Battalion, left Wairoa for Horohoro. At the same time eight men of the Ngatituara and Ngatikearoa sub-tribes who owned the Horohoro blocks were selected by the owners to occupy and develop a portion. The Wairoa people worked from the centre southwards and the locals to the northern portion. A topo survey made at the time showed 100 farms. (The areas were suitable for depression economy but later proved uneconomic.) Raha ruhi Pururu, their leader and one of the largest owners, decided to devote his life to the success of development and a few months later resigned from the management of Mr Robert Levin's farm on the shores of Lake Rotoiti. (He has since seen this farm returned to Maori ownership and farmed by the Maori owners.) The works at Horohoro such as the school, the church and the marae are the spirit of Ruhi and no finer memorial can be built for any man. Ruhi has built much of it himself by an unselfish devotion, industry and expenditure of much of his own personal wealth. During 1930–31 the development programme was vigorously pursued. A notable feature was the sudden expansion of the population. A school had to be erected but they started with marquees and the teachers lived in tents. The total population at the end of the second year, men, women and children was 140 and so healthy were the conditions under which they lived and worked that although most of them were housed under canvas and the children taught in a marquee there was not a single death among them up to the end of March, 1932. The effects of development at Horohoro lead people in the area and further afield to look at their land resources in a different light and convinced many refractory and difficult Maori communities that development in this manner was better than the isolated effort. The scheme built a fund of experience in handling other areas and demonstrated not only the possibilities of pumice land but a relation of land settlement to the health and social problems of the people. This scheme did much to lift the spirit of the people in the serious years of depression. Nothing has fired the imagination more of the right thinking Maori in recent years or done so much in restoring to him the self respect which the loss of lands and other resources of his social state had almost destroyed. Today along the Horohoro-Atiamuri roads we have under development 10 land development schemes ranging in area from 400 acres to 6,300 acres. In all the total area of the Horohoro schemes is 30,966 acres of which 15,243 acres are in grass. The stock at present carried on these schemes, which are mixed stations, are 28,600 sheep and 5,470 cattle. In addition to the scheme areas there are in the Horohoro area 18 unit farmers whose overall area is 3,097 acres with a grassed area of 2,849 acres and are at present carrying 4,400 sheep and 850 cattle. Many of these unit farmers have been granted leases and it is hoped that before long all of these settlers will have secure tenure. Upon completion of the development work on the 10 stations mentioned above it is anticipated that some 103 further farms will be settled in the Horohoro area. It is worthy of noting that since settlement in the Hororhoro area the coveted Ahuwhenua Trophy (which was presented by Lord Bledisloe a former Governor-General of the dominion for competition between Maori farmers in an endeavour to promote the farming standard) has been won four times by settlers at Horohoro—three first places being gained by dairy farmers (namely John Edwards, Tihema Kingi and Joe Wharekura) while first place for the sheep section of this trophy went last year to Patu Raharuhi. The Hokianga County Council has adopted the increasingly popular idea of appointing a full-time officer to deal with Maori rates. He is Mr P. Wairua who will act as a liaison between the Council and the Maori people of the district on rating matters. In a meeting held last July, Maori leaders in the county resolved to drop the butterfat levy as a basis for rating and accept the European system, thus assuming all the usual burdens and privileges of ratepayers. Hokianga is the first Tokerau county to adopt this policy. * * * A combined effort by the Waitemata Tribal Executive and M.W.W.L. District Council is being made to survey housing needs of Maori people in Auckland. Very detailed information is being gathered, and this new survey does not only aim at getting applications for State Houses, but covers every possible problem and solution. Wide publicity was given in the Auckland press, which was very sympathetic to the efforts of Maori families to lead good lives in the face of great housing difficulties. The government, at the outset of the survey, promised every help in solving the problems revealed.