THE NEW SPECIAL SETTLEMENT IN THE BAY OF PLENTY.

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 2354, 19 October 1881, Page 4

THE NEW SPECIAL SETTLEMENT IN THE BAY OF PLENTY.

[“Bay of Plenty Times.”] The nows that Mr George Vesey Stewart is ts receive part of the Pukeroa Block for his fourth special settlement will be hailed with satisfaction by every one who has the true interest of the colony at heart. That the three settlements already established have turned out in many respects successes is beyond question, and the late public meeting bore honest testimony to the appreciation by this town and district of Mr Stewart’s services in colonising in the Bay of Plenty. It is not our purpose to dilate on Mr Stewart’s services further thau to say he has been the means of successfully settling large tracts of fertile country that but for him would ore now have fallen into the capacious maws of acme voracious londaharks, who would probably have been on obstacle rather than a help to the prosperity of the district. Facts arc stubborn things, and the greatest sceptic would find any doubts on the subject resolved by taking a week’s sojourn in Kati Kati and Te Puke, and seeing the substantial improvements carried out in both places without any adventitious aid. The Pukeroa No. 2 Block, as it is called, is situated inland from Maketu beyond the To Puko settlement, and contains somewhere about 21,000 acres. Wo presume the Government have set apart the whole block for settlement, giving Mr Stewart 12,000 acres and reserving the balance for sale on deferred payments, somewhat similar to the manner in which the Ta Puke block was so successfully disposed of. As Mr Stewart ie backed up by the New Zealand Land Corporation, there is little fear the settlement of the Pukeroa block will be readily accomplished if the terms are at all reasonable. For our own part we think the colony would bo no loser if the Government were to hand over the land for nothing, as the eettlcment would increase the value of other lands in the neighborhood, and the cclony would derive good benefit from the influx of such a class of settlers as Mr Stewart would guarantee to bring out. The land on the Pukeroa block is, wo are told, of S ally first-class quality, and equal if not 0 .‘.perior to the Te Puko block, being open level fern country, that can bo readily brought under cultivation, with fair facility for getting on any part of it. The soil is somewhat similar to that of Te Puke, and covered with fern and tutu, with a plentiful and good supply of water. The road from Tauranga via Maketu to the Hot Lakes, passes through the block, and the settlement of this part of the country will go far to establish the successful launching of tho contemplated railway from hero to the Lakes. Wo are making arrangements to procure o more thorough description of the Pukeroa Block, its character, capabilities, and natural advantages for settlement than could possibly be inserted in such a hurried sketch as this. We have already received many gratifying marks of the satisfaction with which the news of Mr Stewart’s success in obtaining this block has been received in Tauranga, and have felt it our duty to make these few remarks respecting the block to give as early an idea of the site of the future settlement as we possibly could.