THE Bay of Plenty Times.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume IV, Issue 361, 23 February 1876, Page 2

THE Bay of Plenty Times.

"THE SPIRIT OF THE TIMES SHALL TEACH ME SPEED." KING JOHN, ACT IV.

1 Wednesday, February 23, 1876.

Ab a continual dripping wears away the stone, so may it be perhaps ttat •a persistent re-iteration of the necessity existing for constructing 'certain roads ■in this- district-- may. eventually 'wear away the -feeling of " indifference which appears to prevail in the bureau 'of the Minister of Public Works relative to the wants of the Bay of Plenty district in respect of its means of com- ■ munication. through to Auckland. ,F6remost among the works which require completion is the Tauranga. '.and Thames road, and an opportunity now occui'3 for:- proceeding with its construction, not only to the benefit of 'this district-,, but with advantage to the colony at large. The depressed state of affairs at the Thames and Ohinemuri has thrown, hundreds of men out of employ, and J as the Government has decided that it cannot expend : moHey to retain the miners at, the Thames, the men. are leaving by hundreds for. the Australian, colonies.. Tahie the Government, offers the men employment on railway works at Wellington, but to this offer..- the ■ men : themselves-wilTnot listen ; they would be willing, to struggle on. for. a. while at the gold-fields in hopes of I ' a return to their old occupations, but they have no desire to .go away from-, the spot, or if they do so,- it is to leave the colony for good and shake its dxxst. from off their feet. The Government* defends its action on the grounds • that it. has no legal authority for spending .money for the purpose of maintaining. . the men atthe Thames, and however nmch it may be regretted that it should be so bound by legal restrictions, yet the fact remains that they exist, and that so far as the Legislature has authorised the expenditure -of certain

moneys on certain works, so fan- can the Government, go and-^ no further. But admirable as may." be a system which thus regulates the* expenditure of public moneys in the ordinary course of events, surely the ■ Ministry has powers in. the presence of' a special emergency to exceed 'the narrow limits to which it. is confined, especially when the necessity is so urgent as in the present case.. What is the universal cry relative to . the exodus of these miners ? That for the sake of a few thousands, which, let it be re-

membered, .can be profitably invested under, the recognised. Public Works scheme, by. employing; these- men on road works j.n- the Province, a large number of valuable colonists are allowed to be lost to the colony, while considerable sums are being expended on the introduction of- untried immigrants.. Did. the Government choose to act independently in this matter, as we trust . it is not too late for it yet to do, we cannot suppose that any other feeling than that of approbation would, result from such action on its part. It is from a contemplation of this probability that we have therefore again brought forward the subject of the Tauranga and Thames road, upon which, among other works, the men might so properly and advantageously be employed. Every circumstance points to the imperative necessity of this work being undertaken without unnecessary delay ; and why, would we ask, should an opportunity such as now occurs be allowed to slip by when, hand in hand, with the benefits to be conferred upon an important and rising district, the interests of the colony at large would be secured by preventing the exodus of a body of tried and valuable colonists.

In our telegraphic columns of Saturday last, the news appeared that a large body of the Ngatiwakaue tribe had gone up to stop the Te Puke survey until the question of the reserves is settled, and. that a large block of the best land, with river frontage, had been marked off for reserves. In explanation of the present position of affairs, it will be as well to explain the manner in which the negotiation for this block has been conducted, as by doing so it will be seen that the present claimants have no right to act as they are doing, which is in opposition to an xmderstanding' come to between them and the Government. All dealings with the land in Maketu have been with the members of the Waitaha tribe, the original owners of the soil, independently of claims brought forward for military services by members of sundry tribes styling themselves braves. Up to the present time no moneys have been given to the braves as braves, but dealings have been exclusively with the Waitaha tribe, though many of the braves have cone in as Waitaha on the grounds of relationship, and by that means, have signed deeds and indirectly obtained certain sums of money. The braves were informed, however, that their claims would be taken into consideration after the ancestral owners had been duly dealt with, and they signified their willingness to abide by this decision. In accordance with the above understanding the survey of the Te Puke Block was proceeded with, when suddenly a few of the braves of the Ngatiwakaue tribe under the leadership of Petera Pukuatua and others proceeded to Te Puke, and presumed to lay out for themselves the reserves referred to. We understand that Mr C. O. Davis will proceed to Maketu to settle this question-; when he ■ will point out to the refractory natives that their action is entirely opposed to the- original agreement made by them with the Government, and under- the ' able management- of Mr Davis, we have no doubt, that the difficulty will speedily be overcome. • The Ngatiwakaues rest their claim on the grounds that in; the year 1863 they encamped on the Te Puke Block and held it for the Government' against Hakaria and party, ..wiho,- at the time, were Hauhaus. Subsequently, however, Hakaria and his tribe were acknowledged as the lawful owners Of the soil at a Native Land Court held at Maketu. In the meantime, it can only be regretted' that- any-interrup-tion,' to the completion of this iin* portant survey should occur. .