MINISTER OF LANDS AT TE AROHA.

Te Aroha News, Volume III, Issue 128, 14 November 1885, Page 2

MINISTER OF LANDS AT TE AROHA.

On Saturday evening last the Hon J. Ballance, accompanied by Messrs J. B. Whyte, M.H.R., and Butler, secretary, arrived at Te Aroha by coach from Morrinsville, and ;-»nfc up at Warren's* Hotel. Shortly after hfs arrival MrBallance, under the guidance of Mr G. Wilson, chairman of tha Domain Board, proceeded to visit the thermal springs and enquire into the improvements now in progress and in contemplation, after alfto i* which the lion- gentleman proceeded to practically test the wondrous soothing and refreshing properties of the waters by having a hnth, which he appeared to greatly enjoy. The greater part of Saturday evpnim* was devoted to receiving the following deputations, eacli oF wniph was introduced by Mr Whyte :—

Deferred Payment Settlers .(Te Aroha YJTest). Present about 15 isottler, including Mess's T. Taylor, jj. McCabe, T. Stanley, J. Jackson, prunn, McKinlay, M. O'Donohue, Sheat, 0. Murphy, Bonic, Curshaw etc. Theso settlers very justly complained of the unsatis factory rnawnor in which the G >vernment had fulfilled their promise with respect to draining their land, and also of the poor quality of tne soil, which \3 worth but very little. At the request of Mr J. B. Whyte, Mr Thos. Taylor, on behalf of the residents of Block 11, relate J what had already been done re drainage. Mr T. Stanley followed, and threw light on the subject, and also referred to a place some 250 acres (Section 16 Block II) which had been taken upf by a Mr Hill, who, when he became ac quainted with tho poorness of the soil, rather than live on it forfeited his deposit. Mr Stanley said tho Wasto Lands Board had several times beon written to requesting them to throw tnis piece open for occupation, as now tho settlers on either side had for their own sakes to keep the drains passing through it open, which was rather bird on them. Mr Ballauce promised to enquire into the reason why this section had nob been thrown open. It was estimated some £300 would be required to satisfactorily complete the drainage of this block, of which some £120 was now in the hands of the Government. Mr Taylor stated the Waitoa Road Board had offered to make a drain to carry off the water from their new road, and also the surplus water from the block, provided the settlers would sign an agreement; promising not to ask for compensation in any way. Mr Whyte asked if in the event of tho Government assisting' the s work, k j were the settlers willing to further assist themselves say to the extent of onethird of the cost, - | Mr Stanley, on behalf of the settlers/ replied he was sure they would not be found behindhand in helping. Mr Jas. Jackson appeared to take a very narrow-minded and selfish view of the affair, his principle remarks being to the effect that he should wanteompensa^ tion' for drains cut through his land,' for fear of any overflow of water iv yret weather. " ' The other settlers' in the same vicinity said they should want no compensation, . but would be only too glad to see the work done/ and lot tho drains go through

their lan 1. Mr B* [Amice, in reply to Jackson, said smvlyinej^onld not «eek compeu-Mtiou m<nvl|i*for allowing t.v drains ,to #0 . throiijh his, lamp* if they/ wore iiiatle Jorge enough to carry off nil tlie surplus wafer,? 4>ut fcjite liberal minded I ' settler appeared to be of opinion that whatever whs ; 4oneif it intcjrfereJ^fvith his land he du^ht; tvceive cotnpen^afi-»ii;-We/JupgUd tu,be abl^to st^^jgth^tvno other settfvr pr|p it Showed any^rfispusitiou to throw ai|jk obstacles in tho way of the carrying out^-f-any funhor drainage works) Government might decide .upon. Messrs Borne and other*, ftfl rep re*seuting-* the settler* in lil<>ek-12, -spokevery . strongly of. <the* miserable quality of the Itfiid, aid said it waa iiiidrepre<fpSioh~aT' advertised, a copy of which Mr Borrip produo- <t and rwud. Ifc was (lie said) impossible to do anything with" it," it was' not wortn hulf the money already pended oil it, and what they wanted was .1 reduction in the rent (£2 per acre per annumn). Half of the ten years allowed them in which to pay off 'tlip purchase money had already expired, an ! saw many of fcheni now in arrear, having 1 sunk all their capital (some had i>rou o'.ii 0 '.ii tui much as> £GOO and £7uO with them) in trying to improve their holdings, and teen obliged to sell off all their stock to purchase honseholil necess.tries, ami were it not For outside work they could not have existed. No jGrovernmentnipuQy^hafl.ever. been dpenj; on their block. He considered it wouldf be a blessing if .Government lifted a lot of of tuem out of the block without a shilling The land having been wrongly represented lie considered the Govern* nient should now make amends. Another /settler on this block, Mr Ourshaw, spoke very strongly of the very misleading description of tlfo land publiihf»d by Government,' alid stated that Mr Vesey Stewart had once said the Ancklan 1 Waste Lan Is 80.m 1 practically consistel of one member, Mr J. 0. Firth, and he believed himself the vicilfity of M.it.tmata had to do with the land being so puffed up. Mr Ba! lance, in reply, said : He should at once give instructions to have a report accompanied by a plan made by •some competent surveyor setting forth Lie furtner drainage works ueedeil, and see what could be done in this direction to assist them.- -He considered the Boad Boa^shaald fotwa^d . aatl^assist them,' arid' they suoulu A look' to J it-to do so, and Government would be willing, to aid the work'. 1 With respect to the block of land he had heard it was -very poor land indeed ,and ,'sympaf'iHed with tlie'n m* their unfortunate' position; biit he must tell them Government have really no powe. 1 to alter the price. Some. 500 deferred payment settlers in Otngo hud also applied forivlief, luit tlie 'House refused, , for,. if , such relief wer.e once commcnceil they .would have petitions from all quarters conw pouring in on tliem. . Supposing the land had been erroneously described by a ivertisriiuMit or otiierwisc, s:ill he could not imayine men ijomg ana taking it up without first going lo see an 1 judge for tliemselres. Government wero anxious to afford such relief as would be right and just, and last ses^nn some special mesures were passed for the benefit of, de/erre' 1 payment settlers. There were two courses open to them, under the Land Act, 1885, viz : Capitalise theii. unpaid- '.instalments, or ex* change their present agreyrnent for a perpetual lease. ,CJnd,er the capitalisation system 5, per cent would be paid on the capitalized value, and tne fiveiioli' be still obtainable at any time on payment of the full amount. Under the perpetual leasing system the rent would equal 5 per cent on the price of the, land, and back payments would come to the relief of future payments. / » Mr Borrie/on behalf of, some, of the settlers, said fchey purposed petitioning the House on the subject, -and hoped to obtain relief from Govtrn'ment with repect to misrepresentation of the quality of the land. After some further discussion the deputation thanked the Minister for his kind and patient hearing, an) withdrew. Deputation of Te Aroha Residents The second dopntatiou comprised Messrs F. Pavitt, J. Gibbons/ D. J. Prazer, J. A, Dobson, an<l 0. zVhier (representing Aroha residents).- Mr Pavitt aoted as spokesman/and first referred to the present position of occupiers of business and residence sites in the township, holding under a 21 years' lease of which about five years have already expired. A tenure such as this was averse to the advancement of the district, as few would care to erect expensive buildings of a permanent character, or lay out much nioney in improvements without first obtaining a better title. They, desired that the existing^ restrictions, might be 'removed, so tha*fc occupiers would be at liberty to purchase their freeholds from the native owners ; or if tfiafc could not' be done, they would ask that.tha.existing^leasea be made renewable,,; .or, at least fba^le/se^ receive compensation, "for> in?prov;erae4'tV afc K brfd of 21 years.j I >„<,' .*"*• ', w .... i( % liU ' In re^jMi- Bajl^fid© sftiUl^'He quite agreect with the depufeatio^tliat ftaprovements' effecb'eH M should, belong Mio the lessees ; bubjfcwpuldnot be possible to so altir the. existing, arrangements' with native owners, as fco make that possible ; the natives might say no 'clause! with respect 1 to in'ipro;vem'jnfcs u .^a'3^in3er>ted at first,/ dr the rent would i&ye 'Jw>en Jso inuojV.n'ighev.' ( , ,V7,i^!wgV4 %, '^W re ~ ques'fc that lessees lie placed, in L »apbsifcioii to purchase thejr freeholds, Mr.B.iirah'ce ropjiod tji.)t the. G^Yortnmant^llavo a great oHjietioiVto fcli e j\l ionh Vl iVgC p f jn a t i v e Munds once set apart for beiifit of

the owners ; niati/.oLjf^^WftKJt^^.i^woH known were miber^ |$$is|sf£%a& Co What t...>ydid wit.n Lhiii^!pf|j>em?| an< I tfio res-iffct of sihih &,,cq>ufrst» if;/ adopted, \yoii)«l\l>e J.iat many ,nah'vp.s ; wonl 1 be-«, 'come poverty stricken.'*. The only way he thought) oij&)o/^tue'4difiiculty woul.i be jvr%UovvMVieub to. imiite some arrangpmenfcf Ivifch \the> ;' Hrttive owners >wii^i^by '^perperual leases,.',^oul< l bo jSffunl^<l ; Mry such al^ arran^ietit all improvements woii\j be piofcwiletl, anl for seviM-ul reafloiis \my&£™ {i M prefer su'*h a title to having to purchase the freehold. Mi- George Lipsey (on belialf of \m wife«uiul fjimily, tiie nat.ive ovvttei's), tJt-prej-sed a-iledire-'fco in aiijf rurtsoftAblo way gi?e encouragement to lessees to erect "good liuiritiTgS'pahn carry' out imj^oTemenfs of a pHrmaiiont nature. He ecakl see no better plan to attain tlie end in vievf than by the" qrAnMnjf 7>f petfletntil leases, ami ilnJ not ('ousuler he iuouJd M 3 doing hia children any harm by agreeing to so'nie'sucb arrangement ' Mr* Lipsey, in hia remal'krt, expressed tue gicatest dpsire to spe any fair and jn^tarfan^euifint carried out, whtii'tiby local residents might be bencfitted and the lowusuip improved. Mr Bal lance, in reply to Mr Lip. c <*y, remarked it Was good of him to be co willing to meet t.he win es of the residents with respect to a better title to their holdings, He vras not quite eer.Win .it would 1 bd possible to make alterations such asprupo^kl \rith/)ut special legislature } ,bnt would loqk tflto the matter on his return to Wellington, and in any Case' the' deputation might rest assured that steps would be taken at the earliest possible moment to try and meet their Wishes*

The Railway Station* Mr Puviu liuxi ref.ei're'd to the railway station sifcp, ami sai<l the residents were moat anxious that any station buildings about to be erected shoiild be erected on Hie township site, as, weM even temporary uuiiJings efVcted on thd station* &itc on the opposite, side of tlw rivei, they greatly ieared a long tiui* inijght elapse before a change would bo effected ; and it would be most inconvenient and injurious to the best interests ot the iO\nship for passengers* (include ing numbera^of iuvalids,) arid goods ta be set down a quarter of a mile outside the town. Mr Bal lance fully acquiesced in the reasonableness of the request, having got Mr J. B. Whyte, as they came along, to point out the two sites to him. The matter vras not in his ' department, but he would promise to strongly represent to Government, on • his; ;return ta . Wellington,, the necessity of faring the terminus on the town side of the river. The Recreation Reserve, Cemetery ' etc ';' ' ' The next' matters referred to by .\!r Pavitt was the desirability -of having au endowment of land set apart for hospital pnrposes,"and also requesting tl»at three fresh mimes should be gazetted on the Board of Trustees appointed, with respect to the Aroha Ittjcr'^ation Reserve and Cemetery in the room of j^lessirs WbitaktM*, Stafford (left the district), and Roche. Mr Baliance promised to see what could be done with respeel to the endowment question, and if the deputation would submit three ni.me* he wouid have them [at once gazetted as trustee^ re reserves, etc. Haying thanked the .Miniate? fW his courtesy aud attention ta, their: needs, the deputation 'withdrew, anl we^e succeeded by a depntatiftn composed of member*' of the

Te Aroha Domain. Board rk. f Messrs (i. Wilson (chairman), T. Gavin G. Lipsey, and 6. Ahier, Mr Wilson stated the requirements of the deputation, iiz. : Tliey ddtireti to br,ing undeKthe notice of tbe Miniiter the "urgent necessity that existed for greasy >. increased . accommodation for those visiting ~ the thermal springs ; • great influx of visitors ' was looked forward to, as the fame of the waters was duly becoming more widely known* £1000 had already been proi:.J<ed by Government which would be the means of effecting great improvements, but would be alfco^ethe>* insufficient fco do all that was necessary. Mr Ballance having visited the baths would see for himself that greatly increased aetommodatiou was needed. The speaker produced a plan of the grounds showing all knowa existing springs, the proposed improvements, etc., and stated the Board had now overdrawn- at the bank to the extent of £100, but had arranged to pay that back out of receipts. Another matter the deputation desired to urge was the advisability of obtaining a further reserve in connection with the Domain, they would like to have some 00" to 40* acres at the back of the present grounds and to include the top of tljfe first ridge, together with some bush, etc., and also southwards. Another small matter was the necessity of a quarter acre being set aside outside the existi.ijg^domain »» a site for .a caretaker'^ residence. Mr Ballunce, jn reply, said : He would afe.once have, $.200 p l ja f c.ecij, fro -the credit 'of-'tiie I ,fcher;£;l! ( Ot[o grant, fco.enable, contracts to b.pjpro.oeed.ed with* ..JEjto'fbelievedas soon'as the* railway wascompleted fcotha towns'hip "fcheris* would be a largo: rush of visjiors, anfj more nionef b,e needed'; for 1 proVrdiiig still further' accommodation, but; .jpothing further could, however, be doji^Jn that direction before next session, when an ftdtiitionalTsmn "wo'uldTrio doubt be placed on the 'Esfeimates for thq development of tlieso 'springs. 1 r "He would 1 what could J)e done .as to f securing' 'Jthe^ additional res^i'v^ tlij^ira(>n|fcy of which he fully ad n i tteli .',.,' L-. ;/Mrr^iips.py sitggesteribthe best.ira^ would be to secure the ground soqghtfy.'