THE BENMORE SOLDIERS' SETTLEMENTS

Otago Witness, Issue 3384, 22 January 1919, Page 16

THE BENMORE SOLDIERS' SETTLEMENTS

TO TH» KDITOB. Sih, —I noticed a letter signed M. E. Davey in your columns with reference to the above-mentioned matter, and would like to call attention to "the following facte: When the agitation arose to cut up these flat lands at Benmore for soldiers, knowing the country and what it was like in bad winters, I wrote to a parliamentarian friend describing the .state of things on these flats when I nad had occasion to go to Benmore during the winters of 1895, 1903, and 1908, and my friend passed my letter on to Mr Massey, who read the greater part of that letter to the House of Representatives (see Hansard, 17th to 19th May, 1916). I enclose a copy from Hansard of ihafc date, and I can assure you that my

statements are in no way overdrawn, and are a true description of the country during those bad winters. I am not writing so aa to be' able to Stay, "I told you so," or anything like that, but to point out that whoever was responsible for putting these men on those blocks after tho warning given them did not do so without having Deen told what to expect in bad winters, and these winters disastrous to stock always occur at interval* in these altitudes. ' If they did not" believe my statements, they could easily have made inquiries from any old residents of the district, who would have verified them without a shadow of doubt. Those members of the Land Board who visited the place did so in summer time, and had no knowledge of what the conditions were in winter from their own inspection. When you have read my account of my trip through Benmore to Glen Lyon Station in 1903 winter to visit a man with appendicitis, I think you will agree with me that it seems unbelievable that any body of men could be so foolishly incredulous as to my statement of facts, and, in spite of such evidence read out to them, could do such a cruel thing as to put these settlers on such country, where disaster was bound to overtake them before many years. My object in writing is this: to point out that,- such an injustice having been done to these returned men, it is*the obvious duty of Parliament to see that every penny these men have lost should be returned to them, and that they should not only be allowed to "give up these treacherous blocks of land, but should also be provided with other land on . which to settle, where they would have some prospect of getting some return for their labour, some comfort in living, and some return for their service to their country in her time of need. As to my qualifications to speak on this matter, I contend that no one has a better right or better knowledge of the unsuitability of these blocks for returned men or small settlers. I practised as a general medical practitioner for 20 years (all but three months) on the Waitaki. It was my luck to have to go to Benmore in the winters of both 1895 and 1908, and right through Benmore to Ben Ohau Mountain in 1905 —the worst winter of the lot for snow. I had to take that route, as the Dobson River was in flood and too high to cross. Otherwise the worst part of the trip would have been avoided by going round by the Lake Station. Moreover, I owned a small sheep run for five years on the Waitaki, and have helped in my time to get sheep out of snow. What has occurred this winter in the way of losses in sheep by these suffering settlers will most assuredly recur, as it always has in the past, and no time should be lost in getting them off these treacherous blocks of flat country, where the snow accumulates and lasts for months. The land need not be wasted, but should be allowed to be taken up by someone owning adjoining lands with steep faces. I would not have it by itself if it were, given me free of rent. As to what I think about the action of those responsible for this blunder,' 1 know only one word in the -English language which describes it, and that word I hesitate to use- in a respectable paper. I shall be glad if you will publish with this letter the enclosed copy from Hansard, which was read out to Parliament.—lam, etc., / W. E. Stevens, M.R.C.S. (Eng.), L.R.C.P. (ton.).. New Brighton, January 17. (Hansard, vol. 175, p. 257.) The Right Hon. Mr Massey: . . . The report I am about to read was not sent direct to me, but it has been forwarded on. I may say that it was written by a man who owns no land. He says:— "January 1, 1916. "I have read rumours that the Land Board were likely to cut up Benmore for returned troops. This would, in my opinion, be a great mistake, if they really had that in contemplation. As I went through Benmore in each of the bad winters —1895, 1903, and can give you or the Minster of Lands (whom I have not the honour of knowing personally) a pretty good idea of Benmore flats in winter. ,;••-. ' "In 1895 about half-a-million sheep were lost on the Waitaki. The enow came early in May,, and again another fall a little later, and the losses were due to gradual starvation and intense cold (the Waitaki itself was frozen) rather than depth of snow, which, of course, did not clear until September. In that year the flats going up were just a scene of desolation. "In 1903, ' when the snow fell in July, the snow was deepest. From Kurow 'to Benmore there was not even a matagouri bush to be seen; everything was covered with enow. Babbits, pukaki, and hawks were frozen to death in thousands; you could kick the hawks over frozen as they roosted. "The whole of the country was covered with hard-packed snow over the knees of the horses. This meant that when it fell it was about 3ft, an<J there was not a living sheep on the whole flat up to the station. Everything was frozen except the ducks, who retired at night to the deep lakes, which did not freeze. This state of things lasted till early in September.. Any food, such as turnips remained there. >■ The snow was too hard and frozen to get anything out. The temperature at Benmore Station was 47deg of frost.

"The whole of the flat country from Benmore to the lake was about the worst scene of desolation I ever saw in my life, nearly 3ft of frozen snow packed hard, but not quite hard enough to bear a horse's weight. Not a track to be seen, and not a hvmg thing. Plenty of frozen birds and rabbrte. Overhead not a gleam of sun, but a fine powdery enow falling. Nothing could live for the cold. We got to the Ben Ohau Mountain which rises almost sheer out of Lake Ohau and has a bridle track round it, at 5 p.m., and then came the struggle of our lives. In the dark we had to get round that mountain up to our hips in enow. Occasionally a man would disappear and have to be hauled up out of the enow. At other times we were crawling over avalanches. It took us seven hours to do the three miles and ahalf round the mountain, and'the annoying part of it was-that a boat kept in the lake was out of repair. "We slept that night in a shepherd's hut, and got to Glen Lyon next day. The return journey (i week later was via Dobson River to the Lake Station, and then to Beninore, but things on the flat were in no way improved. However, the fact I wish to point out is that the wind was driving the enow off the steep sidings, and this is what saved, and does save, the live stock in the bad winters. "In 3908 I again went through to Benmore during the bad winter, and the same condition prevailed—snow all the way from Kurow to Benmore, getting deeper as we went. The trouble with Benmore is that the enow lasts so long there; it is so high that it is three or four weeks after the lower

country in getting rid of the snow. People who have not been through that country in winter time can hardly realise the intense cold that prevails in hard winters, and the horrible hardships that settlers on the flat would have to endure—for women and children in poorly built houses it would not be endurable. If- I had my choice of any country at Benmore, I should choose a part with plenty of steep faces on it where the snow would naturally clear first." Mr Wilford: Is that the land the soldiers are getting? Tho Right Hon. Mr Massey: That is part of the land the honourablo member for Waitaki wants to give to soldiers. It ■will be noted that this man points out that the flats are the worst, because the snow drops off tho hill on to them. This man ■ travelled over Benmore from end to end. He is speaking generally of it, but he. is pointing out that tho snow drifts on to the flats from the hillsides. Mr Anstey: That is where the right honourable gentleman wants to put the soldiers. The Right Hon. Mr Massey: That is not correct; the honourable member wants the whole run—flats and hills—to be kept for soldiers.