BAY OF ISLANDS COUNTY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14690, 26 May 1911, Page 5

BAY OF ISLANDS COUNTY.

POTENTIALITIES OF KAIKOHE.

THE NATIVE POSITION.

BY OUR NORTHEIIN' WAIIIOA COBBESPOXDISXT.

No. 11.

The potentialities, of the Kaikoho district are immense. Standing on the- Heke Monument Hill one can view miles of fertile country on either hand crying for population and the touch of the dairyfarmer. The scene is park-like in the extreme, and one marvels at such a rich land asset having been so long neglected. Direct train communication with Auckland will enable the best of beef to be always available for city consumption, will afford opportunity for June born lambs being placed on the market weeks ahead of the now general time, will bring into being a countryside of dairymen, and will enable maize to be transported to the metropolis at a satisfactory rate. The capabilities of this zone in maize production require? to be seen. The yield per acre exceeds that of the Buy of Plenty, and as a journey of some few miles brings into touch 300 miles of Hokianga foreshore, it is plain that Kaikohe has a somowhat alluring future. Moreover, different industries more or less connected with agricultural and pastoral pursuits must come into being, not the least of which will be fruitgrowing and canning. For in the latitude under review, sub-tropical fruits grow wild. This is a bold statement, but true, and ere many years have elapsed the fruit products of the Bay of Islands and Hokianga will take a premier place in the stock of, city dealers.

Soil Variation. Of course it must not be supposed that in and through the country under review all the territory is of a high-grade nature. Immense areas of it are so, but in the distance ono can discern the- well-known open fern and gum areas, which are such a feature throughout the North. But the days of appraising these- lands at a false value has passed, for with inexpensive treatment they have been made to carry two sheep to "the acre, and where ploughable have returned results which fairly put to shame the volcanic belts—that is on a basis of purchase coat and treatment expense. The climate is a superb asset, the great bulk of the country under consideration is only a few hundred feet above sea level, there are no frost-bitten heights, and with the exception of the Kawakawa coach spiral, which should not be in existence, the land throughout is of a. pleasant, undulating type. This is one of the chief charms the visitor experiences, and forcibly contrasts with most large areas in the Auckland province. The Voice of the Maori. The recent Maori gathering at Kaikohe afforded native owners of block lands an opportunity of voicing their disabilities in regard to communistic holdings. Having perceived the wealth-producing power of dairying in other locations, they appear to be now seized with a commendable desire to emulate that calling. iAt the visit of the Native Minister to their monster meeting, they laid before him their chief desires, which were ' that a specially appointed Land Court tribunal should investigate and individualise titles, that the provisions of the Advances to Settlers Act should bo made applicable to them, that the sum of £200,000 should be annually available under that measure for five years, and that agricultural experts should be, appointed to educate them in all matters pertaining to soil culture. Incidentally it was remarked that they favoured the inception of a scheme similar to that instituted on the East Coast by the Hon. A. Ngata, whereby the natives' in that district carry on operations under a strong central management. ..-.'.. Idle Native Lands'. The Native Minister, in replying, gave some interesting figures • dealing with all Maori lands in the Auckland Peninsula, the total of which he stated was 791,881 acres, of which 128,000 acres were customary lands, and the balance, 663,000 acres, were clothed with the title known as native freehold. The figures as a whole refer specially to the holdings of Bay of Islands and Hokianga natives, and particularly to the large areas impinging on Kaikoho. The position at present obtaining in regard to these North Auckland idle lands is that 217,297 acres are vested in the Maori Land Board, under various enactments. The total area leased is 73,271 acres, the area in course of survey and preparation for immediate settlement _ is 64,709 acres, and the balance remaining to be surveyed and equipped with a title is 79,316 acres. Taking the Maori census in the Tokerau district as being 11,000, and after making allowance for lands already dealt with, according to Mr. Carroll, the average area due per bead is approximately 20 acres. Ho strongly advised them to secure individual titles, to which end a Native Land Court judge would soon be available, he favoured the idea, of advancing sums under the Advances to Settlers Act. and urged the speedy cultivation of all lands, promising to appoint an agricultural expert to assist in developing the productivity of their holdings. What Might Be. And so the position stands. The figures quoted show a. very small average land asset for each native, but if that land in detailed or aggregate 'holdings were turned into productivity every Maori in the North would experience a "sense of well-being, and the harassed pakeha would smilingly find himself on a wave of progress which would revolutionise the present iniquitous methods of uncultivated land ownership, the various -Northern highways would become converted from treacherous bogs to respectable and passable thoroughfares, and commercial enterprise generally would expand in a manner calculated to bewilder those who know not the wondrous future which lies in store for the Dominion Cinderella. May the pathway of the Native Land Court judge be straightened and eased— that, his adjudications may be speedy—may each native owner possess to himself a tangible title, may the expert agriculturist in clear and ever-sounding tones enunciate his words of wisdom, and may the worker's gold be speedily channelled into a passage which will convert the wilderness into smiling fields. With the consummation of the Native Minister's promises, an era of unexampled prosperity will dominate the Bay of Islands and adjoining counties, and Auckland city will at last recognise that- her Northern garden is a very pearl pf wealth.