AN IMPROVED FARM SETTLEMENT AT WAIKAWA.

Otago Witness, Issue 2252, 29 April 1897, Page 14

AN IMPROVED FARM SETTLEMENT AT WAIKAWA.

(By Odr Waikawa Corhespondent.) Much has lately appeared in the public prints both locally and otherwise regarding . these settlements, but the most of these com- j mentaries appear to be but the expression of ! opinions formed through hearsay, or, at besfe, j very cursory observation. Moreover, all of j them have been so greatly obscured by the i glamour of political colouring that ib may be ■ interesting to many of your readers to hear the | opinion of one who has watched the settlement from the time of their inaugural ion down to the present clay, Bimply and solely to satisfy cariosity. It has been asserted by opponents of the principle that ib was a scheme formulated with a view to bolster up a tottering Ministry. ! When the unemployed difficulty with its concomitant distress confronted the Government the inauguration ot these farms was resorted to as a factor in the solution of the problem. Men willing to earn an honest livelihood, but unable to do so through lack of employ meat, petitioned the Ministry to find them work; they were not, as has beta repeatedly asseverated, 1 indveed to do so — it wsa a compulsory step taken solely on their own part to arrest actual want. As cuitodiana of the people's money, the Ministry in granting the boon thus requested, had to ttipulate that the petitioners must be contented with a rate of wages commensurate with the circumstance', or in other words, that-, j being found work, they must be content with . such remuneration as would tide them over their difficulties only, but not oa a acale such as would induce them to enlist m the Government employ to the" detriment of private enterprise. Foreseeing that by this arrangement the burden thus cast ou the country would be permanent, the idea of fettling the unemployed on the land, and granting the prerogative to ' each settler to reclaim the Feotion allotted to j him, for which he would b* paid, presented ' itaelf aa a means of overocming this oifficulty, and the motive which impelled this action was praiseworthy — no matter from whom it emanated. It being determined to give practical effect (0 the principle thus formulated, the next material point was to find a m»uager whose experience and probity fitted him for the position, for it could be' fcresr-ea that the duties devolving ■ upon him would be fraught with difficulty, and the trust reposed in him be weighty. Mr Xcb j rt Young vras appjiotcd fco De office, aud whether he has succeeded in overcomiDff the multifarious obstacles that have confronted j him, or belied the confidence placed in him, the 1 tequel will demonstrate. I First, then, in the order of reference comes HEATH FIELD, which was the first ot the improved farm settlements started here, and which served as an experiment of the principle. This settlement was inaugurated in 1893, as soon a3 tho j Wa J kaw?.-Oatlins main trunk road was opened , that distance, by which egress and ingress wan established. Settler 6 immediately thereafter acqtrred holdings varyiDg.in size from 80 to 100 acres, and set to work clearing the land. The price per acre paid by the Government Taried from 25s to 35? rer acre, according to the density of the busb, and the earnings of each depended on their industry. The area cleared was to be measured by Mr Young, and tbe price paid accordingly. Under this agreement the work progrrssad, and at the present time grassed land sufficient to induce a private company to erect a dairy factory exists. There are 250 head of cattle, besides horses, depasturing at the settlement, and this number will be increased by the time the factory in erected (October). There are 37 adults and 62 children occupying 26 holding., exclusive of one or two await*. eg cccupancy, aud for which there are several applicants. Now the position is this : These settlers are, aa it were, within sight of ultimate permanent independence, and it only remains with the Government to drop in the kej stone to make the structure complete. The settlers have the pasture, but the number of stock is inadequate to the support of a factory of any B<ze. Give these people work during the text six or nine months in order that they nißy earn the money to buy s'ook, and tbe Government will then and ever afterwards be relieved of further supporting them. Refuse this work at this critical juncture and the settlement will collap?e. A palpable error was committed at the inception of the settlement at Heathfield in not granting a valid title to tho occupants of sections. There was an uncertainty prevailing for a considerable time on this point which militated greatly in hindering operations and created a feeling of mistrust in the whole principle. Men who would willingly pnt forth their utmost energies to reclaim land that would ultimately become .their own hung back until this important question of title was adjusted, and much valuable time was lost in consequence. If asked "Do yon think the principle, judging from what you have witnessed, is likely to prove successful?" my answer is "Yes, ultimately." Ihere have been blunders in the management which in future will be avoided" as experience is gained. When the Heathfiold settlement was first established the settlers drew up of themselves at a public meeting a code of laws for their guidance and mutual advantage wiser and more stringent in its terms than that which subsequently emanated from the Government, and by which the farmer was abrogated. The gist of that agreement was that no holding was to be occupied by those who would not keep pace with the other settlers in the matter of improvements. Acre for acre, what one did another must do, or give valid reason for not doing so, and the

ulterior object in view was to esclude all drones from the settlement — those who took up sections ostensibly as temporary homes, wibh no intention of remaining, or who were wholly incapable of engaging in the work. Had this arrangement been ratified the settlement would have succeeded. As it is, however, a subsequent co-ie of reguUlions issued wheu the Progress Valley. and Haldane settlements were inaugurated cpplicablo to these, but waa extended toHeathfield also, and annulled tbe previous arrangements with most disastrous results. Freed from any compulsion to effect improvements the settlement became peopled with the careless and indolent, who by their inaction disheartened those who wished to do well. I know for a fact that when these new regulations were enforced, houses partially finished were razed with the ground, aud a fi-eling 0? discontent, uncertainty, and hAlf-henr:edueas pstmeated the entire community of the settlers. By ifc the. power and status of the acting manager was crippled, in so far that anyone to be desirable as a settler or no cou'd cot bs excluded. Had the original regulations remained in favour there would have been enough ground under gra*s, and a sufficient number of cows now to have supported a good dairy factory, whereas, by the admission of drones into the settlement by virtue of the subsequent agreement emanating from the Guvernraunt it will require a'most tuperhumau eff ?rts on tbe part of those who are pushing hard to surceed in order tbab lhey may be able toguaran'ee tho requisite quantity of milk by October. This latter edict called (iE I remember aiight) the Native Land -Acquisition Act was, in so far as it was made applicable to these settlements, a most cf grrgious blunder on the parb of he or they who drafted it, and a p-oof of ignoraLce of the practical working oi the principle of improved farm settlement in those who passed it intD law. Doubtless in this, as m all experimental work«, bluidf-ra will be made, but it remains still, benefittiug by past errors, for the Governmfiit to rect'fy theie blunders and act lno c jud'ciously in the future, snd a-s an aid in so doing the advice of the actiDg minager must be at all rimes obtained. To be among the settlers daily, to note their progress, encourage ("he industrious and eject the drones is the work of the practical overseer, and on hie reports must the theoretical contract of there settlements be based ; moreover, the settlors themselves must b3 fully apprised that they sra subject to the acting mauager's authority until they, by their industry and txertions, so improve their holdings that they are self-suppportiug and are free alike from Governmental aid and subjugation.