PALMERSTON.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 5670, 2 June 1879, Page 3

PALMERSTON.

(FROM A CORRESPONDENT.)

It is about two years since I visited this district, aud it is pleasing to observe the progress that has been made in the interval. Palmerston is now a borough, witli its Mayor and Town Council. The square is surrounded with broad streets and footpaths, whilst the centre is enclosed by a good fence, and laid down in grass, through which walks are made. .Several new buildings have been lately erected, amongst which are the Bank of Australasia, the Bank of Hew Zealand, and the Town Hall. Police barracks and offices for the District Court are in course of erection. Palmerston ean also support a newspaper, the Manawatu Timts, conducted by Mr. John Dungan. The town is well supplied with churches, the Episcopal, Presbyterian, Wesleyan, and Roman Catholic bodies being represented, aud all having resident ministers. A good State school stands in the centre of the town, and another is shortly to be erected. There are about 200 children on the school roll. The population has doubled itself within the last two years. There are now 1500 residents within the town, all of whom seem prosperous. There is a public library established in the town, supported by the ratepayers. This is the first institution of the kind, I believe, in the Provincial District of Wellington, formed under the Public Libraries Act of 1869. The townspeople are bestirring themselves in the matter of a cottage hospital, which will be of great service to the district. Karere and Tainui have each good mettalled roads made to them from the centre of the township. These thriving settlements have each largely attended State schools erected within their boundaries. There are quite a number of substantial homesteads in and around each village ; the farms being well stocked and fenced. These rural districts swell the population of the district as a whole to about 2500. I am glad to observe that the district of Fitzherbert has taken a start, and that a number of new settlers are moving on to the land. Roads and road lines are being made and cleared. Thirteen thousand acres of Government land is now being surveyed, which is to be set apart for settlers on deferred payments.