THE KING COUNTRY CHRONICLE. FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 1907. THE MINISTER FOR LANDS AFD THE KING COUNTRY.

King Country Chronicle, Volume I, Issue 20, 8 March 1907, Page 2

THE KING COUNTRY CHRONICLE. FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 1907. THE MINISTER FOR LANDS AFD THE KING COUNTRY.

The time is fast approaching when the Minister for Lands will visit the King Country for the purpose of explaining the proposals contained in the Land Bill, and it behoves the settlers in the various centres to unite and lay their views before the Minister. The fate of the proposed Land Bill is already decided. Sides were taken long since, and it will require something more than Mr McNab's eloquence to alter the opinions of the freeholder, while the efforts of those in opposition to the Bill will be just as coldly received by the leaseholder. Any waverers there may be (and it is hard imagine settlers without decided opinions on such a subject) do not really matter as the people in general have no chance of voting on the question. However, the Minister is coming to the King Country, and, while among us, no chance sh'ould be lost of placing" before him matters which have an important bearing upon the future of our district. It would be foolish in the extreme to allow the question of freehold versus leasehold to absorb public attention, when so many other important matters require strong advocacy. With regard to the townships, the question of most importance is undoubtedly the tenure under which the various centres are to become settled. At Te Kuiti the position has become acute, and the strongest possible efforts should be made to have the existing state of things altered, and placed on a footing which will act for the benefit of the community. The position at present is unique in the annals of the country. Within a.radius of a mile from the railway station there exist conditions of tenure which could not possibly obtain elsewhere, and all have been created within the last few years by the' Government. Freehold, occupation with right of purchase, lease in perpetuity, township leases from the Maori Land Board, and private leases from Maoris make a most interesting array, a veritable Jacob's coat, and the pity of it is that a single statesmanlike action a few years ago could have secured a full and sufficient township area at a comparatively small cost. However, we are not concerned with the past, but should leave no stone unturned to secure a satisfactory solution of the difficulty, in the present. Other things worthy of attention in the township include, the • proper acquisition of a recreation reserve, and the Minister's assistance should also be invoked in the endeavour to secure decent postal and railway facilities. One of the most important matters, and one which comes within the immediate ken of the Minister, is the existence of ragwort in the district. Attention has already been called to the existing evil, and anything which is calculated to impress on the head of the Department of Agriculture, the necessity for immediate action, should receive special attention. Among the many other objects, worthy of powerful support, may be mentioned the desirability of setting aside areas in the various icentres for the purpose of scientific agricultural education, and stock paddocks on the various main roads which could be used by settlers going to and from markets, while the question of roading, and the Native land difficulty, though not within the scope of the Minister's immediate duties, are surely worth consideration by any Minister of the Crown. It must be borne in mind that our district is yet in the embryo stage. There is ample work, and son)e to spare, in all directions, if progress is to be maintained, and it is the obvious duty of every resident to assist in any movement for the benefit ol the district. By meeting, and discussing the requirements of the country, and placing them specifically before the Minister, the settlers will be only acting up to the dictates of common sense, and may reasonably be excused, if the proposals of a Land Bill, which have already been threshed out in every other portion of the colony, are in consequence somewhat neglected.