THE BAY OF PLENTY TIMES. WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 1874.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume II, Issue 178, 20 May 1874, Page 2

THE BAY OF PLENTY TIMES.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 1874.

11 The spirit of the times shall teach me speed, ” KISG JOHN, ACT IV.

Reputing to request of His Honor the Superintendent, Mr D. A. Tole, Commissioner of Crown [Lands for the Province has reported upon the value and extent of Provincial Lands lying north and south of Auckland. The report is most interesting, and, all who know Mr Tole will readily believe, thoroughly trustworthy and impartial. Treating of the several blocks suitable for settlement in the district of Tauranga, Mr Tole writes :

“ The land immediately available for disposal and settlement in this district lies within the limits of the confiscation boundary, comprises an area of twentytwo thousand two hundred acres, and consists of portions of the following blocks, viz :—Te Papa, Te Puna, and Tati a wai, and Te Manaia. It is estimated that at least twelve thousand eight hundred acres of the area specified above are eligible for special settlement, containing land of excellent quality, undulating, and readily accessible. I need hardly remind your Honor that it is in connection with these lands that an arrangement between the General and Provincial Governments has been entered into, for their transference to the province, and disposal under the system usually known as the special occupation or deferred payment sj stem ; and from the generally good character of the soil, favourable position, and other natural advantages possessed by these blocks, there is every reason to anticipate that the proposed mode of dealing with them will be attended with success. The remaining lands comprised in the

total area as above are of almost equally good quality, and are expected to meet with ready sale, such being the manner of disposal determined upon in relation to them. This district also possesses a mag uificent harbour, and is in regular and frequent communication with Auckland and minor ports in the province. While referring to lands on the East Coast, I may here state that several purchases of very considerable extent have been made by the General Government at Maketu, a district which did not come within the range of your Honor’s recent visit. Notably among these purchases, comprising in the aggregate about one hundred and seventy-seven thousand acres, are th© Kaituna, Eangiuru, and Pukaingatara blocks, containing for the most part level land of a superior quality. No more suitable site than that offered by these blocks could be*selected for a special settlement. The area embraced in these lands, which are accessible either by coast road from Tauranga, or by light draught vessels entering the Kaituna river, is about thirty three thousand two hundred and thirteen acres. Of land still unacquired at Taurauga, the following blocks have been strongly recommended for immediate purchase, as presenting advantages which render them especially eligible as sites for special settlements, viz:—l. The Mangatawa block, thirty thousand acres, consisting of one-half forest and one-half open country, land throughout of good quality, but rather hilly. Has a frontage to Tauranga harbour. 2. The Kuangarara, containing from twenty to thirty thousand acres. Part of block said to be goldbearing. Eand slightly broken ; soil of good average quality, consists of onethird forest and two-thirds open country.

These is an old saying that it is an evil bird which defiles its own nest, and such a proverb applies forcibly and unmistakeably to the act a person who unjustly and publicly vilifies the inhabitants and the place of his own abode. 'VF© learn by a telegram dated Tauranga, recentlypublished in the Auckland Star and Thames Advertiser, that the complimentary, in very sense of the word, public dinner given here the other day by the military settlers of the district to Captain Fraser, Resident Magistrate and Warden of the Thames “ ended in rowdyism.’* This is certainly news to the people of Tauranga, and especially to those who were present on the occasion, all of whom were unanimous in pronouncing the entertainment to be excellently and amicably conducted, and a particularly agreeable social meeting. Such an injurious report as the one referred to could only emanate from an individual—man would be a shorter, but we fear not

an appropriate term—who was not an invited guest. We denounce the published telegram as an atrocious calumny and falsehood, and describe the writer of it by an old Saxon word of four letters that we do not care to write.

3Tbom all parts hare we received complaints of the great inconvenience experienced by the public on account of the I>ake District telegraph station being at Te Ngae instead of Ohinemutu the centre of population ; the resort of persona travelling through the country, and the booking office of the coach from Tauranga to Napier and back. That the office shonld so long remain at Te Ngae is a source of great annoyance and inconvenience to all persons—whether officials, residents, tourists, or even our irrepressible “ brothers in brown,” who all feel alike the disadvantage of being so far removed from the means of telegraphic communication, except at considerable trouble and expense. This state of affairs should not continue. We can fully sympathise with those persons who complain of the inconvenience we have referred to, because several most important telegrams for transmission to us, during the recent native meeting, never reached us in consequence of the difficulties attendant in the conveyance to the tolegraoh station. *

Wb have received from ‘ Our Own" at Opotiki the following score of the firing made on the 4th of May by the Bay of Plenty Cavalry Corps in the match for £SO a side with the Poverty Bay Mounted Rifles :

The score of the latter corps is not yet to hand, so that we are unable to give the final result of this interesting match.

Score of the BP Y Cavalry. Distances, 150, 200, and 300 yards; 7 shots at each range- Grand totals: Sergeant Armstrong, 69; Sergeant Heard, 69; Trooper Bevy, 71 ; Cornet Connelly, 61 ; Corporal Busst, 65 ; Trooper Parkinson, 61 : Trooper Dodd, 61 ; Troopers H. M. Clark, 57. Total, 514 ; average, 64 2-8 per man. In the Provincial Council, Auckland,-on Thursday last, Mr Dargaville obtained a motion for production of correspondence between His Honor and Mr G. "V. Stewart relating to special settlement at Rati Rati. Captain Morris supported the motion. He thought that the policy of giving away inferior land and selling good land was very prejudicial to the interests of the province. It operated as a bar to the land, and kept districts Against settlement for a considerable perj^j

The Education Bill was read a second time and the first clause considered in committee, progress reported, and leave given to sit again. The East Coast District Sheep Bill was postponed (second reading) till Tuesday (last night). The Auctioneers’ Licensing Act Amendment Bin (third reading) was postponed till yesterday. Ths following letter, received by the Chairman of the Town Board, has been handed to us for publication : Public Works Office, Tauranga, May 16, 1874. SlB, — In reply to yonr letter of the 2nd instant, requesting that the Beach-road may be defined to a width of 1£ chains, X have the honor to inform you that your application was duly forwarded to the proper authorities, and X am directed to inform you that the Government has acceded to your request.—l am, &c., A. O. TtTHNEK, District Engineer. To Thomas J. Hsnshaw, Esq., See. Tauranga North Highway Board, Tauranga.