MINISTER OF LANDS.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 16431, 27 January 1919, Page 6

MINISTER OF LANDS.

VISIT TO NORTH CANTERBURY. LEE'S VALLEY SETTLEMENT. u- On Saturday, tho Hon. IX H. Guthid ■ ric, Minister of Lands, paid his first rs visit to North Canterbury, including a h. trip out to the soldiers' settlement, at or Lee's Valley. He was accompanied bj ie Mr T. N. lirodrick, Undor-Secretary foi u- Lands, Mr J. B. Thompson, Governst ment Drainage Engineer, and Mr Mulligan, the Minister's private secretary. "J 1 At R&ngiora the party were joined bj g' the Hon. D. Buddo, M.P., and Mr F. s . J. Horrell. After meeting ropresentaitf tivos of local bodies interested in pro'l- tective works on the Ashlov river, and * t v an-anging to meet them later in the 1 day, a move was made for Oxford, ~ Here the visitors wero entertained at £ morning tea, and Air R. F. Henderson. ' n vice-chairman of the Oxford Counts '° Council, oxtended a hearty welcomo tc 0 the Minister. l " Tho Hon. D. H. Guthrie, in return--6 ing thanks, said it was absolutely neces- ?" sary for a Minister to have a personal acquaintance with tho district before u he could thoroughly appreciate its re--10 quirements. Ho would then be able to grasp tho conditions and deal witi j them according to their merits. " Several more motor-cars were ther 11 filled, and the party set out over the Ashley Gorgo road for Loe's Valley The road was in excellent order, but its innumerable sharp bends, and Very little surplus width anywhere to come and gc G upon, gave tho drivors of tho cars ai 3 " opportunity to show their skill anc '' coolness at tho wheel. As the traffie s increases on this road ono tiling will be imperatively necessary, and that is passing places for vohicles should be a made. In the eighteen miles of road : >" through tho Gorge, it is only here and d there that, by careful negotiation, one vehicle can pass another and avoid s e fall of hundreds of foet. , r Once Lee's Valley had Been reached t the crossing of the Ashley river pre d vented the cars from going further, bul 8 Mr J. Youngman'a six-hor&o wool wagt gon had beon requisitioned by the d County Council, and with sacks oi f chaff for scats, it carried a load oi t twenty-five passengers, including three e ladies. The party gathered at the residence • of Messrs Francis anc o Lukies, two of the Lee's Valley soldiei f settlers, and here they wore made Welti come. The numbers were added to bj 0 several who had ridden over from Oxr ford, among whom were several more s ladies. Oxford residents wcro Jepre - sented by Messrs R. F. Hendersor - (vice-chairman), and Messrs H. F 1 Luers, T. Powell, and J. McGratl: o (members of tho Oxford County Council), D. Hawke, president of the Ox- - forel A. and P. Association, nnd L b "Watson, secretary. Kippenberger anc S. Weld (Farmers Union), ana Messn R. H. Parish, A. Hondorson, and R H. Gainsford. Mr Buckeridgp, who ii in charge of the drainage worts being b carried out by the Government on the . large swamp on Lee's Valley, was alsc p- present. To those who haa not made the trip before, the route through the Gorge, and the-very fine open country oi Lee's Valley, was more than interesting; it was a surprise. The,country is certainly not overstocked, and both the Gorge and the valley is full of feed. The Gorgo is now well covered with cocksfoot going to seed, which will ultimately add more to the amount oi pasture. The only evidence to be seen of the big snow storm was tho broker branches of the trees in the bush. Mr Francis, who had in an interview with the Minister, acted as spokesman, on behalf of the Lee's Valley settlers, and explained their wants, gave a hearty welcomo to the Minister and other visitors. Tho number of cars that had come in that day made them > feel that they were* not outside ' of civilisation. The settlers intended to go on, and do their best, and if they did not oome out all right, it would not be for want of trying. (Hear, hear.) The Hon. D. Buddo apologised for the absence of Mr G. W. Forbes, M.P-, who fully intended coming, but at the last moment was prevented. The Hon. J>. H. Guthrie, in returning thanks, said it was inevitable that the settlers would have troubles, which had come early to them, and he desired, as Minister, to see for himself what their wants were. So far as administration was concerned the settlers could be sure of the sympathy of the Department, which would do' everything possible to make, the settlers' caroer as prosperous as it could. The Minister repeated figures ho had previously given as to the probable percentage of men requiring to be supplied with land, and went on to say that the Department had enough land to supply their wants. They were holding land in every locality whore it would bo required by men who know its conditions of farming, which was hotter than sending them to other districts, where the conditions were different. (Hoar, hear.) It had been said that they wcro doing nothing for returned soldiers, but he held that they could not do enough for them. The soldiers, on their return, had also thoir part to play, and if they did that they would succeed. He had learned from Mr Francis that the first thing they wante>d was fencing. He was glad to see that thev wanted the most essential things first. He had known some settlers who had begun by building a too elaborate house and left themselves short of money for other purposes. He was glad to see that they had not got this excuse, and he saw nothing but prosperity in tho future. Tliey had had some drawbacks and had had their first hard luck. The first thing now to do was to find outl what wero their individual wants, and deal with each case on its merits. The settlement w-as much better than he expected; in fact, he had no idea they had 6uch an exceedingly prosperous looking settlement as they had, and looking at it that day it seemed to him that they could afford to put up with a little difficulty at the start. Ho was going to earn' away with him a high ideal of what they wero going to do. He could not say yet what ho was going to do for them, but he first wanted to know what each settlor had suffered through tho snow, and each case would be dealt with on its merits. The Minister stated that Mr Forbes had askeKl him to apologise for his absence, and ho concluded by thanking the ladies for their presence, and for their kindness. The Hon. D. Buddo, M.P., gaid the Minister's visit would be much appreciated, and with much of what he had said he (tho speaker) entirely agreed. The settlers were not making complaints. On the other hand they were perfectly satisfied with their holdings, but they had had severe losses, and he was sure that the Minister would look upon their case sympathetically. What the settlers wanted first was the approaches to two bridgesj second, telephone communication; anel third, assistance to tide over their losses on account of the snow. The Minister replied that he had a full note of these matters. Mr Kippenberger said the Oxford branch or the Farmers' Union took a keen interest in land settlement in the district, and if it was not too late, they would liko to «ee the Government purchase Ellis's Flat, on the south side of the Ashley, between Oxford and Cust. The land would frrow turnips, but uas not suitable for summer grass. If Snowdale were cut up into smaller blocks and each settler were given 150 or 20G acres on Ellis's Flat as a site for a homestead, the sheep could be wintered there on turnips. The Hon.'3lr Gnthrio said he would be very glad to look into the recommendations. As to Snowdalo run and its carrying capacity it was questionable if it could be cut up into a larger number of blocks than at present proposed. that was without front country.

The proposal made was surrounded with difhculties and tho greatest was the financial one. A« to men not ctring to take their wives into tho back country, ho was confident that the womenfolk would bo quito willine to their part. (Applause.) l lh Ha "^ C S, i id thcre wcr « about 100 soldiers to return to tho Oxford district, and as chairman of tho Patriotic Commit-too ho had promised tho men when they went awny tW. they would got .a hearty welcome home They wnnted tho Minister to hel™ far as ho could. Tho block of laad between the ran go* and SummertnW comprised about 3000 acres and ii would carry twelcve o r fifteen settler. Ho had been battling for this settle ment to bo opened .up for the ™>st ten years. H Tho Hon. D. Buddo, M.P., thanked the Oxford settlers for the arrangements they had mado that day Mr R. F. Henderson renlied and said ho hoped that tho visit would be tho first of many, even if th PV were unofficial. .He was very pleased that Mr Francis had been there to meet them, and represent tho settlers' views Ho was also very glad that the Minis.! tor bad brought Mr Brodriek with him Ho know tho country and if the Minisl ter followed Mr Brodrick's advice ho would not go far wrong. Thro© hearty cheers wore given for the Minister and tho proceedings closed Tho Oxford visitors remained to' go further up tho valley, and the Hon D. H. Guthrie's party returned to Ral nsjiora, via the Ashley Gorge bridgo Glentui, and Loburn. ' ASHLEY PROTECTIVE WORKS. A deputation from tho Rangiora County Council waited upon the Hon. D. H. Guthrie at Rangiora on his return from Leo's Valley in reference to tho administration of tho rcvenoo from tho reserves, which is used in protoctivo works on tho north side of tho Ashley river. Mr F. J. Horrell, chairman of the Council, explained the position. The revenue from the reserves is now controlled by tho Ashley-Softon Domain Board, which is also a Drainage Board, and the expenditure on protective works is being mado on tho north side of tho river only. Tho County Council wero desirous that tho revenue should be administered by the Land Board, so that part would bo available for protective works on tho south side of tne river. The Minister said he would go fully into the matter, and ho was thanked for Lis reply. THE MINISTER'S IMPRESSIONS. PRAISE FOR "THE SETTLERS. Speaking afterwards of the impression he had gained concerning tlio soldiers' settlements, Mr Gutlirio said that ho was very pleased indeed with the piospects. Unfortunately, tho soldiers baa had a very sovoro drawback in the heavy snowfalls of last year, but apparently they were not by any means downhearted. They wore a splendid type of settler —all had plenty of pluck and wore quito clearly determined to get on, agd, as tho district itself presented' first-clasß opportunities, he was certain that they would be successful. With regard to tho question of access to the district, the Minister said that ho was giving very serious consideration to the inattor of improving the f> resent conditions by bridging tho Ashey and tho Whistler creek, which would certainly prove a very great advantage to the settlers. The soldiers' representatives had laid before him tho losses ther had sustained through the 4 snow, and this matter would bo fully considered, and ho would interview tho Canterbury Land Board regarding it. y Another matter which had ueen placed before him was that of telephonic communication for the distriot with tho outer world, a point which had been seriously stressed by tho soldiers, particularly with regard to cases of sickness. One instance had been givon of a death which had occurred, which might havo beon prevented had there been quick communication with a medical man. This matter, Mr Guthrie said, ho would look into sympathetically, but he could give no definite promise that it would do rectified immediately, for the present was an inopportune time for tho installation of any extensive system, of telephonic communication for tho back-blocks. "On the ■whole," commented Mi* Guthrie, T 'as I said before, I was intensely pleased to see that the district offered such opportunities, and that prospects generally were better -than I expected to find. I might say that they will be materially enhanced when the drainage operations we now have under way are completed. Contract? for nine miles of drainage in tho district have been let, and yhen complet- • • ed this will enable the settlers to derive tho fullest benefits from the best and richest" portions of their land."

The Minister will leave for Fairlie at 8 a.m. to-day, and lq the afternoon will visit the Clayton settlement. He does not expect to return to Christchurch before February 21st, and during that time will visit as far as possible all the soldiers' settlements in the South, as well as attending, to Departmental businoss in the way of lana improvements, etc. He will especially visit two large swamp districts in Southland, which it is hoped to cultivate before long.