ORONGO SETTLERS.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 5088, 14 February 1927, Page 1

ORONGO SETTLERS.

END OF ENDURANCE REACHED.

DESIRE TO BE REMOVED.

Returned soldier settlers of Opanea Road, Orongo, realising that they arc confronted by an unsurmciuntable difficulty with their sections overrun by fescue, have decided to ask the Government to shift them to somewhere where t,here is a chance of them making good.

This unanimous decision has been reached after five years of struggle, and though thet matter has been discussed for a long time there was that sentimental attraction for .the land which they had taken up, full of hope that on it they could make comfortable homes for themselves and families. Imbued with the optimism of pioneer settlers they saw' their lands gCiffig back, despite their labours ; yet they stayed on, getting further and further into debt, but all the while hoping that their problem would be solved—that the Government would not let them, down, and that in the end they would make good. With the departure of four of their number, steadily diminishing returns, the shadow of their debts constantly over them, the ever-encroaching fescue, and their prospects fading away, a wave of despair seemed to: have set in. All their own capital was. gone, and as fiiuch as they could borrow. Further advances to current account could not be secured, for the Government appeared to have realised that it had a wasting asset, in that the work done was of no permanent value —the fescue could not, be mastered. The Land Board and all its officials fully 'realised the position of the. soldiers, and were sympathetic, always endeavouring to do what they could. Reports were obtained by .the Government from many sources, but it appeared as if they were always pigeonholed in Wellington, for nothing ever eventuated.

The settlers now conclude that either their plight is not fully realised by the. “powers .that be” or the Government has ,not made a job of Orongo because there is nothing further that can be done. Whatever the case, the settlers on t,he thick fescue country cannot afford to remain any longer, and they hope to be able to get the Government, tei shift them to a more kindly district.

Eight Opanae Road settlers are affected, but there are others wit,h farms near the ferry road with less ■fescue, thus there, is a prospect of them being able to carry on if given financial consideration. These men do net all desire removal, but if Home were removed th'eir sections could be added to those of their neighbours’ with advantage, for it is obvious that, it is hot possible for a living to be made from thirty or forty acres. The settlers who desire to be r®moved are now looking about for either so that they will be in a position to put a proposition to the Minister of Lands. On Friday last twelve of them inspected the. Kerepeehi block, but, in an interview with the lands drainage engineer they later ascertained that it would not be entirely unsuitable. The quaity of the land was satisfactory, but there would be a long delay in getting possesls|ion,, and the question of price was a Factor to be considered. Many of them seemed to want to get away 'from the ■rich land of the Plains with its attendant problems to some second-class undulating country. The soldiers realise the difficulty of their future, and also that they cannot continue on the OrQngo settlement wasting the best part of their lives with such slender prospects of making a success.