THE Thames Advertiser. TUESDAY, MARCH 23, 1880.

Thames Advertiser, Volume XIII, Issue 3569, 23 March 1880, Page 2

THE Thames Advertiser. TUESDAY, MARCH 23, 1880.

The festivities at Matamata the other' clay, which were ostensibly meant to celebrate the completion of Mr Firth's self-imposed, tedious, and expensive task of snagging the Upper Thames, give room for serious reflection, while claiming the sympathy of all lovers of progress. To this meeting were invited Ministers of the Grown, members of Parliament, rural and urban functionaries, representatives of the Press, and country neighbours—a respectable

company, exhibiting many interests and various opinions. Ifc would bo interesting to learn the impression made on the various classes of guests who enjoyed Mr Firth's hospitality on that occasion, for doubtless each of them looked at the event through his own glasses, but we think it would bo safe to affirm that all-of thorn felt considorable surprise, riot unqualified by envy, to find one man tho possessor of a principality in a country where land is more difficult to obtain than is tho case in any other British colony. Doubtless the relation of Mr, Firth's' extraordinary acquisition of land would' form an instructive chapter in the histoiy of land purchases in New Zealand, and thousands would learn with gratitude the secret by meaiiß of which 100,000 acres of land have been transferred from the native • owners to Mr Firth. Dealing with the Maori for land has not generally been found any easy task by those Pakehas who have tried it, particularly when Government influences have been exerted againsifc the intending buyer. Ko wonder, then, if the feat performed by Mr Firth should oxcite surprise, and also a desire to emulate so profitable an exploit, If such like were the reflections of the individuals composing the party at Matamata, what would be those of a stranger seeking for information re. specting our laws and customs—in what light would he probably view such an extraordinary exception to tho result usually arrived at by intending settlers in this part of the colony ? He would naturally ask what were the circumstances under which Mr Firth had been enabled to achieve such a splendid success in his dealings with the natives, more especially by what laxity or elasticity of Government regulations has he been enabled to violate the provisions of the Treaty of 'Waitangi, to disregard the proclamations of the New Zealand Government, and to overcome or evade the rivalry of the Land Pur. chase Department, and subsequently, of the land purchase agents of the Government? It is probable that in the present stage of those transactions, when continued possession has accustomed the public' to view' Mr Firth's acquisitions of land as a settled question, such queries would be considered impertinent, but, without grudging Mr Firth his good fortune, we must consider the history of those purchases in ' connection with the bona fides on the part of the guardians of the law, for ' no doubt can exist that laws and regu* lations under which one man can oj. tain a principality and another ia unable to secure a single acre, must either possess some inherent defect or must bo carried out in a dishonest way. It may be said others beside Mr Firth have been permitted to acquire large tracts of land from the natives in.violation of existing laws. That is true j but the knowledge of a fact so damnatory to the character of the men who have governed New Zealand only serves as additional evidence of maladministration of the lands of the colony, a fault which in this case has been worse than a crime, and has tended more than any other cause to retarcl tho settlement of the country, to excite speculation in land, to fill the towns with a useless population, and to irritate the Maori people. The existence of such landed estates as that of Mr .Firth, is fortunately rare, for independently of the colonial misrule, which they reveal, territories of that' extent cannot be profitably used for the community, although it must be admitted that Mr Firth is a public spirited man, and expends his ample wealth in the improvement of his property within certain liberal limits; but when a man's acres are to be counted by tens of thousands their absorbing power overcomes the good-will of the best intentioned millionaire;- Passing from these considerations t6 the immediate, object of the Matamata celebration,' viz,, the opening of upper course of the Waihou for navigation by small vessels,. it will not. be denied that the work, • which seems to have been successfully accomplished, is a very useful one to the district, and to himself absolutely ■ necessary in view of the object which he seems to entertain, viz., to' connect ■ his estate with Auckland by the'double means of railway and of steamboat ■ communication. By making the river navigable up to Matamata it will be in Mr Firth's power to establish direct with Auckland'by means of a ' steamer in sixteen hours, and when the railroad between Hamilton and Omaha . shall have been completed to the latter point he will then also be in communication with Auckland by means of road or river to Omaha, thence by rail to the city, With these means of intercourse with his mill and with his market at command it is sufficiently obvious. that Mr Firth has no interest in theextension of the Thames and Waikadr • Railway beyond Omaha, nay, considering his largeatake in the city, of Auckland it is quite possible to conceive that such a prolongation of the line might be by him supposed to affect his interests there injuriously. The direction of the prospective trade of the Upper Thames country to Auckland may be a justifiable aim to Auckland people, but surely that advantage would be'dearly , gained'.by arresting the railway- at Omaha five-and-forty miles short of its intended terminus by which the valley of the Thames, indeed the whole of the Hauraki Peninsula with its towns, villages, goldfields, timber forests, gumfields, and its growing industries would be cut off from all effective communication with the main railway liqes of this island and with the neighbouring districts. The inhabitants of these districts having produce to sell would naturally prefer two markets rather than one.; they will doubtless wish to liave the means of sending their goods for sale to the.- Thames hs well as to Auckland, a benefit which, as between tho two places, would be perfectly mutual. k Again; if the interest on the millions borrowed for railway construction is to be paid out of profit the trunk lines

must be furnished with feeders which can be only supplied from centres of population like.the Thames, This argument ought to bo conclusive with any really colonial administration for the immediate construction of the whole line from Thames to Hamilton, for tho sooner such a source of profit is opened the better for the country at large. This situation of affairs being understood, the opening of the navigation of the "Upper Thames offered a convenient opportunity of leading the Premier to infer that if the Thames wore navigable in the upper part of its course "a fortiori" it must be more fitted for the purposes of navigation lower down, u ergo" there cannot be any necessity for a continuation of the railway from Omaha to Thames. Q.E.D.