ESTABLISHED 1866. The Marlborough Express FRIDAY. JULY 16, 1920. THE CLARENCE VALLEY

Marlborough Express, Volume LIV, Issue 166, 16 July 1920, Page 4

ESTABLISHED 1866. The Marlborough Express FRIDAY. JULY 16, 1920. THE CLARENCE VALLEY

A portion of Marlborough that has been overlooked is the description that was applied to the Clarence Valley hy the members for Hurunui and Wairau in tho interview they had with the Minister for Lands yesterday. They went on to point out that by the construction of a road involv-

ing, but a comparatively small ex-pc-nditure a' large block of country, nearly all Crown land, could be opened up and subdivided^ into thirty or ■ ■forty holdings for..returned soldiers; and the Minister promised to obtain a .report froiTi his officers and go into the matter. • It; jis a thoroughly sound proposition that Messrs .Forbes and McCallum. have broxight forward, and ife may b,e, exppfted to appeal strongly to the Hqn. Mr Guthrie's .practical cast''of mind..1 Such are the things that ho is looking for in these days of inflated land values, and litre, w» venture to say, is one of the most attractive and practicable opportunities, offering to him in any part of tho Dominion. It is something that concerns the .country: much iiioi^ essentially than the Auckland Museum, for instance. With substantially less than hah 0 the amount that was voted for tho city establishment, the Government jvould be able to provide a. sure footing on the ' land for dozens of returned men, and at the same time feed the South Island Main Trunk Railway. : The Clarence Valley is a much better business proposition than the search for land at £100 an aero to satisfy the repatriation demand. Tl^e ; Government must not overlook it any longer. It is doubtful whether the potentialities of this terra incognito are.fully appreciated oven in Marlborough, and it may be suggested that they invite an active extension of the progress campaign which is rendering such valuable services to Marlborough in various ."directions. The stibject is not, though, by any means a new one. As far back as 1905 the Marlborough Land and Railway League conducted an agitation for the settlement of this large and promising tract of country, and in the following year it passed a resolution urging the Government to send an engineer to report on the cost of naking a dray road from the sea up the Valley to connect with the Awatere Road, and also to instruct a Crown lands: ranger to report on the best method of settling tho 383,----000 acres of Crown lands within, or adjacent to the Clarence Valley. The communication reminded the Government that this area, equal to oneeighth of tho province, was held in four pastoral runs, and that, with ,the exception of visits from a few shepherds for a part of the year, thero was practically no settlement upon it. The country had been terribly devastated by the rabbit pest. The Minister for Lands was also informed that the Valloy could not be surpassed for fruit-growing and that coal was cropping out all over it. There were upwards of a quarter of a million awes of Crown land, exclusive of the higher mountain tops, within its basin, said the then president ; a,nd there were only about 100,----000 sheep depasturing thereon. Much the same conditions—worse if any-thing-—exist to-day. There are close on 350,000 acres, of which ahout 35,----000 are freehold, held, by four settlers, and the number of sheep,

it is understood, is somewhere about 20,000. There ought to be 120,000 sheep at least. The land and the conformation are of a character that lends themselves admirably to subdivision. The quality of the land may be judged from the fact that there are 50,000 acres or so of excellent limestone country; it should not bo a difficult or expensive matter to acquire the freehold on the frontage, and tho "gridironing" that was such an obstacle to development in past years would no longer stand in die way. Tho construction of a road is practically tho only factor that is called for, and tho £30,000 that it is estimated this would cost would be a highly profitable investment^f or the Government. Here is a case for closer settlement it ever there was