BARS TO SETTLEMENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14648, 6 April 1911, Page 6

BARS TO SETTLEMENT.

KING COUNTRY TROUBLES. BAD ROADS AND IDLE LANDS. At a recent meeting of the Taumarunui Chamber of Commerce* which'was largely attended by the leading business people of the town, as well as by a number of representative settlers from over a wide area, some matters of vital concern to this part of the country were discussed. The reading question was first dealt with. This chiefly affects settlers along both banks of the Wanganui, who have been in a sad plight this year in regard to their wool, as the Wanganui River failed them for freight, being barely equal to the tourist traffic. Consequently, large quantities of wool have been lying at the various landings for six months, waiting for the river to rise. It was decided to bring the facts before the notice of tho Government at an early date, and ask for the formation, or widening, of at least the main arterial roads. Next the matter of idle native land in our neighbourhood was brought up by Mr. G. H. Thompson, Mayor of Taumarunui, who went fully into the existing state of things in this respect. It appears that no less than three quarters of a million acres of native land arc lying -unoccupied in our immediate vicinity. Milling rights have been granted over certain areas of this, and the milling companies nave claims over large portions of country which grow no bush at all. Further slices of this great area, are, it is said, constantly being handed over to the milling companies, and if this sort of thing goes en much longer, there will be little left available for settlement. The following letter from the Mayor to tho Commissioner of Crown Lands in Auckland, is selfexplanatory :— t Sir,—At a recent meeting of my Council it was decided to draw your Board's attention to the large quantity of waste lands lying idle in the. West Taupo County, adjoining our town and the North Island Main Trunk railway. It is estimated that there are three-quarters of a million acres of this land unsettled, and so far with not even a survey lies in. A great quantity is suitable for dairying and closer settlement purposes, and settlers taking up'this land | would have the best of opportunities for gettinsr on, as they would have two city markets—viz., Auckland and Wellington—open to them: they could send produce, such as orgs, butter, fruit, etc., into either city daily. We are aware that a great quantity of this land is Maori-owned, but we contend this is all the more reason that it should receive your Board's immediate attention, as private enterprise is stepping in and acquiring -from the Maori owners very large areas in the way of private contracts, which everyone knows is not in the best interests of the Dominion as a whole, and detrimental to the progress of the small townships in the vicinity. We would respectfully re? quest vonr Board to acquire and throw open for settlement a larjc© area of this land. We feel sure that such a settlement as above ! mentioned would prove successful, as there : are continual inquiries in our town by peonle from various parts of the Dominion | for 'such holding*. In conclusion, we trust. ' sir, that you will give this question the ; consideration it* deserves , • G. H. THOMPSON, * Mayor of Taumarunui.