DIRECT EVIDENCE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1900, 24 July 1888, Page 2

DIRECT EVIDENCE.

The Village Settlement scheme has been a much abused one m many quarters, bnt the more that is seen of it the better it grows m public estimation. It has been contended that the wrong sort of land has been set aside for such settlements and the wrong sort of people has been placed npon the land to settle it. There is no more consistent friend of the schemo as brought to a practical issue by Mr John Ballance than the " New Zealand Herald," and lately a representative of that paper had an interview with a casual settler m the Herekino block. The settler had been a compositor m Auckland prior to taking up a section. This compositor has been on his section for pine months and he says. " I went to Herekino bepause I could not get work m Auckland, I went to the Crown Lands Office and took up a section. My brother had gone up there four months before. When I went up I dug gum for two or three months. After that I went pn to my section, and felled my 4£ acres of < busb ; and put up a bit of a whare. ; I ' hare £ome down to Auckland now to try and get work and earn enough money to buy a horse, which is really a necessity there. You see the great drawback to the settlement is the price of provisions. They charge 19a a cwt for flour, lOd a pound for candles, 9d for a bar of soap, and so on. By going po JKajltaia, one pau get proyisums tfoiost/ 9^

chaaply as m Auckland, but to carry ' a supply of provisions that distance. ' ono must have a horse. " What made < you come down hare for work ? " " Well, up there the only work is that supplied by the Government on the j roads, and there is not much of that to | be had. But recently they petitioned the Government to go on with the road^ and £500 has been authorised to be spent, so* there will be plenty of work this winter. The settlers prefer the road work to bush-falling, as they can make more at it, and it is not so heavy. They can make about 25s a week at the bush falling by working steadily, and they are improving their own property all the time. My brother and his family had terribly hard work at first, but now he has 10 acres of bush felled, four acres m grass, and half an acre fenced m for a garden, a slab house, stockyard, fowl pen, and pigstye, as well as a cow and calf, pigs, and hens. He and a neighbor work together, as people must do m the bush. Of course we have not many luxuries up there, but we get good wholesome food, and what more does one want ? We live mostly on bread, and tea without sugar, and we make our own butter. There is a butcher who is supposed to kill once a week, but he only does so once a month. It's healthy anyway for all the hard work and want of sugar, and I have gained a stone m weight since going up there. " None of the settlers have been starved then ? " " Starved 1 I look starved, • don't I ? We'll never starve up there as long as there is nikau m the bush, and eels m the creeks, and pigeons m the bush. There are wild cattle too, but they are difficult to get at ? " « Healthy ? rather ; it's the healthiest place m the world. No person has died there yet, and twelve or fourteen children have been born. Before I went up there I had been very unwell, and had been m the Hospital three months. Now lam m splendid health. My nephew also was m the Hospital for eighteen months. He has only been up there a short time, and now he is as strong as can be. How about the^crops? Well, it's all grand land up there. At Uwhiroa they have a saying that if you put a cabbage m at night it will be fit to cnt m the morning. The beauty of it is, the best land has not yet been taken up. One garden there would do your heart good to see. It belongs to Mr Lamb, and he makes a hobby of it, There's cabbage m it, carrots, turnips, onions, radishes, potatoes, maize ; you can't mention anything that's not grown there. "What are some of your troubles ? Well, the price of provisions is the greatest drawback to the place. If the Government would only establish a store where the settlers could get provisions at a reasonable price, it would be a boon, and would cost the Government nothing. Another thing is the post office. It takes two weeks for a letter to reach Auckland, and only one week the other way. It would not be difficult to arrange for letters reaching Auckland m a week. At first the Government supplied the settlers with tools, wedges, axes, crosscuts, spades, and so forth, and deducted the cost from what was owing to the settlers. They don't do that now, and the settlers find it a great hardship. They can't get spades up by , post." « Post ? " « Yes, we get everything up there by parooi posfc—book post we call it. It's the grandest thing out. The boots I have on now I got up from Auckland by book post. Up there they charge 18s for a pair of watertights, and I can get a pair by book post from Auckland for 12s. I get all my clothes and everything that way. The most serious drawback the settlers have is the want of horses. It's as much as they can do to support their families and improve their sections, without spending half their time running after provisions. It takes about two days to bring a supply from Kaitaia. Another trouble is that the nearest doctor is at Hokianga, 40 or 50 miles away, and it might be very awkward if an accident happened to any of our people. Our school is turning out splendidly. When it was opened the Maoris sent their children also, but unfortunately there was no room, so only the white children were admitted/ " What Was the gumfield like ; did you earn your living there ? " " Yes, of course I did. The only thing that turned me away from the field was the rain m the winter, which filled up the pot-holes. On an average I made about twenty-five shillings a week. That won't get many luxuries at the price of provisions up there, but we can do without sugar, and it's better than starving m Auckland." « Lid you or your brother know anything about farming before you went up?" "No{ my brother is a married man and a carpenter ; I am single and a compositor, and neither of us knew anything about farming." "Do you have any kind of amusements V " Oh, plenty ;we had a baby show thfl other week, of Herekino children ; and I believe they are going to have a horticultural show at Christmas. We have had two or three concerts and dances, and an entertainment m commemoration of the landing of the settlers " " Then you think the settlement is a success ?" " Yes ; and it is tho only thing to remedy this depression. The settlers are all satisfied, and the Government, as far as I can see, are doing all they can. There's an Act of Parliament, and they can't do otherwise. It's Ballance that's to be thanked for that, though, and not this Government. I think there is a very good future m the settlement for any man who will work. Of course it's terribly hard work for any man for the first three or four months ; but it's the grandest life out up there. You can look round and say, « This is mine, this 5,0-acre section j go off my property I' — a man syho when he left Auckland hadn't a penny m his pocket.?-' Such testimony from one on the spot could not easily be shaken, Indeed, day by day the system is finding advocates m most unexpected places, and it will soon be brought more forcibly before the Government that they must continue the founding of these settlements if the unemployed pry is to be properly and surely silenced. " j