OPUNAKE.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1107, 19 May 1893, Page 17

OPUNAKE.

The burning questions of the day in these parts are the settlement of the Native lands, the Egmont County Bill, and the Opunake jetty. Much was expected from the passing of the West Coast Settlements Eeserves Act of last session. We were led to suppose that the greater portion of the large area—somewhere about 00,000 acres—of Native lands in this immediate neighbourhood would be placed in the market at once, and we pictured to ourselves settlers flocking in from all parts of New Zealand to secure holdings in this block which contains some of the finest unoccupied lands in the Colony. But, alas, we are doomed to disappointment. Many months have gone by, and what has been done ? Two visits, I understand, has the Public Trustee paid to this district, and fifty-four sections, containing about 13,000 acres in all, have been offered, 44 of which have been applied for, and we are told that about sixty families will settle on them, but it remains to be seen how long it will be before that is possible, as the lands have been placed in the market before first being opened up with roads, and without—at least, as far as one can hear—any provision being made for the forming of such. The sections offered are some which were surveyed ,and opened for selection about seven years ago, but which either failed in the first case to attract selectors, or, if taken up, were afterwards forfeited.

No new blocks have been opened, nor can we hear of there even being any surveyors at work. But there is a point in connection with the 'settlement' of these lands which, I think, calls for the strongest remark. Some energetic settlers, who had long waited for land to be put in the market had, in desperation, made arrangements with the Native owners for use of small pieces of land, which they are now occupying in various ways, some as farms, others for such purposes as saw and flax-milling, and now they have received notice from the Public Trustee to quit. Is this inducing settlement ? I may mention as instances one or two cases. The tewnship of Bahotu is fronted on the inland side of the main road by Native lands, which extend for miles north, south, and inland, consequently all' these years settlement has been confined to the seaward side of the road. Kahue, a chief, built a shop on his own land opposite the centre of the township, and let it to a European by the week. The Public Trustee has, in the interests of settlement, and with a view to induce the Maoris to utilise their land, given the tenant notice to quit! Again, another ease close by. A sawmill was erected on land belonging to the same chief, and a good local industry seemed in a fair way to being established —a boon to that part, as up to the time this mill was erected settlers had to bring their timber from a distance, at considerable expense. It was also a good thing for the Maoris, as they got their rent paid regularly, and also a good royalty for all timber taken from the bush. And yet the miller has to go, per order of the Public Trustee,

Now, perhaps, I know little of the subject, but it seems to me that this is rather a peculiar method of furthering settlement. Surely some of the many thousands of acres lying absolutely waste might have received this gentleman's attention first. Opunake has suffered much from this same Native land question. The township itself and about 600 acres at the back is the only ' freehold' land for some miles round. Forty thousand acres of the finest country one could wish to see, rich soil, level and watered with beautiful clear streams every half mile, are tied up in this way, a district that ought to have been supporting a populatiod of many thousands, instead of being covered with virgin forest, flax and fern.

The settlers who occupy the few blocks that were let seven or eight years ago have had a high struggle, owing to the high rents they paid, having based their calculations oe the quality of the land—which could not be surpassed—overlooking the great drawback of

being a handful of settler buried practically in a wilderness, being surrounded by an immense tract of waste land.

But enough of the Native lands. We only hope that the Government will see their way clear to have these lands surveyed and opened for selection, and that without further delay. And I can assure one and all that when these lands are opened up there will be a chance for everyone wishing to secure good land that may never again occur, for there is little of this quality of land now left unoccupied in the Colony.