VILLAGE SETTLEMENT SCHEME.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1547, 2 May 1887, Page 3

VILLAGE SETTLEMENT SCHEME.

SATISFACTION OF THE SETTLERS.' The Hon the Minister of Lands has re» c»ived the following letters from settlors : reference to his viPage nettlement Hcheme : — T;-k hue Vnllay, St\ April, 3887. Dear Sir, — We, the undersigned village attlera, tendc v you our Bincere tha'ika for ' i a«ii. area you have render d m ! 'cinq uj on the land. We hor o your < ff rt» wj'l, as they deserve, be crowned w.tu Bticoagj m^licioua persoß or I rsona i .3 c -culatlng the report that so -tiers p-e leaving Takahua. This we 133 to al-te m f^'se. We are p!ers:d with <r seoti Da of land, and feel sanguine of <ur future prospects. We believe the i ' re is not; far dUtant when, with ordii"»ry industry, we shall have gathered r Hind us comfortable homes m this moat 1 p mtiful val'ey, teeming with the good t li: ngß of ihfl earth. We trust you will bj blesze . w th health and strength, and your Ift prolont^ed to cany out your nob c and useful work; Signed by Kobbrt radley and 12 other heads of families. Wlnngapej 18th April, 18S7. Dear P>r,~ There ha* been co much bos He cri'icism of the village settlement i hemo lately that I have thought a letter fom me, though only a unit among so many, giving you my opinion and exr^rienoe rh one of these settlers, might unlp to frengthen your hands m your further eff irts m that direction, and also b <lp to dispel the doubts and mfiunders,ending on the subjeot. . . . We have now been on our land juet four i weeks, and I have about 20 acres fern 1 1- nd burnt r ff ready for the plough, about j one acre bush land felled, an orchard of about, an acre started, with 100 trees f 'ready planted, and a four-roomed house f i course of erection. • Sp much for my experience. My opinion is that no spot ij New Zealand (and I have been m Auckland province some 30 years) ia, for s il, climate, &c , more suitable for a poor man or a email farmer, and that the Government who have initiated the system , deserves the thanks of the whole of the New Zealand public, but especiallj of the p )or man. The £20 allowed towards the erection of a houße is m itself a very great considera! ion and help. S ) also is the 50s allowed for bush-felling-, burning, and sowing ; but I think the Government should go 9 little further, and m the case of fern land, if a man clears, ploughs, and crops an pcre of fern lana, it should bs reckoned eqaiva-1-nt to burning, felling, &0., on bush Jand. It would h'bc have been better for t^e auccfra of (he settlement, and only v.hat we were led to expect, if there had b 3n at least one road through the block, f < that eelectom could have got on to <Wr sections without tbe trouble and labor we h"we had. However, all that h altere.l now, and we have a really good jack-track through from the Puhata to t c fleiikiso river; and it" we can get i\h by-pud- bye converted into a drayt ck (which can easily be done), a good d:\iy-road to Whangaps, and a monthly steamer casing at that port; bo that w<? c*n £. j t food and necessaries at a reasonable f ee, I cannot see what fs t) prevent an hvluntriom man from succeeding — of ourse, p^ays r.upposing the BBtt'e?n have tie makin » of these road's to ii<:le vi over th 1 ? first w ntsr. Fcr my own pait, Ism more than EatlsQed with the prospects r -fore ua— subject, of coarsa, to tn« forepoing. The bj'l h grand, the climate, t. nure of claim, and all these Ihinga are a 1 ! that could on desired, Riid if we can c ly get c'irect c -mraunioation with tho outside world, and re-.sonably cheap food, &0., with by-vnd bye a poßt-offico and school, I for one have no fear of failing. In fact I came here determined to sue c ■ d, and with or without Government aid I int- id. to do so (of cotirae I shall do m;ioh bettar with). Many no doubt will f.il. The millennium, ha-* not come yet, and failures will occur, but with reasonab'o help ffom the Government and good b c\\th ths determined ones em^nget us a. 3 b^und to succeed ; and that many of our children wll live to blesa the Govi .iment that placed their fathers on auch t rms is 'he tirm belief of yours re^pectia'Jy, F. J, law/exck, Pahata. V— J— — — »— — — — — — 1| —