1 signed for Gisborne was transhipped at Wellington. Internal communication in Xew Zealand. Mr. deLautour related, was not very good. There was no maintrunk line in either island. Christchurch was not directly connected with Dunedin and in the North Island the main trunk line had reached only as far as Masterton. The west coast line, now so much used, haci not been opened, and there -was no line through the Manawatu Gorge. Palmerston North was m existence and had a. line running to Fox ton. hut thence the connection with Wellington was hv boat. Gradually. however, the eastern line crept on, first to Woodville and then to Xnpier. Gisborne, even then, d.d not benefit much, as communication overland between Gisborne and Napier was impossible except bv walking or on horseback. Even railing to Napier was of little use, as the double handling entailed much extra expense. Thus Gisborne, until very recent times, depended almost entirely for communication upon its shipping facilities. DIFFICULTY IX GETTING LAND TITLES. ‘•Poverty Bay attained r.otor.ety,” commented Mr. deLautour, "largely through the awful massacre of 186 b. Though that disaster acted on settlement here as a deterrent in some ways, yet it really stimulated inquire about the district. As the panic. following the massacre died down, inquiries literally poured in and tlpe district became very, widely known. Stories of its richness and fertility, many of them perhaps exaggerated spread throughout New Zealand and nianv expressed the wish to take up land here. Then came the Where was the land to come from? The only Crown lands in the dilstr-ct were the original 1000-acre town block and such areas-as had been confiscated from rebellious Natives. All the rest was in the hands of the Maoris. "The Government had been approached,’’ continued Mr. deLautour, ‘‘but it was some time before its purchasing agents began to get any land and then .there was always pinch difficulty over the purchases. Spine of the agents were far from sat.sfnctory in their methods. This afterwards reacted greatly against the progress and there were mnuv imperfect and disputed titles. The Natives, soon learned from their agents to set up all manner of claims. Undoubtedly, in many instances, the Natives were entirely in the right, but •some ef their claims were reailv ridiculous. THE MARCH OF PROGRESS. “The real progress of the.district,” said Mr. deLautour. “dates .from; tlio establishment of the Valuation Court and the appointment of the late Mr. George. Elliot Barton, who was considered rather eccentric, but -who was; an lawyer and had plenty of courage. I think he found ; His courage of far more value here

than his knowledge of the law’. His Registrar,- Mr. H. C. Jackson, was of great assistance and these gentlemen did fine work, freeing large areas of land and' making them available to settlers. With their titles established, the settlers were able to offer security for backing and progress really commenced. Other men who did fine work lor the Crown were Mr. S. Locke and Major (afterwards Colonel) Porter. Mr.” Locke was a magistrate and a sort of •resident agent of the Crown. The work of those two stands out as compared with that ot many others employed at the time.” Air. deLautour pointed out that the great difficulty facing settlers in the early days was the lack of utarKets. Of stock there 'was little and the only produce that was marketable outside the Bay was rye-grass seed and maize. It was Air. Nelson who started the first freezing works in the district, at Taruheru, but, prior to that, the only use for wethers was to boil them down. Carts went round the township selling legs of mutton at 1/6 each. Some twentyeight years later, Nelsons Ltd. had so reduced their prices that the farmers, to guard their own interests, de--eided to establish their own works and the Gisborne Sheepfarmers" Freezing Company came into existence. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF BRIDGES. “I had the honor,” stated Air. d - Lautour in conclusion, "‘of officiating as Afayorat the opening of the first bridge over the Turanganui. The first bridge over tig’ Taruheru cost the town exactly nothing. AVben the title to VYhataupoko v.as definitely settled, it thus made another 1000 acres available for settlers on that side of the river. Without a bridge, the land was of little value, so the promoters, to gain any profit from their investment, wore compelled to bridge the Taruheru at their own expense.”