A VOICE FROM MARTIN'S BAY.

Otago Witness, Issue 1630, 26 August 1871, Page 18

A VOICE FROM MARTIN'S BAY.

to 'inn r.nrror:

Sir — The time has now arrived when to all appearance it is necessaiy to us as settlers to enquire and to receive :ui answer as to the intentions ot Government regarding us. In fact the question as to whether the place is to continue as a settlement or not has for some time been prominently before our mind. This, to our way of tbmkiiiu, can best be done through jour courtesy in allowing us a corner of \our paper, when, with your permission, we will gi\ c a skeL h of the position we stand in at present, and by so doing hope to draw attention to us.

Tt will be remembered by many of your readers that at the time of the sett lenient of Martin's Bay there w.is a great noise made, and numbers of people considered it would be a very good thing for those who went there — free land, and all that. So it was, no doubt, but many a good thiiiy lias been spoiled before now, and instead of a good thinn many of us will have found it too good for our liking if it is not mended before long. Let us see how we are situated now, and how W r e expected to be in ;ill f.iniiess by this time. It was understood that < roveiiiineut would give ."50 acres to any full-tjrown person (male), and that those with tour children should have 100 acres. They also said that 10,000 acres were to be given away. This would give a population of 200 people, or with women and children, of noarlv 400. Hero we have the nucleus of a settlement that reads very m oil on paper. .Now many persons imagined that where 200 people are togi-ther, there would be some trade doing, and they would stand a chance of making a living there. There can be no doubt, if the programme had been carried out as it should have been, that such would

have been the case. But instead of 200 of a population, we have less than 20. Query, whose fault is it? Surely not those that are here ; but wherever the fault may lie, to keep faith with those have stuck to the place, it ought to be lemedied as soon as possible ; for unless such i.s done those that are here now will be requesting the Government to send for them and take them out of it, much against their will, for not a word can I>e said against tho place or the climate.

It may be argued that the authorities have done all they promised to do individually, \iz. , given each man his land, &c. True, hut of what use is it yet, or for mine time to come? Jt cannot bu made reproductive for s-ome considerable time, longer than the (lovcrnnienfc require them to stay, and in the lr.iuntinie hoy. are the people here to live 7 if.vvo Government no further duties to perform regarding the place, or is it considered sufficient to get them here, and then leave them to shift for themselves . Tt must be borne in mind that tiu-y are not alluded to go ay.ay and get thoiv lining c!m-w hero. Tiuy aie supposed to live on their land for the two jeans, or forfeit it — an impossible ariangeliiuit. for it would cost more than three 30 acres ore worth to do it. b\>r instance, the passage money alone to get here costs sa\ iB from Dunedin (fir v, c liave only had one steamer as yet, direct] ; then the cost of provi«ions and tools foi two years, or, in other words, two years" wages an\ where else, at least £100 ready money. Still we would be satislied if Government will do | what they should do, viz., send a popul.itioii, and give them a chance to yet their living as well! Another thing we want, and must have before long, is a road to gvt away from here at an}" time ; also, to give people a chance to get here. Do the Dunedin folks think we can fly ': It would seem so, or we should have had the road linished that is half done. If a person Mas dying here, and a doet< r could save his life, ho Would have to die, for cross the ranges in the winter wo cannot. Only fancy, five months and no news hum the outer world ! This is a positive fact, and an encouragement to future settlers. The facts speak for themselves, and is it a<kinn too much of the Government that brought us here? It may Ih>, but we cannot see it on this side of the piovinee, for, to ail intents and. purposes, we might as w ell be oil t»>Me unknown inland, so completely aie we cut oft" from communication with our friends and relatives. .Some there are in the pro\ ince ■who -would say we have a fine road by -water. True again. But it must be remembered that many of us are not in a position to keep a ship of our ow n, and we have not yet taarued how to walk on the -w ater. Then, on the subject of the post oiiice, how are wo situated ': Happily we have got a postmaster, but unfortunately he gets but few mails. Letters and papers six months old are the rule— a pleasant stato of things, but hardly relished by u». How easy it would be if the road were completed here. A monthly mail itself would be a luxury. To show you how completely wo are ignored and cast aside, we will refer to our communication with Dunedin by water — or want of communication, luther, is the proper way of putting it. The settlement has been in existence now some eighteen months, and excepting the first steamer that came here) with the survey party, we have had one, the Taiaiua ; and one other looked at us, the Luna, but not staying long enough to land her passengers, proceeded onwards to Greymouth. This is all that Government has done for us. What is the consequence ? Why, numbers that would have settled here have left sooner than pay the exorbitant prices charged by the s.s. Waipara, on whose kindness and mercy we have been thrown by the generous Government under which we exist. And this is not all, for we have been on the verge of starvation, living on ilour alone for weeks together — no tea or sugar. ~Soi caring to face this, men have left — have gone away after doing their best for months, most likely never to return. Even the s.s. Waipara has noticeth.it she is coming no more, in which case arc we not right in a»kiny what the intentions 01 the Government are regarding us '.' For who would waste their tune here if the whole ailair be allowed to collapse, and the settlement is to sink again into oblh ion, after our feeble eltorts to raise it to the le\el of those places where men can li\e? And yet we shall feel' unwilling to lea\e, for men as a rule do not like to leave one or two yeai s" labour behind them, knowing it to be a blank in their existence, in a futile effort to make a home, and then fail through no fault ot their own. Yet such will he the case if the settlement be not taken by the hand by those whose boundoii duty it is to help it till it can help itself. We cannot afford to pay high prices for provisions, and if the ruiing powers that created the .settlement do not w ish to strangle it in its infancy, they will do well to give us our provisions from their own market. If private enterprise will not .supply the place, let the (lovcrninent send some on their own responsibility, lor the good of all. Thc\ can lo.se nothing by it, and icquire no puiiiipting trom us, as to the manner ot doing it. li would aKo be agreateneiiui\igeni' i nt to those parties who may come hereafter, and a boon to Hiose struggler.s now here. To add also to the apparent intention of <io\ eminent lea\ ing us to our fate, is the withdrawing the only representative of themselves from here— Mr Strachan of the Survey Department. What is the reason of it V Was it not distinctly understood that all applications for land, in iact for eu-rythiug in connection with the place, were to be j made at Martin's Bay '? Of course we canI not divine the causes at work, having had no

letters or papers for an ago, but it shows only one face to us. We liopo it may be for the best, This, then, is how AS'e stand. Out of tlio numbers that have been here ami ap]ilietl for land, .something under 30 remain— men, women, ami children. Is this us it should I>e V And wh.it are the causes which have led to sueli a result '; L •will endeavour to si low, In the fir-t place, a considerable number of intending settlers eaine here Avith a totally wrong impression as to the duicrintioii of the country, Many expected to see a vast quantity of open land. They were naturally disappointed, but in many cases not disagreeably so (it being rather a pretty looking jtlftcuj. Neatly all of tliio class took up land and remained for a time, or xill the pro\ isiuns the} brought with them were done, when not v tiling or being unable to purchase more at the prices then ruling, they left. .Nearly all expressed their intention of coming bark again if they Mff any chance of the pl.av pn.g/es.->iug, but have \> i^ly concluded to sta\ whoie they are in preference. Yi't the haul ha> to be locked up pending their pleasure for 12 months. Otlu-is there were, again, who came here intending to stay if pMs.-ible, lmt not having a \ cry e.uieet \ k-w of the reijuivumenta of lules and regulations, took up sections, but had not the means to see the time out, hi ul not being allowed to go away and get a. li\in«j, euiild not reconcile the facts ■with their ideas uf what they expected it to be. If they had been allowed to earn their living in the neighbourhood, ah the} could h.i\e done, by mining or others i=>e. and thoir time had been counting, these men would h.ive lemained. But it could not be ; proviaioni were too dear, and reluctantly they left, A\ ith their sections locked up for twelve months aKo. There Avas another class that waited till the .survexs were ready, and took up sections, fulh prepared to .stay their time out. of the-.se got sections that did not please them, or found that the work of clearing was . much too heavy and expensive. This, together with the fact of the tucker, &c, being I too di\u-, caused them to take their money jto soinu place be'ttcr patronised b} (!overnment. Some otheis of them lingered on, in hopes of seeing something done tor the place, and finding it all money out, they lu^t patience, and were lost to our Mi;ht. So that out of soinewheie about IGO or 170 who have been heie, we alone remain, although up to the present time there can be uod'iubl we should have done the wiser thing had we gone too, But now that wo have shown how, and through what causes, so many have left, we may ask the question as to how many will come back again, and receive for answer, Xot any, (if there be no improvement). Such being the case, what will be done regarding the vacancies in the sections ''. Or is it intended to do anything at all ? This, is a momentous question to us, for if a population be not sent here, it must, and no doubt will be taken for granted, that the idea of settling Bay has been given up, and | remain here as we are we cannot. If the advancement of the place is desired, let the Government act to the people in a more libiial manner, deluie moie particularly also the line of conduct lujuiml of them, for on i«e\ vial points we are completely in the dark. Give them liberty to work in the neighbourhood and earn their living, which many can do if allowed to. Ky this means, the laud will be cleared none the slower, and a morehopeiul spirit will be diffused amongst them, which must ati'ect the welfare of the settlement, inasmuch as it will oiler so many more inducements to those who have yet to come, anil would confer a real benefit on those already here. Without a doubt, the question of the desirability of having a settlement on this side of the province must have been gone into before, or there w ould have been no steps taken in the matter. We may ask. then, if the oame reasons do not apply now, or it opniion-> have changed, on the subject ': Is it coiisuleicd the right thing to let us get the full benelit of such changes ''. We do not think .so, or it would not be just if it were. We trust that the^e remarks and suggestions may be taken in the same spnit that they are w litten in ; for, he it understood that avc ih> not speak so much for what is at the piesent time as the tune to come. Wo hope that some consideration w ill bo paid to them; and that as we are so far removed, ami so entirely shut out from the usual means to be adopted in making our Avants kiuvwn, it must in some measure- stand for our excuse in liaA ing brought them tints before the public, asking them to imagine themselves in oar position. If they can or a\ill do so, we are eoutent, and ha\e no tear tor the result. — I am, i\,c., W. 11. H. Day, July 20th, IS7I. Sii; — Since writing the foregoing letter, T liaA'e to state that the s.s. Stoini Bird has arrived, and enteied AVithout any ililrieulty. Her arrival has not made any material change in the position of allairs. The only tiling to be regretted is the nominal trade she lias done in consequence of the limited number of our population. W. H. 11. July 30th.

An efloit towards planting forest trees on a large scale is about to be made by a gentleman residing near Tinuiru, who calls for tendfis for planting l."> 0 acres with bluepums, and who purposes planting another 100 acres with the same trees in the comae ' of a year.