THE BOROUGH SALEYARDS.

Waikato Times, Volume LVII, Issue 8100, 11 January 1907, Page 2

THE BOROUGH SALEYARDS.

OPENING CEREMONY. AUSPICIOUS AUGORY FOR FUTURE. Another stop in the municipal progress of Hamilton was con umiuated yt'Bterday in tne opening of the new Borough saleyard?, on a site adjoining the old yards. Ibe tacts leading up to the move are so woll-known that it is not necessary for us to c.nter mto details. It is now some time since the spread of population and the advent of intense cultivation first gave such a filip to sto.:kbuying and sellir.g that the old yards were rendered at once unsuitable &nd insufficient; in addition there was a serious objection to them as being on the main street of a growing town, nearly all cattle coming to market having perforce to be driven amongst a crowd '■igger on saie days than at any other time. When tho naw yards were mooted, there was but one opinion as to their necessity, hut a wide divergence of views as to the most advaiutugeoua site. The present ■ ouncil. 'whlen it came into office, found itself face Ut face «ith a deadlock so far as the yiird-j were concerned, and to Bottle the matter pee and for all, a poll was taken on riie i;ueption. I'ho site already mentioned was, selected. Immediately after thi-, pans *rete prepared, and another poll of the ratepayers of Hamilton West was taki n, this;time as to whether the amount i necessary, .£-000, should be rueed. This | loan was cajrried by a substantial majority, and the wlork at once proceeded with. The whole scheme has been thought out, a new street (alongside the railway being one of the improvements. The yards and the accommodation occupy about ten acres. The construction is of a substantial nature, and the yards themselves are paved with limestone blocks. The gangways are all rooted in. Mr Geo. Jack was the contractor for the yards, and Mr Tucker subcontractor for the drainage and laying of slabs. ;The timber was supplied by the TaumaVunni Totara Timber Company. Yesterday's function was of more than ordinal y importance, fnr it emphasiied not only the progress of Hamilton but the advomeem; nt of the district generally, in the fact that the sale which followed the opemug ceremony was the inauguration of a weekly stock sale in Hamilton. In the unavoidable absence in connection with urgent public duties of the JJayor of Hamilton (Mr Jas. S. Bond) Cr. C. J. W. Harton officially represented the Borough Council, and there wure also present: Crs. W. C. Davis, W. F. Mason, J. A. Young, G. Edgecumbe and G. Stone.

The deputy-Mayor (Mr C. J. W. Barton) said, befote asking the member for Waikato (Mr H. J. Greenslade) to open the yards, he would bespeak their indulgence for a few moments. He wished to apologise for the absence of His Worship the Mayor (Mr J. IS. Bond), whose public duties imperatively demanded his presence elsewhere. On behalf of the Council he bid all a most hearty and sincere welcome, and trustediUiat all their transactions in the yards vf'hld be conducted in comforc and result in financial success. The Council, as at pie£e*ut constituted, fully recognned that if something bad been attempted, much remained to be done. They h< ped to see a number of improvements?-rffected, chief amongst them being a railway siding and loading yard, in the endeavour to ohraii. which the Council wiobed t-o enlist their hearty co-operation. The Council also honed that in the establishment ot the yards it wuu'.J be recognised that the ratepayers aud business people of the Borough of H lrniiton entertained with the farmer a laudnbk "ad practical desire for the advancement and prosperity f the district, aud si sincere wish to fostv that spirit of co-opera tion and mutual dependence that town and country should always possess for one another, without which no permanant success could bj achieved. The speaker concluded by wishing all a hearty welcome and prosperous New Year, and calling upon Mr Greenslade to officially opeti the yards. M r H. J. Greenslade, M.H.E.. said it was . with great pleasure that he had acceded to , the request of the Mayor and Councillors , of tne trough of Hiuiiltcn to be present , and peiform the ceremony of opening the , new municipal saleyards, more especially i as it marked an important epoch in the history o? the town,and afforded an unmis- ■ takeab'.e evidence of the enormous growth i and expansion that had taken place in • Waikato during the past few years. The ■ new saleyards would, when completed, cost . some JBI9OO or i>2ooo, and the fact that [ this expenditure had been almost unani- . BK-jtt4****naiioned by the ratepayers was a < I prhjotii'al evidence of the faith they hwd ! m the future of the Waikato and the . stability of Hamilton. Personally he was r an opiimist, and he had a great opioion as j to th'i future of Hamilton, which could > not fail to become a town of considerable 3 importance—possibly not perhaps the j Federal Capiul which his friend,"Mr W. , A. Graham, had predicted it would yet , become, but any rate the most important : town --utaide the city of Auckland. Mr > Greenslade referred to the enormous [ growth that had taken place in Waikato , during the past five or six years—to r the great increase in population, the j almost inoredible increa»e in the dairying j industry and the success that had attended i agricultural and pastoral pursuits, which had resulted in attracting attention to E Waikato from all parts of the colony and , also Australia. Here they had an iquable : climate, comparatively free from drought , such ss was causing such anxiety and , disaster in the South Island, while the . fertility of Waikato lands was becoming [ well known through ut the colony. He c ngratulated the people of Hamilton upon the erection of the new saleyards and the . inauguration of weekly sales, and said be j had no hesitation whatever in that, commodious and extensive as th" yards were, they would in the coarse of a . very few years be found to be inadequate . for the requirements. For what was the p^sitii.n ? Let those who were pessimistic i'J regard to the future of the Waikato pay - a viai to the back-blocks, where they oould ■ not fail to be impressed with the huge developments which must take place when the remaining Crown lands, and especially [ the thousands and thousands of acres of ; Native lands, were made available for I settlement and were beneficially occupied . by an industrious yeomanry, all oontribut- . ing to the general prosperity. Hamilton | was so situated that the great bulk of the ; trade would be attracted to it, so that the more the backblocks were roaded and bridged and the nitive lands unlooked and made productive, so in a cor- . respor.iing d gree would Hamilton increase in priirperity and importance. It watherefore of piram uat interest to them that these enormous large areas of native iando should without further delay be j opened for settlement. Mr Greens'ad ■ I chen referral to the necessity for the con- | struct on of a railway siding and loading I y'trd-;, and expressed a hope that as the j result of the probable visit to the district | of the Hon. W. Hall-Jones, MlcUtor of | Kailw.tys, in March nest, ihfoe would be I provided. He paid a high c< ipliment to the busmen peop'e of Hami'on for the splendid manner m which they had proi vided such a sumptuous repsist for their ' t>nitfig friends on the occision, and said j it wtl such kindnesses as these which tend- : ed tA'.-ment th.it foeliDg of c mmunity of | iuteSst svnich should always exist between I town and country. He concluded by ex- | pressing the hope that tho yard* would | piove a success to all e ncernea, and ■ amidst applause concluded l y declaring the saleyards open. I Mr "W. A. Graham, in in interesting j fpeerih, expresfod pleasure at the prog;ess I t;'»t w aa b-irtg made in the Waikato. He i cited the growth of the city of Auckland, ainco the time of his birth, when there ver6 only 2COO Europeans in the whole colony. In thoso days they drew up their boats and canoes to a landing where the Auckland post office now stands. His fathgr and himself had been laughed at in rasppct to their optimi-tic views regarding j the 1 future development of this country, j He was convinced that in the Waikato was | tho site for the Federal City of New Zea- | 'and|. With the f-e .tlement of the land, j and the development of our industries, the i | tiuioi woiild como whsn there would bo no I I talk' of the Boroughs of ''amilton and | j Camjbridge. Those places v. T ould embrace j j the greatest city of agriculture in the ' ; colonies. (Applause.) j Councillor J. A. Young next mounted j j the platform and in a clear and vigorous j j speefch «aid that in the history of com- 1 | muniitios and individuals theru were what ! he vmllixl •' Event Days." This function I was lone of thooo in the history of Hamil- ; ton jrind of the surrounding districts. It j demioustratod tho fertility of Waikato soilsj as n result of the enterprise and ] energy 0 f its people. (Hear hear.) In a ! district like this, towns grew aud flourished I as a; fulfilment of the settlement of the land. The agricultural people created the j w ea th of the country (hear hear) and the j towtd wero the organised centres where : thejf cnuld sell or exchange their products. , Truly the towns depended on the country for their growth and prosperity (Applause.) A (pjreat future was before the colony and ; mui'L ramainei to bo done. Tho vast 1 stretch of country from Mercer tnTaranak ; , f«'j|po, Taurauga and buck to Mercer was i yet little »ettied : and contained thousands of acres of Native lands. Thiß, tho' ( '■ ative Laud question, was the greatest I concerning the people of the North Island, putjing the past few months they had j -f a s.'reat daa-1 about land ttpuse.and th* [

Crown Lands of the colony, and this he hoped would be settled before long. Ia the Auckland Province there were 4,000,670 acres of Native Lands. ot which 3,781,370 acres ware suitable for settlement. As far at the Crown lands ot , trie whoie colony were concerned there were only 1,783,063 aoreß left to under the Optional by stem, In the North Island there were 4,608,884 acres of Native lauds suitable for settlement. What a future there was before the Auckland provincial distrot when these lands are cultivated. What would be the future cf Hamilton and Cambridge when all these native lauds were settled and cultivated f Ther.> would be no suggestion of this or thut being the more prosperous. Tfwy would be practically one with a common interest as a great commercial oentre. (Hear, hear.) Then Mr Graham's dream, of a federal capital for Waikato would ia some measure come near to realisation. All native interest in land should be individualized, and the Natives so placed that they could dispose of their surplus lands in a manner alike equitable to tba|nselves and the Pakeha, and our such foidl ™ of tenure as will assure to the settler the greatest feeling of security. (Applause) Mr <i. W. Sare, in a few felicitous remarks, proposed a vote of thanks to the Mayor, councillors and citizens for the successful carrying out of the function. After the speechifying the tradesmen of Hamilton entertained the farmers attending the sale at a substantial cold catered by Mr W. Burns Smith, of H untilon in a spacious marquee erected in an adjoining paddock. The arrangements were moat complete, and the visitors were loud in their praises of the entire function, The committee of tradesmen who carried out the details were Messrs A. Raynes, G. C. Msyo, T. Jolly, L. Griffiths and F. C. Kosi the latter aoting as secretary. But Mr F. Maxwell, the secretary of the Chamber of Commerce likewise worked very hard to ensure the success of the affair. 4