MR. M'KERROW.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 374, 5 May 1876, Page 3

MR. M'KERROW.

The, (3hief Surveyor, Mr. M' Kerro vy, : hasiiddneimuch good for Otago. As a departmental officer he has few, if any, | Bup.eriojs..';; Kecograaing the we 1 ' are glad to, believe his. good services are about to to .be ■. recognised by; the;, offer of a responsible position; where his scientific knowledge will be placed ' at tbe t disposal, of the Colony. 1 j' Locally we..have ,taquarrel with; Mr. M'Elerrow. \ Having an opportunity many: years ago, i n the course of his duty, : to minutely inspect the,greater part of"Otag'o, 'he obtained an amount !of[/experimentai,knowledge,.: aa to the capabilities and resources of the interior possessed by few other* men. This. personal experience of'the. past he re-, fuses to q'ualify by the progress of general• expßrieti'c-e'itrthb' present. The cleve.rest. : professors of diagnosis niust admit that their predictions are influenced by- the; contact; frfieurrenJ pro-; fessiqnal th ought. r , : Mr.j Mj'J£errow • could hardly expect to come at great inconvenience into"the interior .many years ;kgp and not ■ its value larg l elVy,ppn experienced diffij cultieajpf. access f long since,,smoothed away and,the currentrnonsense preva- ! JentTeven,in : the>.rSurvey Office, at the present, day as to infallible commercial classification of, lands by. the aneroid only. Accordingly in this district du rwe had more men willing to settle and more money than we have now, .our greatest obstacle has been—hot; Mr.' kieid], Mr. M'Kt'Harj r br' anybody .else, Vift jthe Survey- J)epli'tment of; Upago ; , as \ represented in l)une'dint The miserable l pittance of uniwatered Innd'on the-lEweS.-" burn'-iyas at last; obtained in spite of the department. A i. Hyde' the residents haveibeen.played with for - two years, and now are told that pos-' sibly> about June 2000 acres may be surveyed-for them: 'The cause of this delay has been the misrepresentations - of the Survey Department in J lharis\yerto ; the Constant demand- of men wltH-famiiies, whose mining claims'were exhausted'dr, sold, for a fulfilment; Of 'the 'covenant on theLrunj. established especially for .their- benefit in -1567, thfi ; -Chief.Surveyor has alwaysjadvised there" was> 40 suitable - land_ where* jwantedi;; but across th.e,:riy.er,;ihe.:_iland was excellent, j,.'OniMr. Reid's iatejviv. sit, accompanied by Mr. M'Kerrow* himselfV it- was at ; onje "apparent. and? 'admitted that there -was'no agribultu-,.. ! ral land immediately, across,,the, rivef' I at all, but plenty"'"near'Hyda 'Quite* forgetful of 'these Mr??J M'Kerrpvv has again prophesied against,the district, without making sure of I opinion visits lit #ere ; idle for us' to reiterate our sermon ef years' standi! ing thattheManidtotois crying out fjfo settlement; that no : country is^more, admirably suited, for mixed farms. The" truth is gradually becoming known; and,.without any wish,to.triuuiph.'over another's mistake, we yet are aware that some day even Mr. M'Kerrow will proph'esyj smooth things concerning jus. The Chief Surveyor's report upon run ' ,247-was contradicted flatly by the pro-. test submitted to the Board by the representative of the district, but : discourteously suppressed. 'lt.,was.'xon--tr'adicted also by the resolution : q£ the' Naseby public meeting, published last-. week, ; which was 'telegraphed to the Waste Lands' Board,, but which waaiaj-j so suppressed. Provided the runs are. not sold under color of these mischievous and erroneous reports we> cap for-' ! give Mr; M'Kerrow, knbvving that; in his heart—and his act,- but for'his 'repugnance, to : admit the experience'of. others—there, is noJtr.uer friend to the , settlement of the people on the land. 'The should petition the' Government to ; obtain'areport as 'to the real nature of the land on ; the.run, the lease of 1 which' is : cancelled;'•' Such a report should bei obtained, for otherwise we hardly see how the Board are, to decide what is best to.be done with' the land. ]£ this were done the Government would find that it still had, as a joint administrative hodj r with the Board, a valuable property. ~i»g. the chagrin of, having been Vrqng;we have' util! sufiieientffiiifh in its meuv; kern to believe that they will act energetically in opening "up i iu.-i very v\j! liable public estate. \\'v tail i.o uud«.-r-

-shuifi-wbat.'Mt. M-Kerrow;mftsjifc by: saying.that the laud on Mr. sheuuaii'rf run is off the main road. With his innot faibtOibe awat'e.tliat a rtad, ; i>-vel as a bowling.green, runs from t!ie,K veburn Hotel-to-the Linburn, needuig .few,.., culver ta ? over, ;T mud dy - bottomed creeks,, and that.fit whs ak abb : because' it 4a twenty .miles from ,Mr. Maisey's KyebuTn Hotel as it would be to "depre reiate,BlackstoneHill ibr ! a similar' reason: i ; HTs further statement,' that thewhoieplain and district cannot be anything but.au unopened pastoral estate for centuries to come,' may be taken for ; ,whit;it;is worth. It 4g,a.great pity that a gentleman.of so great lenti and who£ is|:in;jiheart so : ; loyal to Otago, shouldthave allowed his judsr-; men* 'to be warped,'in order to justify an.iU-couceiyed andiworse.executed attempt at unjustifiable.land jobbery,".in law or public/equity.