AOTEA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIII, Issue 4487, 31 March 1876, Page 1 (Supplement)

AOTEA.

Sir Julius is'returned to New Zealand, and from a perusal of his late address to his constituents at Whangauui I thiuk he must be going to disburse the remainder of our loan with a more economical tendency thau heretofore, or does he see clouds rising in the political horizon that warn him that other hands may have thelay ing of it out 11f so I hope they will not forget that not a penny has come to this district; yet we struggling settlers, together with our native neighbours, have to pay our share of the debt now being incurred. But although we should be thankful to have our share, thanks to Sir George Grey and the Homestead Act we are, j I am happy to say, in everyway progressing; ' the settlers daily arriving seem to be of the right stamp. Instead of waiting for the Government or local authorities to keep them, -,they have that invaluable quality, self-reliance. One settler has cut a road nearly a mile through dense bush to his intended home, which previously was quite a terra, incognita. Horse drays laden with goods on the road between here and Raglan are now quite common occurrences, as the new settlers are making the stumps aud inequalities of our bush roads quite things of the past. Ploughs are busy in every district, so that I may safely say more land will be laid in permanent grass this season than ever has previously. Every Sunday morning quite a string may be seen wending their way to our school-room, where two of. our new arrivals conduct Church of England and Wesleyan service, so with the regular visits of the Rev. C. Schnackenberg and other ministers, our spiritual wants will now be well looked after, and on the Sabbath afternoons the little ones are looked after by the establishment of a Sunday-school. Our present little schoolhouse, which previous to the addition to our population. was insufficient for our wants, will not comfortably hold the attendants at Divine service; but in our necessity the Board of Education have enabled us to call for tenders for a much larger schoolhouse, which is sadly wanted,.and which, when erected, will meet every requirement of the district for years to come. Some of j those at a distance are about to cut fresh ! tracks and bridge a few creeks at their own \ expense, to shorten the distance between their houses and the school. As I see your own correspondent is just arrived, and talks of becoming a permanent settler here, I shall leave him to chronicle what I have omitted. —[Correspondent.]