The Wanganui Chronicle PATEA-RANGITIKEI ADVERTISER. "NULLA DIES SINE LINEA." THURSDAY, MARCH 29, 1891.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11951, 29 March 1894, Page 2

The Wanganui Chronicle PATEA-RANGITIKEI ADVERTISER. "NULLA DIES SINE LINEA." THURSDAY, MARCH 29, 1891.

Iv the Wanganui United is a fair specimen of the Special Settlement Association promoted by Government, we may be pardoned for doubting their efficacy in securing rapid and genuine occupation of the bush lands of the Crown. The Association in question was started nearly two years ago. Originally it numbered 73 members, who joined together in a hody in the expectation of thereby securing the pick of the Waimarino Block on which to settle, or— so wa have heard it hinted with regard to one or two of the members— with which to speculate. The portion of the block selected, which was duly reported upon by competent members of the Association as being of good quality ard well adapted for the purposes of the proposed settlement, only embraced 11,000 acres, and the membership of the Association was consequently reduced to 43 members. The block of 11,000 acres wao then cut up into 43 sections, at a cost to the Government of, we understand, some £28 per section. The actual expenditure on the part of each intending " sottlor " has, we believe, amounted up to the present to some 255, made up of a deposit of 10s in proof of their hona fides, and the balance, of the proportion of costs involved in forming the Association. Some time ago lots were drawn for sections. Up to this point in the history of all such associations the members are happy and hopeful. The mombers of a Special Settlement Association look upon the ballot-box as racecourse investors look upon the totalisator. 411 the interest lies in drawing a good horse or a good section. And in both cases thero are people to be found who are open, for a consideration, to dispose of their chances. In the case of the Wanganui United, 43 members drew for sections in tho special block selecced and approved by their agents. Of the 43, we are informed on what wo believe to be good authority, that only 10 aro likoly to take up their soctiona Some of the pwmoterp, ovon, who failed to draw sections to their liking are said to be backing out, and are not likoly to be found amongst tho remnant who will really go inio occupation. Othors— tell it not in Oath— aro accusod of being willing to forego their hold on their ijections for a five-pound note. Of course, such conduct would bo a violation of tho law, but the real iniquity of the proceeding is considered to consist in being found out. Now, if our in. formation be correct, that the Government have set a specially seJocted block of 11,000 acres out of the Waimarino, for the settlement of an association of 43 persons, and have expended the sum of #28 in surveying each mftn'B section, and after all only ten or a dozon people take up their sections, then we say that the special settlement system a3 exemplified in the Waimarino, is a shocking failure. What makes it worse is that there aie. and have been, plenty of genuine settlors going up and down the country hunting for land, and somo of whom would have been glad to take up the vacant sections in the Tory block to

which we have been referring, had they been available; But the beauty of the special settlement system is that it prevents any but members of the Association from taking up the land, but allows tl-em to pleaso themselves whether they occupy it or not. The system is specially adapted to suit " dog in the manger " people, who will not settle themselves, and will not allow anyone oleo to do so unless they can make something nut of them, We may bo ailred whether we could expect a man to go into the bush with his family and settle on a bad section simply because he failed to draw a good one. Well, Iwe candidly confess we would not. But, all the aatno. we submit that the regulations should be bo strip gont a? to compel a man to abide by the ballot in the seleation of his section, or Buffer a penalty equivalent to the expenditure to which the Government may have been put on his account. For it must be remembered that the man who backs out not only puts the country to unnecessary expense, but plays false with his fellow-members. Every genuinp settler who joins an Association consisting of Boms forty or fifty members doea so, not merely in the expectation of getting a good section, but of enjoying all the advantages which membership gives. Forty or fifty settlers treated together could command the establishment of a public school for their children, could bring pressure enough to bear to get necessary wards constituted, and generally could become a power in the locality. But what ran ten settlers do ? What advantage can they expeot to get from belonging to an association mainly composed of absentees ? If these associations are to fulfil the purposes for which they have been fostered, the regulations will have to be much more effective than they are at present for compelling settlement. But we confess wo begin to doubt whether settlement would not progress more speedily and satisfactorily if associations were dropped altogether, and every seeker after land placed upon the same level.