THE BAY OF PLENTY TIMES. SATURDAY, MAY 23, 1874.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume II, Issue 179, 23 May 1874, Page 2

THE BAY OF PLENTY TIMES.

SATURDAY, MAY 23, 1874.

" The spirit of the times shall teach me speed." Eli*© JOHN, ACT IV.

The recent visit of Mr G. V. Stewart to this district has resulted, as previously announced, in the selection of an extensive block of land at Kati Kati for the locatiou of a higher-class of immigrants, to be specially selected for the purpose from the north of Ireland. Everyone interested in the progress, whether of Tauranga, the province of Auckland, or the Colony of New Zealand, must hail this fact as a highly important one, affording proof of the natural advantages which the district possesses for agricultural small farm settlement, and a material guarantee for its substantial progress in the early future. During Mr Stewart’s visit to Tauranga, and acting upon our recommendation, be visited another still more extensive tract of country in this locality, and expressed his earnest desire that the proper means be at once adopted for its acquisition, as a field for the extension of the scheme, of which he is the pioneer. We refer to the Maketu district, embracing the Maketu plains, Raugiuru, and To Puke downs, and extending generally along both banks of the Ivaitu.ua river to its sources at Date Rotoiti and .Rotorua. At present the whole of that countn containing over three hundred square miles, with ail its varied resources of arable, forest, and pasture laud, lays waste —as it has lain for centuries under the nominal control of contending tribes —unproductive and unoccupied, save by a handful of dusky savages. The aboriginal possessors of this splendid estate —if it does amount to possession—becomes, instead of a boon, a source of never ending heartburnings and a burden to the natives themselves, while contributing largely to that “ native difficulty” and native expense which the Government of the Colony has to meet year by year. Viewed, simply in the light, or rather the darkness, of a “native difficulty,” the acquisition of these lands by the Crown, appears to us, in the interests of both races, to be a consummation most devoutly to be wished; but when we look beyond this present advantage, and consider the Cornucopia Of blessings which the occupation of such a wide district, by an industrious and enegetic population would confer upon the community, we begin to realize the vast importance of its acquirement, and the heavy loss we are now sustaining, and must endure so long as it remains “Native Dand.” We are not blind to the difficulties which surround the question, nor do we wish to impute neglect or remissness to those in whoso hands the business has been entrusted. The subject we know- has commanded the attention of successive Governments, and a satisfactory settlement of the native titles in that district has apparently hitherto baffled some of the first native jurists iu the country. This evident failure of constituted institutions to determine the native title seems to justify the withdrawal of this district from the operations of the Native Land’s Act. We are willing to concede that a more liberal and comprehensive enquiry into the actual position and present value of the several native claims may be made by Commissioners for the district, than would be possible under the rigid forms of the Native land’s Court. The inter-tribal wars, which for successive generations, prior to the advent of a settled Government, devastated the Maketu and adjacent districts may not have effaced the ancient boundaries, although under such

circumstances the ancestral claims must Lave, in some instances, become weakened and others established. But whatever obstacles ot this nature may exist, wo are confident that the time has come, and the state ot native sentiment has become ripe fora final settlement of the question. "Wo earnestly trust, therefore, that the Government will avail itselt ot the opportunity which now presents itself, to secure the magnificent block of country we have indicated, so that the scheme of special small farm settlement in the Bay of Plenty district, initiated by Mr Stewart, may be greatly extended "in its operations.