Land Settlement and Progress, TO THE EDITOR.

Otago Witness, Issue 2437, 28 November 1900, Page 8

Land Settlement and Progress, TO THE EDITOR.

Sir, — The able article which appeared ill the Daily Times of Monday last on the best means to employ to enable people successfully to settle on the 'land, an despeeially the bacK blocks, must commend itself to every thinking mind who has the welfare of New Zealand &t heart. You say, and rightly, that' if people are not sent into the back blocks to starve, it; is the duty of the Government, from whom! they purchased the land, to provide an outlet for their produce by placing ascertain sum on the Estimates for the purpose, of-.prpyiding roads and building bridges. The writer' feels ■ confident that when the Premier has a special instance presented he will see justice done in the direction named. x , , The poor struggling settlers on the back blocks on the south side of the Catlins River, known as ' Woodland and Rataivui, labour under tho almost insurmountable difficulty o£ not being able to communicate with the market, or even the township of Owaka. No matter what the state of weather may be, or how^ dangerous the crossing of the river, they have" no other means of getting over but by boat. . ,-Now, Sir, our member (Mr" Thompson) a' short time ago was good enough to pay " aVisit to' the district, and he sawihe-necessity. of the bridge over the river, and ha succeeded, in^ getting a sum placed on the Estimates for thot bridge. 1 write as one who has known Woodland', from the first time that an axe was used there,' and am V;ell acquainted v»ith its resources — ■, it 3 magnificent timber, for example, now being destroj'-ed. Then there is the opinion g£ a great geologist that a seam of true coal exists under the sandstone formation on the south side of fie river at the back of the big mill to the coast. The only obstacle which, stands in the way of bringing the matter forward is the want of capita! to put down the boriug rods to find the wealth which lies Hidden. The bridge across the river is urgently needed" to enable the hard-working settlers to cony municate with the market. If this bridge is built there the other sections will be taken, up, and what is now a waste wilderness will be converted into a fruitful field. The object of this letter is to point out the importance of having the sum placed on the Estimates' expended without delay, and thus t help those who have been the picneer3 of the south side of the river, and so develop the resources of the district and feed che railway also. — I am, etc., Virtus in Abdttis. to the editob. ' Sin, — I see a letter in to-day's paper drawing attention to t"ic £reat need of a bridge over the Catlint. Rn cv. As one of the origir.al settlers, I can vouch icr all your correspondent says, and, fun.her, many of the settlers in Woodland would l-cxcr have been there had they had the sligLte-st idea that their isolation wotftl Lave beei- so complete and of sucli long duration ; as the maps of 10 or 12 years ago of the blocks of land then thrown open en ,lhe homestead ;aid other systems show a, reserve for the railway, and the proposed route, which was to psss right in front of . sections 1 ' and 3. However, rightly or wrongly, the ionic was afterwards changed, and instead of a U\un passing 'our doors wo . are just as far back as ercr, only with here and there side roads loading- to nowhere, and ' without access, unless by small boats, which are both inconvenient and, in .some weathera, very dangoro'is. The consequence is that scarcely a man in the district can stay and develop his farm, butr'musc, like myself, leave all those he loves behind and get work away from home. Now Sir, this is not much encouragemotit to men who have gone out into the wilderness ; and yet all honour to them. - In spite of the3e misfortunes, they have stuck to their bit of land, and if the present Government will assist and give us the bridge a! considerable impetus wilijje given io settlement and the development of the district, and encouragement Ib those who are struggling. Ah, struggling ! It 13 ea^y for townsfolk to say " Why; don't .people go on to the land?" J3ut, with examples like this before them, how can you expect the working man to give up partial comfort in the ciiy when they see and know for certainty what is, and has been, the fate of many who had hoped ere this to have been able to make most of anything: they might produce. Fancy, Sir, I have been a resident for 10 years, with wife and family, and until just lately could not get a wheeled conveyance on my ground, only 1£ miles from, the big mill; and now, for tho want of a bridge to cost '£2000 or £5000 we still remain isolated. T2:ariking you for so often drawing attention to the lequirements of settlers in different districts, and honing that you will still wield^your pen on our be- ' half. — I'am. etc., . Owaka.