THE BIG PROBLEM

Gisborne Times, Volume LXVI, Issue 10473, 31 December 1927, Page 5 (Supplement)

THE BIG PROBLEM

PROBLEM OF LACK OF TITLES

MR. O. A. deLAI'TOUR RECALLS EARLY D.FFACULTIES.

Ainong't the cr.lier .M.r ors who did good sen ice for the town is Mr. C. A. deLautour. v. ho. in his retirement. enjoys the esteem of a host oi friends. Mr. LeLautour was horn in India and came out to New Zealand in 1 SCO, landing at Auckland. He first settled in Otago and gained a seat on the Provincial Council, and. later, was a moniker of the House of Representatives for Alt. Ida. Coming north again, Mr. deLautour paid his initial visit to Gisborne -4S years ago. but lie spent two years in Napier before ponnanently settling in Poverty Bay, where lie lias 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 oil the trials of the settlers in the good old days of nearlv half a cenutry ago.

Gifs BORNE IN EMBRYO.

When lie arrived in Gisborne, Mr. deLautour remarked, the .town area consisted of a thousand acres, bounded by the Turuheru liver, the Turanganui river, the Waikanac stream and what is now called Lylton Road. In those days, the last was merely a line on xlie survey maps, but the Natives who owned tile adjacent land were quite familiar with the boundary and were always ready to assert their rights. A great willow tree ijimttly marked the termination of inis line and was one of the land-marks of Hie district. This area had been purchased from the Natives, Ripirata Kaliutia, a famous ehieftainess being the one most interested. Wiiataupoto was practically- unsettled, the only two houses there being one on ;!uPoint, owned by the late Mr. W. Dean Lysnar, and another, furliier to tile north, belonging to Mr. Wylie. North Gisborne was described by Mr. deLautour as "hefty scrub.'’ the only clear spot being what is now termed the Park, in Russell Street. Haiti was mud) the same, only more swampy, and the only habitation there was a Maori pa near the present Haiti 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 W liataupoko, small boats were available, hut when on horseback, one had to swan the animal behind the boat. ■‘There were strong expectations in the south, then,” said Mr. deLautour, “that good tilings were to he made

out oi the East Coast of this island. The south was then the dominant portion of N.Z. and the north had only been opened up on the coasts, little being known of the interior. Southern farmers were then looking towards the north for estates on which to settle their sons and there was. consequently, keen inquiry in this direction.” DEPENDENT ON SEA WISE TRANSPORT.

Passenger trade to Gisborne wa, then entirely by coastal vessels and no journeying was done overland. The Union Shipping Co. maintained a service of four boats from Dunedin— Hie Wanaka'. Itotorua, Taupe, and Hawea—these travelling jointly to Wellington ami then separating, two going up the East and tile others up the West Const. The Australian trade was in the hands of a firm, McMickin and Blackwood, who had two boats travelling more or less regularly between Melbourne and New Zealand. Most Australian cargo designed for Gisborne was transhipped at Wellington. Internal communication in New Zealand, Mr. deLautour related, was not very good. There was no main trunk line in either island. Christchurch was not directly (onnccted with Dunedin and in the North Island the main trunk line had reached only as far as ALastorton. The west coast lino, now so much used, had not been opened, and there was no line through the Mauawatu Gorge. Palmerston North was in existence and had a.line running to Foxton, hut 1 lienee the connection with 'Wellington was hv boat. Gradually. however, the eastern line crept on, first to Woedvillc and then to Napier. Gisborne, even then, did not benefit much, as communication overland between Gisborne and Napier was impossible except by walking or on horseback. Even railing to Napier was of little use, as the double handling entailed much extra expense. Tims Gisborne, until very recent times, depended almost entirelv for communication upon its slapping facilities. DIFFICULTY IN GETTING LAND TITLES.

“Poverty Bay attained notor.cty,” commented Air. deLautour, “largely through the awful massacre of 1368. Though that disaster acted on settlement here as a deterrent in some ways, yet it really stimulated inquire ali-out tlie district. As the panic following the massacre died down, inquiries literally poured in and tlie 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 difficulty: Where was the land to come from? The onlv 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 Air. deLautour, “but it was some time before its purchasing agents began to get any. lann and then the”e was always much difftcultv over the purchases. Some of the agents were far from satisfactory in their methods. This afterwards reacted greatly against tlie progress and there were many 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 of their claims were really ridiculous.

THE AIAP.CH OF PROGRESS

“ The real progress of the district,” said Mr. deLautour. “dates from tlie establishment of the Valuation Court and tile appointment of the late Air. George Elliot Barton, who was considered rather eccentric, but who was an excellent lawyer and had plenty- of courage. I think he found His courage of far more value here

than lifs knowledge of the la v. His Registrar, Mr. H. C. Jackson, was of great assistance and these gentlemen did fine work, freeing large areaof land and making them available to settlers. With their titles established, tlie settlers were able to offer security for hacking 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 sc.it of*resident agent-

of the Crown. The work of these'tw . stands out as compared with that o: many others employed at t. e time.'' Mr. deLautour pointed out that the great difficulty lacing sc tile rs in the early days was the hick of markets. Of stuck there was little an 1 the only produce that was marketable outside the Bay "as rye-grass seed and maize. It was Mr. Nelson who started the first freezing works in the district, at Taiuheru, but, prior to that, the only use for wet her s was to boil them clown. Carts won;

round the township selling legs of mutton at 1(> each. Some t"entveight years later, Nelsons Ltd. had so reduced their prices that the fanners. to guard their own interests, decided to establish tlleir own workand the Gisborne Sheep farmersFreezing Company came into existence.

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF BRIDGES.

"I laid the honor,” stated Mr. d - Lautour in conclusion, "of officiating as Mayor-at the opening of the first bridge over the Turangamii. The first bridge over rite Tarulieni cost the town exactly nothing. When the title to \\ hataupoko was definitely settled, it thus made another 1000 acres available for seitiers cm that side of the river. Without a bridge, the Jaiul was of little value, sa the promoter-*, to gain any profit from their investment, were compelled to bridge the Tarulieni at their own expense.”