The Lyttelton Times. THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 1880.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LIII, Issue 5953, 25 March 1880, Page 4

The Lyttelton Times. THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 1880.

The i application winch tile Lincoln-, ehire delegates, haye made for 10,000 , acres of land in the, Te Ai’oha,, block | will probably cause disappointment, in A great many means that Messieurs Grqntond Foster have* determined to report to their friends that the, best ’ spot in' Ffef; Zealand fpr/ inyesimont ia Avcha. They saw much of the Auckland Province,' including the tbe Waikftq, }.t they travelled through: the cornfields of Canterbury and Otago when the finest harvest - within the memory of man was nodding a golden welcoteer'undisturbed by' warlike rumours they journeyed through., fertile spots t>£ liil lh l e' Western North Island country, richer in premise than in actual results. During their wanderings their welcome was nbt- 6Sly- ! fifbm the waving corn. In the cities and the homesteads they 1 Everywhere the best cheer was placed before them, and with the best cheer the most unexceptionable information. The swiftest horses and the most luxurious point of the summer landscape, and though they flew on'the wings of the car# that ; notbing, ( worth seeing ..should escape tbeir/ncitice.* In ~a, word,, they, were everywhere received with open 1 arms; !! But they Were’' hot, ia" every, sfefisd'bf the expression, taken, in. sTitli ! the shrewdness of the class which in- | ventedarihe paying- about 5 who grow them know well how many there are*ih-smalhlbts— had : ' eajfej ;they wentu on • their pleasant’ journey;” to ‘ let i; people know in a happy fashion peculiarly | their own. ThejP'&pessed their sus-picions.jn-thesbap®! 9l.aO#fetoA®P® n i the conduct of persons who, in some .districts, had dfOted'tfifem'fthe most extraordinary them to cedse'from journeying on the plea that they might go further and fare worse. ,lTli®ysMth.aaff®o t ®d to regret that they had thrown away the magnificent - opportunities -eoi .liberally offered - to i them 1 > by!their £ -'disittteffeßted| new friends. They evidently had a notion thatnsomei of'^the l hospitality lavished upon them had a purpose in lit. . " i- ;

AH'the hospitality had a purpose, of course, for no one supposes that these gentlemen were entertained so widely as simple private gentlemen, travelling for their pleasure., r They thevre* presehfcatives of a number of persons possessing capital , and . agricultural knowledge, whdf ttb&ble to find remunerative, employment for their money or for . themselves. in the Old Country/ wished to know something of the land of promise in the Britain of ' the South/ ■They were received by the;, inhabitants,, of the country, who are anxious to soo such a rick tide of immigration setting into its ports. The representatives "oft the ? iweuld-be ■ ’immigration and the representatives of the pleased inhabitants came together,' and the result was hospitality which both sides 'Never" theless so far as the: general interests of the country were concerned the transaction was a business transaction., The suspicions of the strangers were not 61, the general, aspect of ; the hospitality accorded them. It was a particular aspect which ’ tbey go6d-natuVedly denounced. Here, ajid. there, at what • intervals is-best known to those moat concerned, eager sellers turned lip who were very anxious about getting rid of their particular property, but whose wish for., the general, /weal - went 40 further. To these the determination of the delegates to recoinmend the Te Aroha country will be a sad disappointment. But however sad it may be it cannot for ebvious reasons be made known by any chorus- of t The’ purest patriotism will be content with the location of the rich stingers anywhere within the limits of the Colony, and everyone must in efternalA act up to the character of a true patriot. The result is, it must be confessed, a little bard on those who who were not actuated by truly patriotic feeling. When they were spending- money, and trouble they could not get any answer, as to the predilections of the visitors, who were reserving their views for their employers. When the men are gone it turns put that they have, decided upon recommending a settlement on land bought at first hand from the Government.

These gentlemen, then, having seen the whole of New Zealand, and having heard all the prices o£ land and glibly quoted, have determined to recommends theirfriends'to settle down in the TeAroha country. They evidently are not; of the opinion of the Government, which complains that the land offered on deferred, payments does not go off. But then they have not any opponehts to place in the wrong who have declared the land to be much wanted. It may be* also that the particular blocks which failed to attract the deferred payment men—mostly swamp and scrub—are not among the 10,000 acres which the Lincolnshire delegates have selected for the site of a new settlement. How‘ lucky it is that the Government kept this land out of the reach of the local demand for the sake of .such very desirable Colonists as the men from Lincolnshire. There can be no doubt that, the Government acted with a view to some such result from the first. Was not the übiquitous Mr Thomas Bussell claiming land somewhere there or thereabouts P We observe from the report of the proceedings of the Waste Lands Board that a certain Mr Lonch had the sections Whieh the 5 Eihcoihshi're gentlemen were applying for, as well as

for Csotae • that Mr Thdmnis Russell had laid claim - to. Prowwhich : it appears that. .Messrs Grants and.. . Foster 1 , have bad ..a-.marrow; escape?of running up against Mrj Thomas Russell. It is very funny thatwherever one goes in the North Island | Mr Thomas Russell seems to be theowner or the prospective owner of everything. It is very natural, for Mr ? Thomas Rubssll helps successive Governments. to, develop the,'icountry. Very possibly if it had not been for the application of tho ■ gentlemen; - from Lincolnshire he might have helped, this Government even more. It is -quite a mercy that the delegates were able to find ol Native'4Md;f.jSh^|,.; , !fa* ilree from the great absorber,' the man whbeie self-reliance is of the Sort which the Premier liked so much in Mr Firth the other day : when be was at Matamata. In applying for, the IOjGOO acres for■■ this special settlement, the delegates'haye :the sajtisfaciion: of: knowing that their request is granted. Their rival, Mr Loucb, : was’refused, the Board looking upon him aa a speculator, .As in the report - of -tfie proceedings which has reached us Mr Louoh seems to stand exactly on the same footing as the gentlemen from Lincolnshire, wo must not form any opinion until a more extended report reaches us. Messieurs Grant and Foster are evidently not speculators,;fpr which yeason-nOj one can find fault with the action of the Wiaste LhfidsNoard imteservingablopk for six months, for-the gentlemen they represent. It only remains for the public to. hope that,they nmy succeed as well as the special settlements of Fieldteg and Eatikati have v succeeded. SpbbM settlemente have failed befbre now# ; at.. Jackson’s; Bay :and Na*am®a for. example.. But that was "because they arranged .and P?tt.by Governments who ’ for the -purpose simply reduced-themselves to the, level of idiots. The system of special settlements if properly ,worked is good. May it prosper at Te Aroha. ■ -