THE VILLAGE SETTLEMENTS. MR LUNDON REPLIES TO HIS CRITICS.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 327, 22 December 1888, Page 3

THE VILLAGE SETTLEMENTS. MR LUNDON REPLIES TO HIS CRITICS.

.Afe j JqhivLukeion; sends ; the following to rslx§ Auckland papers': , _ Sir,— ln your issue of, the I,lth insb M you have reported an interview between the Minister of Lands, the Hon. G. F, Richardson, and a deputation from the Charitable* Aid Board. „ The Minister, in his reply to '* the exception taken by - M it ' Thompson,, member; for City "North, to] ~ the" name, , ''"relief road -works" for. village home- \ 'steads "special settlements, as per page 5, Supplementary "Estimates,, dating from April of this year, is reported to _haye. said (and 1 .presume correctly, as jjbofclr* "Herald"- and SajA-R- coincide on , the poiht), "that he did not think, such proniises had been made by. his prede-' cessoi\(Hon .J. Ballance), bufc that he (Mr Richardson)* believed that many of the ' settlers had been terribly misled by his (Mr Ballance's) agent (i.e., John Lundon). That Mr Thompson had given a rather dis- . tor ted ,v,iew of; his, (Mr, Richardson's) opinion of the village settlers.' What .he (Mr Richardson) objected to was the settling ot a large number of p.eople ii) districts where there was not any possible chance of obtaining employment of any sort", either ..on tke gumfields, afc saw-mills, or, at fishiug, or something of the sort. These > 'settlers wanted "something, to- assist them in getting on their feet. .To go and put meu-eyfen on good land in the remote wilds, where/ they- had not a chance ;of living * except upon, each, .other, must result in. many cases.iv failure.". To' this statement I give a flat denial (notwithstanding its being uttered by a Minister of the Crown). Further, 1 defy * tHe 'Minister, his department, or'the village settlers, to prove it. 'I am not afraid to - state the fact that the Minister was only ' repeating, like a parrot, what was told him ■ by Mr- Eliott, the Under-Secretary of" < Lands, who is viciously opposed to the scheme of special village settlements, and to myself, as", will be seen by his evidence before the Public Petitions Committee la&t session, when my various petitions werebeing considered, Messrs Goldie and Moat being- two of the committee. Nofcwith-, standing his (Mr Eliott's) vicious evidence, the prayer of my petitions was granted unanimously. Now, as to my authority — I had the authority of the late - Minister of Lands (Hon. J. Ballance) for cv.cry. promise made by me, which promises were all made on the public platform at my various meetings (at which the different newspapers were represented). All these promises I still acknowledge — as the lafce Minister of Lands' by telegrams and complimentary letters to myself also did, and by his evidence before the Public Petitions * Committee (within tlae presence and hearing of the-Under-Secretary of Lands)— wherein lie stated that my petitions were just, and my evidence strictly truthful. As a further proof of the Minister's concurrence in my promises I will give the following extract from a telegram from the Hon. J. Ballance to me, under dace 11th August, 1886 :—": — " Will you see Mr Percy Smith, Deputy Surveyor-General, and'see that your jvhhci, are given effect to." One of the unfulfilled promises I made (concerning which I petitioned Parliament last session) was the construction of t\ road from Herekino to Takahue, connecting the former with the "Victoria Valley. On this subject the follpwingas an extract from another telegram fromMr Ballance tome, dated!BthFebruary, 1887 :— " I think the road Herekino-Taka-, hue important, and will place a vote on the next -Estimates.'*' -"" "Another solemn contract was entered Jnto, by autb.ori.ty- to Mr McKerrow (Sur-veyor-General), M/D. A. T&le (late Crown Lands Commissioner), Mr Percy Smith (present Crown Lands Commissioner), and myself, to send *a steamer once a month to . Herekino. This service the late Crown Lands Commissioner, repeatedly got imperative orders to discontinue from, Mr, Eliott, Under - Secretary,' which was at * length obeyed, thus leaving the> Herekino settlement completely isolated, and causing the price of food to be increased 50 per cent). , Then, again, with the- approval of the 'late Minister, I promised that those settlers who might sret either swamp, scoria, or ti-tree lands should get paid (up to 20 acres) the same as if ifc was bush land.. In no instance, I believe, has this been done. Again, I promised the settlers a metalled road from Kawakawa to Hukerenui, and petitioned the House last session to give effect to that promise, as the traffic is immense owing to the importation of provisions and exportation of gum. These are (so far as I know) tiie only promises made by me which have not been fulfilled. They can all easily be given effect to,, and would immediately have been carried out if the late Minister, the Hon. J. Ballance, had remained in power, and would have insured the complete success of the nine settlements north of Auckland. All other promises and conditions have, after a good deal of delay (owing to the hostile action of Mr Eliott, Under-Secre-tary of Lands), been given effect to — not in a kind, fatherly way, but in a stepmotherly fashion — by the present Minister of Lands, the Hon. G. F. Richardson. 2. My reply to this statement is : This is exactly where they have been located, viz., in the vicinity of gumfields, saw mills, navigable rivers teeming with rish. As both the Minister and Under-Secretary are ignorant of the different localities, although they are both, very glib with their remarks, and as the priated reports and returns laid on the table of the House of Parliament on the last night of the session, to the order of Mr Thompson, of Marsden, are teeming with inaccuracies — a copy of which I have now before me — I shall detail at length the various settlements and their advantages: — 1. Fern Flat, Mangonui County: Fairly good land, bounded by kauri bushes, near at hand, and within ten miles, by a metalled road, of a sawmill at Mangonui town, and within eight miles by river and track of- €\vo saw mills afc Whangaroa, all working, and within nine miles by a good road constructed at the expense of Hokianga and Mangonui counties, trom the headwaters of the Mangamuka- Hokianga River. 2. Herekino, West Coast : Good land between the harbours of Whangape and Herekino, with plenty of fish, a gum ,field on, each, side of the settlement, and a. large kauri forest, and great quantities of - puriri, with good water carriage. 3. Motukaraka : Good land fronting the Hokianga Harbour, opposite the township' of 1 Rawen s e> and within, two* miles by road and river of the Hokianga Company's saw- , mill; j, fish in abundance. 4. Taheke : Gbba^land, at" the head of the Taheke. a . navigable tributary of the Hokianga River, within three miles of a gumfield, with 20 ! miles of a Virgin forest behind the settle- » menb. 5. ,Waitnamaku, on Waimamaku River, West Coaso, six miles south of Hokianga HeadsY Good land, has a large and good gumfield, fish, and is very prost',pet»ouB. ,6. Whananaki, on , East - Coast :■ '" "Has'^easy*' communication' with Auckland ; adjacent to .a gumfield, "and within a' mile of, two sawmills in full swing, and plenty of • yvfisfi: ,j7.,, j 7., Omaha, also on the Jßastpoasfc, and *' near Auckland by"'wStSr arid'roa:d ; ctose to '-j\t£ gli'mfieMV- and.'-spMtotf ±fodvby - the Survey /fDepaf broenb in tlie shape of liberal grants for, roads/ 3. Hukerehui, J , Bay? of , Islands,

County : No fish, no sawmills, Governmenb have only expended £210 for roads ; a good gumfield, and a large and prosperous population. 9. Takahue, MangonuiCounty|: Ex.tremely.gQod land ;no gumfields,- no sawmills; rio'fish/rio water carriage, no road*, no assistance from Government, isolated, selfreliant}, and the most prosperous and succesful of all the settlements. It will thus be seen 'tshat'the remarks of the\Minister re theposifcion and absence of advantages of the several settlements * (nine in \ number) .North of Auckland are, not only uncalledfor, but are misleading and fallacious. With reference to the present unemployed, the Minister said he' had been speaking to* Mr Percy Smith, who.-said there were notmany suitable sites for. village, settlements. I say I can point out 100 suitable sites on Government) land in the County of Hoki-' tariga alone, and that the 1 Hon. Mr Mitchel-' son,- Minister of Public Works, gave me a list of 15 suitable sites in the Counties of Hobson and Marsden. By suitable, I mean good land, near water carriage, close t6 "gum fields and large kauri forests. In concluding"my remarks "on Mr Richardson's public utterance, Lwill give a verbatim, ex - tracb of a complimentary letter from Mr Ballance vrhilst Minister, to me, beaiing date 14th June, 1887 :— '■ Afc bho same time I beg in the warmest ter.iu, to thank you for thf zeal and assiumty which you 1 have displayed throughout in *o nMy ,<m effectively promoting the movenit' ,\,o ■ i I ijre •»ufci.lemeut3 north of Aucklaud, a z^..l which in my opinion has been attended with that success which must without doubt, as time goes on and the beneficial results are seen, silence the carpings of those who have taken up a hostile attitude in regard to the movement, and have -manifested a spirit of animosity to yourself. For your, personal efforts, I beg in the nameof the Government, and I would venture also in the name of the colony,' to thank you tor the public spirit, zeal, and energy you have displayed in the discharge of so difficult and delicate a task." , 3. With regard to the £y,200 which Mr j Richardson wrong'y calls t% Relief Road Works," and the £4,000 for advances - or in all £7.ooo— in North of Auckland, tha 4 statement also,is misleading^, and *he knows it is so. The £2,900. is for road works—arranged and proniised — to and through their settlements, and which he (Mr Richardson) designated " relief works." The £4, ooo are advances by way of mortgage, for permanent improvements on the land, and for which the settlers hare to pay 5 per cent, interest, and is taken out of the £72,000 loan "allocated for that purpose, and of which there was £6,147 to credit last March. So much for that statement. As for the£ls,ooo voted last session to resuscitate new special settlements, and promised by the Premier (Sir Harry Atkinson) to be given effect to as soon as the Minister of Lands came to Auckland, and which he (Sir Harry) 'said would be immediately after the session, I heard him make the,promise myself, and it is" reported in Hansard. The Auckland members, the Mayor and Council, the Charitable Aid Board, and the unemployed should see that that promise is given effect to, and the vote .exhausted with the financial year. ' I must apologise for the necessary length of this letter, but as you have from "the first taken such a warm interest in the village special settlement scheme, I trust you will publish it in full in Monday's issue, as the Northern mail closes on Monday evening, and the papers will therefore reach th» settlers before the Minister, who leaves on Friday next. — I remain, yours truly, John Lundox, Confidential Agent for Special Village Settlements at Auckland to the Hon. John Ballance, late Minister of Lands, Ponsonby, Auckland, December 15, 1888.