Another Special Settlement.

Otago Witness, Issue 1581, 11 March 1882, Page 23

Another Special Settlement.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) i •

Auckland, March 4th. The Herald says:— "News was received yesterday by, cab,le that the block of Patetere acquired by a company, and those purchased from the Natives by Messrs Dilwo'rth' and Howard, have been sold to ,a company' in , England, who were at once to enter' upon a large scheme of settlenient. The terms of .the arrangement are .riot, fully known ,in Auckland — indeed are not yet fully settled ■ in Auckland; but f we believe;, we 1 ' ate in •■ possession of the principal, points in ' the ' transaction.' The purchase-money is J to b,e 32a 6d per acre, the amount.tobepayable asfollows: — 8s OJd to be paid in cash, 8s Oid in 12 montha; J 8s r 'o|d-mtwo'yea'rs, A and r 8s j: G|d to Le taken in shares in the company. Supposing the llet payment to be- 303" 'andnthe acreage of the block "220,000 acres, this would 'make the purchasermdney £330,000* The* original cost to the purchasers, it !was stated, was 12s 6d per acre. Patetere, and Whaite,' and Kuranni are admirably , suited for large, settlements. They comprise partly bush and partly open land, including skirts .of the great forest which funs at .the back of Tauranga and Eotorua districts, andthe-landwas famous in old times for its fertility. It forms the upper portion of the Thames while for many miles the Waikato. river . is its' . western boundary. > It will command easy access from all parts ; the road, ■ which is partly made, from Cambridge toßotoirua, and l whose construction is to be accelerated by placing on it 200 Armed.Constabulary, runs through the block from the township of Oxford ,to ithe boundary passing through ' the wellknown district of Tapapa. The projected railway, i which ids ito connect Rotorua with the Thames Valley and the Waikato and 'Auckland line runs nearly lengthways through the block, a station being fixed upon near the centre of the land. The settlers will thus at the very first have the basis of abundant means of communication. The Patetere block is larger than several of the English counties. It is probably as great in area and, capabilities as the present settled part of the Waikato. It is important that the colonisation of such an immense tract of land should be entered upon with energy and^ skill, with abundant capital, and with the best materials in the shape of ! settlers possessed of adequate capital and knowledge to work their farms. There is, we are glad to say, every prospect that all these requisites will be at hand. " ' '' ' •