SOLDIER SETTLERS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXIV, Issue 17640, 15 August 1919, Page 5

SOLDIER SETTLERS

LIFE IN THE BACK-BLOCKS. |

PIONEERING AT RETARUKE. -',

At Retaruke, on the Wanganuf River, forty soldier settlers are fight' ing a grim battle to make two ends! meet and win through with a home for themselves. This is an area 105 miles from Wanganui, which was thrown open for soldier settlement some time ago, and of late there i~s been occasional reference to the hard life that the pioneers are having.

! Some interesting details in regard' ■ to Retaruke were-given by Mr J. S. 1 Lacey, yesterday, to a- "Chronicle" ' reporter. He described the block : which is really inclusive of the Retaruke —Whirenaki block of 40,000 i acres, as undulating bush country, very steep in places. When cleared the land will carry grass well and on an average be two sheep coup* 1 try. A HARD LIFE. "It is simply crucifixion to seftftft returned soldiers, there under pre-f sent circumstances," said Mr Lacey* "Their holdings average from 400 to 1600 acres, and the men are living in tents, with only tracks to their sections. The present arrangement for financing them is most unsatis* factory. It would have been better had the size of the holdings ranged from 700 to 1100 acres, and— < this is the most important poiht-r- - the Government should give them the fee simple, and if necessary advance them £1800 t0.£2500 and then after four years—this period would give the returned soldiers a chance to get on their feet—rate their properties at say 3d or 4d an acres ua-! til the obligation was cleared pff« WANT OF ACCESS, flf^ , Want of access is seriously affect-t ing the development of Retaruke just as it is affecting nearly all th» up-river country. At. present the only outlet is to the Wanganui River and some of the soldiers are seven or, eight miles back from it. Possible points of outlet by land are Raetihi and Raurimu, yet each of those cent tres is about 35 miles away. Afi present the settlers' chief hope cetM tres on enterprise from the Tau* marunui end and the road that is jmw ing pushed down the river-bank.' "It costs 16s a bale to ship wool front Retaruke to Wanganui, and £5 5s » I ton to ship stores from WanganuS to Retaruke, which have then to b* packed in. . . " FUTURE POSSIBILITIES. "There is a feeling," said Mf Lacey, "that the Wanganui people, have failed to realise the potentials ties of the up-river country, as . i£ shown by the absence of any reading system to cater for a vast area oj pastoral land that should in the or-* dinary nature of things be served by; Wanganui as a' deep water port. When the Riverbank Road is completed from Taumarunui —it is now. within eight miles of the Retaruke settlement —it is expected that a good deal of the trade will go to Auckland. Another potential outlet is the Stratford railway line* With a bridge across the river a road of about 15 miles in length to that railway will give direct communication to New Plymouth. "The soldier settlers are putting up a hard* fight and they should get every ent couragement. It is a life of hardship. In case of need the nearest doctor is at Taumarunui, and , the nearest hospitals are at that place and Taihape. Some time ago a charge of £50 was made to take a sick man by, launch to Taumarunui .