THE PRINCE OF WALES' VISIT TO THE LAKE REGIONS.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XX, Issue 3902, 19 April 1877, Page 2

THE PRINCE OF WALES' VISIT TO THE LAKE REGIONS.

In an article on the proposed visit of the Prince of Wales to this colony, the New Zealand Times remarks. We trust the Lands Court to be held in May nest may lead to the completion of some of the large Government purchases which we have heard a good deal of from time to time as being in progress :—' •' There is another reason why a visit from the Prince of Wales is likely to do good here. It would make the tour a fashionable one, and we should have all sorts of people, with plenty of money to spend, following in the wake of the Royal party. Some of them perhaps might be so pleased with the scenery and climate as to settle here, but even if they did not become colonists they could hardly do otherwise than be delighted with their trip, and would so speak of it on their return home as to induce others to come after them. The wonders of the Taupo region alone, if sufficiently known, are such as to draw thousands here annually from the old country, and the extraordinary medicinal virtues of the hot springs must ultimately obtain a world-wide fame. It has often struck us that more should have been done to render accessible and popular this part of the country. If Ohinemutu had been in America instead of New Zealand, we believe a railway would ere this have connected it with the port of Tauranga, notwithstanding the configuration of the country over which the line would pass is rough and broken, presenting, of course, some engineerinae difficulty, and that the natives in the-JoF cality are prone to throw obstacles in vue way of the acquisition of land. All they want, however, really is money, and we believe it would be true economy for the Government to pay liberally for the acquisition of a large portion of tins territory. That this will become one of the great watering and show places of the world ere many years have elapsed, we feel confident, and we believe the visit of the Prince of Wales to the district is calculated to accelerate the progress of events towards the end. The Maoris, we tte told, now seek to prohibit persons fro^n taking photographs of the scenery xuiless they pay for the privilege, and other vexatious restrictions are sought to be imposed on the pakeha by the native owners ; but their object is evidently to make money, and if they could be induced —as we believe they could be—to sell out altogether, it would be wise to pay a good price to buy them out. At present there is no district in the colony more behindhand as regards progress; there is little cultivation ; the accommodation for visitors is not what it ought to be, although better than it was some years ago, and the roads are certainly capable of improvement. The buying of the vested interests of the dusky owners of the Lake country would be one of the best speculations that could be undertaken, and we should rejoice to see it accomplished.