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THE SETTLEMENT OF THE WAIKATO.

Is a former article under this heading we touched on several very impui-tani phases of the question, buthad'of L,ccessity to leave I unsaid a good deal that we are desirous of saying respecting it, Having given our views pretty fully as to the general course winch we consider should be adopted in locating settlers in the district under consideration, we shall now eider into details and particulars, the carrying out of which we conceive may be fraught with very great bene/it, and in the sat'isfac- | lory working of tho immigration scheme which we are discussing. As we observed in our former article, the great bulk, though we hope not all, of the immigrants introduced as military set- i tiers will he persons of small pecuniary > means ; and the little capital they bring with them will be found 1o be practically very much less in New Zealand than it was in England. With a great many necessary articles to purchase at a high rale, and necessaries of life much dearer than in .England, the little capital of the immigrant will melt away like snow in the summer's sun if he do not take very great care indeed. It is the rapid collapse of his not over filled purse. I that is about one of the first things that acts as a disenchantment on the mind of the new arrival, and causes a tinge of disappointment to be often felt with the promised land of plenty on which lie has just set his foot, but whose blessings do not at first sight appear so very manifest. The amount of money which will enable a hard working thrifty man to commence, fanning a few acres of land in England, will not be sullicient to enable him to commence farming in New Zealand with any faint prospect even of success. Such a porson will make all his calculations from his English experience ; but the field Unpractically testing those calculations is in New Zealand ; ami data will arise in experience, the tendency of which will be to make his capital virtually considerably less hero in carrying out his aims than he had estimated it. Here will be one of the first shocks to his hopes of at once realising his dreams of settling on his own estate, and cultivating his own freehold land. And here is just the place and just the opportunity for a wise and really paternal (iovernment to step in with its advice and with some cllicient practical aid. It would be a very great benefit indeed to the newly arrived immigrant if the results of a plan, which works exceedingly well in Canada and t he newly settled districts of t he L'uited Stall's, could be obtained for him. Upon the arrival of a new settler in either of these places, those already located in the neighbourhood where the new arrival is going to live, at once visit him and lend him their very valuable assistance. The first day for instance frequently sees a comfortable log hut in which himself and family can at once reside. Other aid in tin* same spirit; is given ; oxen lent- him to plough a little land : seed lent him to sow it : the understanding being that he will repay it out of his first harvest, and will lend a helping hand to others in the same manner in which lu has been assisted. Now all this, though it cost those alreadv located a vcrv liltle indeed, saves a very great deal to the new arrival, and sets free his little capital for expenditure in other ways- It also takes the rough edge, as it were, from the early troubles that must, of necessity be experienced by all settlers in a new uncultivated country. They are thus let down somewhat gently to the lower level of civilization, as it appears, with which for a time they must be content, and these acts of kindness bind both new comers and the older settlers together with the firm bonds of kindness and sympathy, and insure a feeling of mutual aid and support in case of need. The benefits of such a system are very great, and we should he glad to hear of its being much more generally adopted in the outlying districts of this colony than it is at present. How many have had their early trials thus very materially lessened by the kindly aid afforded them, at so little cost, by those already located in a district, and how many by such a system have been kept on the soil and been side to tide over the early evil days, and so become as firmly roofed upon ihe land as the trees they have planted on it. And being thus successful and at a comparatively early period the ground well under their feet and their prospects hopeful, they carry out our idea, of what an immigrant should become as expressed in a ioriner article on this subject, for they write to their late friends and neighbours, relating the story of their trials and their success and prospects, and induce some, of them to leave the old country and try their chance in the new world. They become, in fact, unpaid and most effective immigration agents. Now the resiiils thus obtained can only be realised in the Waikalo district, by the wise and careful action of the (iovernment. And we will point out certain ways in which the (iovernment may legitimately act to secure these results, The presunt; military settlers should be located as we have pointed out, as soon as proper arrangements can be made for so doing ; and sites of some of the future villages (lr'towus fixed upon and put up for sale." These military settlers should at once be employed in making certain practicable roads, ra'diating from these embryo towns, and carried through the adjoining allotments. In addition, a certain proportion should be employed in clearing (where necessary) and ploughing patches of land, and sowing grain and planting potatoes thereon.The Government has plenty of horses which could be employed to perform the necessary work, and a dozen or twenty ploughs set in motion would Hoon turn up a considerable breadth oi land, which might be sown and planted in the manner just mentioned and with such other vegetables as might be deemed necessary. The seed should be provided by the Government; and the crops should be its property, with the exception of a, part, that should be given to those who had tilled the soil. The remaining portion should be divided among the military settlers generally for seed for the succeeding season, including of course any immigrants newly arrived. And the ploughs and harrows wliich the present military settlers would thus use in the first instance, might be lent to others, the latest arrivals always having the preference over the older settlers. These new comers thus having seed either given or lent to them, and a plough to tuni up their soil, would be very greatly benelitted at an inappreciable expense to the (iovernment. And where there-axe, as is often the case, military horses

unfit for further military use, it would be a, very easy way of materially helping the settlers in the early stage of their career, if some of these, instead of being sold to dealers at Penrose, say, for a merely iiomin.il amount, were also lent- for a certain period for farm work to tuose who desired and required their use. This wouiu not b< • a loss u> the Government, for many of the hursua wi.luli are condemned for military work, would, with care and attention be improved by being used in the manner we have named, and in the majority of cases would sell tar I much more at the end of twelve months than they would at the time of their being rejected by the military, and that at no expense whatever to Government in the meantime ; for those who had the use of j them, would of course provide them with I food during that time. In some parishes in England there are parish cows lent to the people for a year at a time, and arc of very great assistance to a slrivingmaiiwith a large lamily of children. The principle we are advocating being adopted, it would be a very easy matter 1o arrange details for carrying out the necessary practical arrangements. Of course we do not at all mean tliat assistance of this kind, should be given except in the early stage of the settlement and to those who really needed and deserved such assistance. That it would be of the greatest possible importance to the newly arrived immigrant, that it would very greatly aid in promoting his prosperity, and thus making him contented with his lot and giving him a footing on the land, that his well being might be the means oi' bringing out many other families from .Englandto ihe Waikato; and that all these consummations so devoutly to be wished would be brought about at the merest trilling expense, we are very perfecty convinced. The views we have put forth may seem novel. To an unthinking mind it might appear at first sight that we had proposed too much assistance to the immigrant aud others might think the same, because, as they have had to rough it hard enough without these aids, Jet others do the same. But we are convinced that careful thought will show that we are right. Aud the latter argument will not hold good. It is entirely fallacious, for it would prevent all improvement in the world; all railways; all telegraphs; all luxuries andeomfortsof every kind ; it would retard improvement ; and leave us constantly only just one remove from barbarism. It would be the argument of a spendrift careless father, who, having an easy opportunity of making the path through lite of his children less thorny and dillicult than his own had been, should neglect to do so for no better reason than that his own path had been thorny, and that he should therefore allow theirs tube the same. We can only just add that the habitations required by a ship-load of people should not have to be erected after their arrival if measures can at all be taken for preventing it. Ju some cases it doubtless may be done, in othcrsprobably not. But it is at any rate, best to lake a really comprehensive view of the whole matter. Let us look upon each batch of new arrivals in the "Waikato district with a kindly eye, and place them upon the best land as soon as possible after they get into the country, that it may speedily yield its increase, and the rich plains of the AVaipa and the AVaikato bear plentiful harvests of golden grain ; have numbers of homesteads, where now not an inhabitant exists ;. aud the lowing of oxen, the bleating of sheep, and the busy hum of industry heard, where now all is in death-like silence.

Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH18640609.2.13

Bibliographic details

New Zealand Herald, Volume I, Issue 179, 9 June 1864, Page 3

Word Count
1,847

THE SETTLEMENT OF THE WAIKATO. New Zealand Herald, Volume I, Issue 179, 9 June 1864, Page 3

THE SETTLEMENT OF THE WAIKATO. New Zealand Herald, Volume I, Issue 179, 9 June 1864, Page 3

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