THE VILLAGR SETTLEMENT SCHEME

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1818, 18 April 1888, Page 3

THE VILLAGR SETTLEMENT SCHEME

With a view of obtaining Home information with regard to the village settlement scheme In New Zealand, of our representatives yesterday waited upon a gentleman who, from his official position m the Land departmsnt, is eminently qualified to apeak on the Bubject. During the Interview some interesting information was elicited about other matters of colonial interest besldoa those relating to village settlement- la referring to the 'alter aubjaot, the gentleman m question siid ; I cau only epeok very generally of the village settlements id the oolony.§The village homestead aeUlcmants have had their greateat development m the North Island, but It h r?.«h?r too early yet to pronounce upon tha euccesa of the aclnme as a whole. So far, however, thera have been comparatively few m the Auclroni province who have thrown up thaic holding?, and it is expected thatthoss remaining will be able to hold on during the winter; and if so, a largo measure of Buccess will havo att<v ded the oohemo there. Several hundred families of tie " unemployed " had removed fc.jm the city to the country, and, according to tho latest reporia, mmy had eucoseded m erecting houaeH, m making considerable clearances, In growing ve^etubles, m getting pU;t3 of'grasH, and also m getting a" f imily C3W." A CDnolderable propor tlon of the settlers who had no money whatever had made a large advauco, the gum-fields having been to them a aourc ■ of inoome In the absence of other «m---plojmert, euch aa some of tho vUaga ' set lera In Oanierbary have had m working for the farmers enl other settlers m the district m whic'i they werelo3Sted. Tha village settlements m Canterbury which were esfablished Rome f'iUr or five years ago under tbe ordinary village set; lament clauses of "'The Land Act 18/7" have been a very marked success, but there the conditions were especially favourob'e on account cf the Jani being good U"on which t c etitt'erß vnn 'ocated, and being situated m the midst of districts where there was abundance of employment m harvest and m the wool shearing seaion. Tbe village settlements m the Wellington provincial district have also so far been a buccosb m locating many families of the unemployed, who have already made themselves .snug, comfortable homes on areas varying from five to 50 acres. I visited the village" settlement at Seaward Bush recently, and there are about 49 or 60 settlers ttura on areas varying from 5 to 20 sores. They have all got very neat little cottages with gardens, and keep onws, poultry, eto, and are all doing fairly well cutting up firewood, stacking it, and taking it to Invercargill as they find opportunity They ara, however, rather badiy r.ff for roada m soma instances, but tho Minister for Lands has sanctioned the formation of rondß ao bb to give them better access to the town of Inverc*rgill. The setfc'ers wora all In good spirits and bopefal of taeir future auccesss I was alao at Catlin'a river recently, and there are aboat. eight or ten eettlera occupying sreas of about 10 aarea each, who have built good neat cottapeo and made c'earlng« ; and it ia surprising the amount of work they have done m a v<;ry short time. The Government have abont 10,000 acres f f bash land surveyed at Catlia's In sections varying from 20 to 323 acres, which will be before the public for aelec'ion for ordinary eettlement, In terms of " Tho Land Act 1887," m the course of the next two monthß. Tho Oatlin's district le remarkably well adapted for grazing and dairy farming, the laod being very fertile when cleared, and the standing bush efforda excellent shelter for cattle m winter. The district h«s been greally opened up of late by the Improve ment of the main road from Romahapi ( o the landing of the Owake. river. The railway la also open now to R^mahapa, and Is under construction for about aix miles farther, which wtll take it to within three milea of Owake Valley. For future sa'tlemont of araaU farmers In Otngo, the extensive vooded r^ion extending from ChtHn'B efituary to Waiaud |r?ortroeo affords, kavra aa favcrab'o an opportunity a3 a:y other dietrlct, if it were ones < p< Tied up with roada, (.hare being about J50;000 acres of land suitable for cuttle and dairy farming. - I thinV, without particularising abiut any other districts m the colony, that the settlement of the Grown landß 1b proceeding about as actively aa it haa ever done during the past few years, notwithstanding the prevailing tone with regard to tho degression which is so frequently raferrod to nowadaya. In the aettied districts tha dairy faotoiiso and tho trade which is now being opened up by direct sleamars to London, and tho cxrort of cheeee and butter, are vf>ry hopeful v\ tho fuf.oro of tho f irmoru. TheiO huve been eoiue very excellent returns received recently, and it ia qalto manifest th^t within the next year or two otse of the principal cxporta of New Zealand will ba dairy produce to <hi London market, whore tho demand for a superior articla is piact'cr?lly illimitable. At present tho tr^de la In Iho stagy of findicg out the best modes of shiptnaut, of coding chanibsrr, &nd the form tha*-. the produce has to be placed on the maekot, Theao rnethoda will epeedilj bo adjusted' m ihe right iine, and then we will havo a permanent find Increasing export of dairy proiuce from the coloi y to a reliable market.—^Oiago Daisy Tirnas," IGSIi April .

The Church Army, an organisation of the Church at England, similar to the Snlvation Army, has just despatched three missionaries, tp India, A monnment. is about to be erected to the memory of the late Czar m the grand court of tho Kremlin, at Moscow, whioh is to coat £130,000. The remains of King Potatau and others of the Waikato tribal ancestors are to bo removed to Taupiri, and a largo tangi is now being held. Two worthies m Auchterarder were disputing as to who remembered the most windy day. Ono said ho " rnindod " its being- -ho v/incly that it took the rooks three hours to come from a field to their rookery, which was about a mile distant. "Is that a' ? " said the other. " Man, I've seen it that windy that the rooks had to walk harne 1 " Says the " Sydney Star " of a rooent date : — " Respecting the departure of numbers o| tradesmen for the Bister colony, we are informed by Mr French, of the Newtown , Markets, that during the last four months he has sold {out, on an average, from 20 to 30 ' households weekly. In most cases the men ' left their wives and families hqre, apd wenij to Victoria foy employment, which m every instance they have been successful m obtain* ing. A large percentage of the men are iron- :• workers, but there are amongst them trades* , men of every dpsariptio^. Beri^apa some oi pur foreign-trade friends will explain hqw ii ia ibat those men ai-e leaving tbe wording man's parftdigp " and finding employment m protectionist Victoria. We think that this state of affairs is a practical answer to the » foreign traders' contention that protection t lowers the wages while increasing the cost of , living,"