4

I.—4b

they collect £15 to make a by-road, we give them £15. I think it is money well spent, and it does not come to very much.

Appendix. Copy of Petition of Mr. G. Vesey Stewart. To the Honorable the Speaker, and the Members of the House of Representatives in Parliament assembled. The humble petition of George Vesey Stewart, of Katikati, Tauranga, humbly prayeth :—(1.) That your petitioner has been the founder of Nos. 1, 2 and 3 special settlements in the Tauranga District. (2.) Your petitioner refers to the success that has attended the formation of Nos. 1 and 2 settlements, as proved by the Crown Lands Ranger's report presented to both Houses of Parliament, H.-10,. 1879. ' (3.) The first body of No. 3 party arrived at Tauranga last January (4.) Between two and three months after their arrival, No. 3 special settlement was visited by the Hon. the Minister of Lands, who expressed himself as both highly pleased and surprised at the amount of improvements effected thereon during the short time that had elapsed since their arrival. (5.) Several other families possessed of capital and income have signified their intention of joining this party (6.) Your petitioner begs to refer your honorable House to the provisions of "The Laud Act 1877 Amendment Act, 1879," and trusts that your honorable House will recommend land to be set apart thereunder for the formation of aNo 4 party (7.) Your petitioner submits to your honourable House that the lands of Pukeroa and part of the lands of Rangiuru, in the County of Tauranga, are available for this purpose ; and further prayeth that such portions thereof as may have been handed over to the administration of the Auckland Waste Lands Board, amounting to about 20,000 acres, may be withdrawn from the same. (8.) Your petitioner submits that, by a return laid before Parliament during the present session, the number of acres held by the Crown in the County of Tauranga amounts to 98,136 acres, and that consequently there is an ample supply to satisfy the demand. (9.) Your petitioner respectfully directs the attention of your honorable House to the objection that has been urged by some persons to the formation of special settlements, upon the grounds that the Government should undertake such, and realize any profit that may be thereby obtained; but your petitioner begs to refer your honorable House to the Jackson Bay and Karamea Special Settlements, which have not only turned out complete failures, but have involved the colony in a loss of upwards of £100,000, and entailed disastrous ruin on the settlers. (10.) Your petitioner further submits, for the consideration of your honorable House, the expense that has been incurred in sending to Great Britain special emigration agents, at high salaries and other allowances, without any benefit to the colony having resulted therefrom ; and, again, Messrs. Foster and Grant have obtained 19,000 acres under the same arrangements as proposed by your petitioner, but in addition have received £1,200 for personal expenses, and it is also proposed to <nve them further concessions for drainage works at the public expense. (11.) Your petitioner, on his part, is now prepared to pay the value of the land, to comply with the strictest provisions as to the introduction of immigrants with capital, bona fide occupation, cultivation, building and other improvements, and to lodge in cash such security as may be required as a guarantee for the due performance of his engagements, and neither requires or solicits any pecuniary assistance from the colonial exchequer. (12.) Your petitioner submits that, from his experience in the formation of the previous settlements, and having an established position in the Home country he posesses the advantages of being able to attract that class of emigrants who are so eagerly sought after by other countries, and, by forming a combination of capital from Great Britain, with a fair proportion of colonials, possessing colonial experience, he can accomplish the most effectual means of settling the district. (13.) Your petitioner begs to submit to your honorable House that this petition is supported by the Te Puke settlers, the deferred-payment Te Puke settlers, and by the inhabitants of Tauranga and district, who have signed an application to this effect. Geo. Vesey Stewaet.

Me. G. Yesey Stewaet begs to enclose, for the information of honorable members, the accompany ing requisition referred to in paragraph 13 of his petition, which, by the standing orders of the House, he was prevented from embodying in his petition. This requisition has been signed by settlers holding various political opinions : — To George Vesev Stewart, Esq , J.P., Mount Stewart, Katikati. g IE We, the undersigned residents and settlers, Stewart's Special Settlement, and settlers on the Government deferred-payment block in-the Bay of Plenty, having seen and experienced the benefit which this district has "derived from the settlements which have already sprung up here under your auspices, strongly urge on you that you should, with as little delay as possible, endeavour to secure another block'of land for the formation of a No. 4 special settlement. We understand that there are lands in this district, in the hands of the Government, available. We view with pleasure the great success of the scheme which has lately been adopted in the carrying-out of the settlement at Te Puke, namelv, the combining of your special settlers with settlers in the deferred-payment principle, thereby securing mutual advantages to both classes of settlers. Some of the advantages are these: The deferred-payment settlers, with their colonial experience, take contracts and find work with the special settlers, whereby the new settlers reap the benefit of the experience of the old hands, and the deferredpayment settlers are the better able to carry out the improvements which their tenure under the Government renders compulsory We need hardly point out that every addition to our population here assists in the settlement of the Native difficulty; and it is a gratifying feature to observe that the new settlers and the Natives are on the most amicable terms : the Natives are anxious for employment, and numbers of them are already engaged in helping to clear the land and other work in the Te Puke Settlement. We venture to hope that, in the event of your obtaining another block for settlement, provision will be made for combining with your settlers a fair number of settlers on the deferredpayment principle. We believe in no other way can the waste lands be so quickly reclaimed and made available for occupation and cultivation. &• B. MoEEts, [And upwards ol 380 others.]

By Authority: Geobqe Bidsbuey, Government Printer, Wellington.—-1881.