The Feilding Star. SATUDAY, JANUARY 12, 1884. The Anniversary Fete

Feilding Star, Volume V, Issue 5, 12 January 1884, Page 2

The Feilding Star. SATUDAY, JANUARY 12, 1884. The Anniversary Fete

We are pleased to observe the energy and unanimity which is being displayed by the Committee appointed to carry out the programme of the Fete to commemorate the foundation of this settlement on the 22nd instant. When we reach that date, the term which will have elapsed since the pioneers of settlement first pitched their tent on the Manchester Block will be ten years. It is impossible for us in the limited space of a leading article to point out the good work which has been done by the settlers here. All that we consider necessary for us now to indicate is that what was a barren waste then, supporting only a few Natives and producing nothing, now supports a population numbering nearly 4,000 eouls, and the whole block, which was valued at £75,000, is now worth £600,000, according to the valuation rolls, and the stock may be estimated at £200,000. For its size and the number of its people, our settlement contributes more than any other towards the revenue of the Colony. There is no place that even approaches it. The Eailway Eeturns show that the Feilding Station has contributed an average of £12,000 a year for the past .-even years. Upwards of 50,000,000 feet of sawn 'timber has been sent away during the same period. The postal revenue is also large in the same degree. The whole amount expended by the Government during that period has not averaged £600 for salaries, leaving a heavy balance in our favor. Leaving this part of the subject to be resumed on a future occasion, we would earnestly urge one and all to combine together to make the fete a success. Apart from the mere pleasure to be derived by the meeting of old friends who have seldome come together since they took up their several scetions on which they have made their homes, it will have the effect of proving that we are united in desiring to begin the second decade of the settlement in a united spirit. This is all the more necessary as we have recently discovered that secret enemies have been doing much to sap the commercial reputation of Feilding and its people. It is almost impossible to restrain the indignation we feel on this point. If Feilding had ever injured any person or done a wrong of any kind to a settler, or had been uncharitable, or worst of all crimes, poor, we could understand perhaps the malice of a petty mind being excited. Even then we would have expected the injury or grievance would have been ventilated in one or { * more journals on the Coast. But the ' ! latter mode 'appears to have been too ' , honorable and straight-forward for the • contemptible " evil speakers and] liars " ' who have been vilifying us. \ By unity we can bo fortify ourselves t

that the invidious attacks of slanderers must fail, while a sure and certain means would be provided to unmask them so that the public may know who it is that would seek to ruin a whole people in order to gratify private vengeance. Pressure from without is a source of strength at all times. A determination to meet and overcome the attacks of a common enemy will join together men of the most opposite views and opinions. Let us therefore hope that out of this evil good will come, and that the objects of our detractors will be defeated by their own acts. In conclusion, let us again urge one and all to come forward on the 22nd, and lend their countenance and support to the celebration of the Tenth Anniversary of Feilding. ■