THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. THURSDAY, JULY 28, 1881.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVIII, Issue 6145, 28 July 1881, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. THURSDAY, JULY 28, 1881.

The telegraphic summary of the report of the Crown Lands Department for the year ending 31st March last which we publish this morning confirms much that has been said of the future prospects of the North Island; and the remarks, coming as they do from an impartial source, will be accepted with confidence by those who are too apt to think that the opinions of local journals ma,y have the roseate tint of local predilections. When Messrs. Grant and Foster visited the colony they came to the conclusion that the North afforded the best opportunities to the emigrant fanners of the United Kingdom, and the report of the department exactly tallies with this opinion. Referring to this question some time ago we remarked that the South had eaten its cake, whilst the North had it yet to eat, and the report of -the department affirms this so emphatically as to say that the North Island must be looked to as the place where during the next year or two years farms of from 50 to 320 acres are most likely tobe taken up. And this opinion is expressed in a discriminating way, because the natural difficulties to be overcome are not lost sight of ; but, at the same time, it is pointed out that so beneficent is the climate as to offer effort a more than compensatory advantage. And this is really the vast advantage of the North, an advantages which transcends all temptation which the South can offer. The remark in the report is properly confined to the results as regards growth of the genial climate, but the advantage is wider in its effect, because those who are settling down for life naturally take account of a climate which affords them the greatest personal comfort and the greatest prospect of robust health. Material prosperity is by no means the only consideration which sways the mind of the person who is looking for a new domicile. The North has yet another advantage, which though not sufficiently recognised a,t the present time will gradually force itself upon public attention. It has a capacity for producing commodities which, exempt from competition within the colony, afford the prospect of highly remunerative returns. The report alludes to this, observing that "there are many warm interior valleys where sub-tropical fruits would flourish and where a large population might find a home and livelihood." But even more widely spread than the report premises is the opportunity for producing many things which are now imported. From time to time we have sought to give prominence to this fact by directing public attention to the. successful' growth of oranges and 'lemons, and other fruits of the citric bind. No ' one 1 who has been at the pains to make himself acquainted with the circumstanoes. of the Auckland

' provincial district s canr doubt but;' that it is capable of doing for the whole j island what the South of Europe|—. , Italy, Spain, the South of France', and ! probably ,the lonian Islands,; do .for,the! harsher regions of the North. The growth and preserving of fruits is a far ; more lucrative pursuit than the growth. | of cereals. The first outlay is moderate,, '.and-the annual expenditure infinitely! less. Not only in the interior valleys: to which the report alludes, but over a! j,large~ area, the vine,.the olive, the fig, ; and many another product can be r cultivated' with the fullest assurance of success if ordinary care and intelligence be! " devoted to the undertaking.- Unfor-j <tunately, r these 'are "novel industries "toj the mass of our population; • which has: come from less-genial-. climates, and so; it. neglects the; opportunity - which it j •possesses, and adheres to those-less; profitable pursuits to -which it has been! •accustomed. -?■- "T j

•i There has been a perpetual insist-' ance,. which, appears at last to . have; | brought conviction to the minds of; i Parliament and .Ministers, that the pro-. j -gress'of settlement in the North ;is | retarded by the want of roads to facili-l ;.tate the bringing of produce to market. ; In almost every page of the Crown ; Lands Guide for the present year is j to be found a,' reference to lands -worthy! ; of the attention. of the settler, but; i which" he has to avoid because of i the absence of. the facility' of; | communication, and the report of the : Crown Lands Department directs atten- | tion to - this evil in the words, "It ; (the North) .is a country that greatly : ■wants opening." The Government! -have recognised this, and perceived that! if the railways are to yield all the results of which they are capable, if where there are no railways, produotion is to be attempted, if the State is to ,have the benefit from the land revenue which must now chiefly - be derived from the North, the country must be intersected by good roads, and whatever the defects of the Government amended scheme of local self-government, it is ■entitled to the credit of appreciating at its proper value the importance of this subject. The report further points out that to which it should not be necessary to allude, that " the functions of the department should not be restricted to the mere passive sale of. so many acres of land, but should be aggressive in the sense, of opening the lands by roads;" — That term aggressive is a good one as applied to a territory the conformation of which renders it impossible that settlement can precede : the creation of means of intercommunication, and it would be far better if. members for the district, instead of giving themselves up to Parliamentary faction fights, and sacrificing - its interests to struggles-which in no way involve the public welfare, were steadfastly to keep in view the crying want of the North, roads and . bridges to open up the lands awaiting settlement. It will create no surprise i when we state that as regards settlement of all kinds in this district the progress made during the year ending ! March last -was less than during the previous year, and less than the promise of the present year. But, notwithstanding the effects of the depression, now a thing of the past, very fair progress was made. The cash sales ■ were represented by 66,000 acres, the ; deferred payment selections ?by 12,492 i acres, and the homestead by 11,000 i acres. Bona jide settlement to the j extent of about 90,000 acres, in small ( areas, is a most encouraging proof of the f progress of the Auckland provincial 1 district. Everything points to the splendid future that awaits this district, ' and all that is wanting is so. firm and j general a conviction of it as to encourage t the spirit of enterprise which is the < foundation of rapid progress. '