Complimentary Social at Kinohaku.

Kawhia Settler and Raglan Advertiser, Volume IV, Issue 259, 18 May 1906, Page 2

Complimentary Social at Kinohaku.

TO MR GREENSLADE, M.H.R. . There was a large attendance at Mr Harper’s rooms at Kinohaku on Thurs I day evening, the 10th inst., when Mr ■ H. J Greehslade, M H R., was entertained at s complimentary social by he Kinohaku Branch of the Farmers’ Union, some of the settlers coming a distance of several miles to be present. Mr W. J. Shaw, President of the Branch, occupied tbe chair, whilst Mr P. Ross (-ecretary) was vice chairman. The toast of “ The King ” having been honoured, Mr J. Kearns proposed that of “ Our Guest, Mr Greenslade, M.H.R.,” and in doing so made a felicitous speech, in the course of which he referred to Mr Greenslade’s many good qualities, his untiring energy aud undoubted ability, all of which justi Bed the prediction that be would be a conspicuous success as their representative in Parliament and endear himself to the peop’e whose interest? be had so closely at heart.

The toasr having been drunk with in ical honours, Mr Geeenslade, who was greeted with loud applause, said tbat it was with great pleasure that he had received the of the Kinohaku branch of the Partners* Union to spondau evening in social intercourse with i hem, more especially as Kinohaku was the reverse of being one of his strongholds at the recent election. It showed that they were very properly desirous of obliterating any little illfeeling that have been engen de red in tbe course of the contest, though personally he could not understand why there need be aity bitterness during au election campaign. However, they should all now—friends and opponents alike—start with a clean slate, and unite in doing everything possible to advance the best interests of the electorate, and especially in removing some at least of the many disabilities with which the great work of pioneering is being carried on at tbe present time. One of their first needs

whs telephonic c iinmuoication between all tbe back-blocks centres and KaI whia. He had moved in the matter some time prior to his election, and a definite promise had been given by Sir Joseph Ward, but in view of the delay that had taken place in the commencement of the work he had a few days ago telegraphed to the Hon. A. Pitt, Acting Postmaster-General, and bad received a reply (published io our last issue) which showed that this neces sary undertaking would shortly be started, tbe delay having been through th®re]not being sufficient poles obtainable. Then, as regards the important matter of roads, he thought no one could accuse him of remissness in that (direction, although they would remember that any money th’tsc ob tained which did not appear u-u the la-t Estimates, had to come out of “ unauthorised ” and be voL * next session. Besides the additions grant for tbe Mangapohue, the follow.' had, amongst others, been obtained : ' Tiiumatatoiara West (Hartman’s), £2OO ; Kiritehere (Wouldes*), £2OO ; Maungakokopo, £2OO ; Marakopa extension from Haylock's to the bridge, £275 ; Marokopa extension, from Kairimu towards Johnson’s; £lOO ; Kinohaku to Harbour, £l5O ; Whukapirau Special Settlement (loading money) £275 ; Awaroa-Mahoe, £lOO ; Crotty’s to Ferry, £lO9 ; Pirongia West (Scott

i and Armstrong’s), £l5O ; and Te Kauri, £5O- He was also moving in the direction of assistance to other roads (including a further grant of £75 for tbe forming of -Jervois Street, Kawhia), and next session would make a most strenuous effort to secure a sufficient vote to enablo the Mangapohue road, which was such an important main artery of communication, to be put through and completed without further unnecessary delay. Settlers must be placed in a position to ba able to get their stock from their sections to a suitable market with as much expedition as possible. Dealing with the question of land tenure, Mr Greenslade said he was a firm believer in optional freehold, and if a Lind Bill was brought down during the sea sion he predicted that the option cf acquiring the freehold would be given to all Crown tenants, though there would be a big fight over the extension of the s«me principle to tenants under | the Lands for Settlement Act. Per- ■ sonally, however, he would be staunch . and true to big principles, and would j vote for optional freehold, even on a i no confidence issue. The absolute necessity of opening up for settlement the locked up areas of native lands, including those surrounding the Kawhia harbour, was dealt upon at some length by the speaker, who Lhau .proceeded to refer to the Extent which the I children of parents in the bick blocks were penalised ag regards educational

facilities, and contended th,pkt less expensive buildings should be erected, travelling teachers appiiuted in very remote places, and more household schools established. The children should no longer be penalised in this respect, ag it was a cruel wrong aud a gross injustice, which acted as a deterrent to pioneering. After dealing with the necessity for greater attention I being paid to the necessities of those 'engaged in the work of opening up and developing the country, and in creased combination amongst the far mers, M • Greenslade said ho thought a good deal c;uld be achieved in that directio i if a united conference of delegates f .an every iocd body in th | electora e was held, on the eve of every, session of Parliament, when the wants a :d requirements of the differom centres could be placed in concrete form be' <re him before his departure for We libgton. He was sincerely anxlov.a io do all that c mid putsibly be done to ad vanes tbe best in tereats of every part of the electorate, and was pleased to nutioe that every where there seemed a growing desire

to sink party differences and petty strife and to unite with him in an endeavour to make tha Waikato what it ought to be—tbe most prosperous and important country electorate in the colony. Mr Greenslade’s remarks were frequently applauded, and he was accorded quite an ovation on resuming his seat. Mr E. C- Stanley proposed “ The, Dairying Industry,” (c upled with the names of Messrs Wesley Spragg and J. Gane, directors of the New Zealand Dairy Association), and pointed out that the first move in that direction was made by the Kinohaku branch of the Farmers’ Union. He hoped to see the dairying industry soon established in their midst, as there could be no doubt that it would mark the dawn of < f a new era of prosperity. Mr Wesley Spragg said tbat tbe visit which his follow directors and be were paying was of the nature of a “ flying survey.” They did not expect to arrive at definite conclusions forthwith, but expected to pick up en >ugh information to enable them to mature plans later on. He did not

neel to tell them that their land was good and very suitable for dairy cattle. They knew that themselves, but it would perhaps have been better if it bad have been finished off a little more and not left with so much hill aud valley. He had heard that they - wanted more road^—*if they wanted more of the kiad they had got ih®y must be greedy people. Mr Gane and himself had ridden up to the school through a sea of mud which he understood was a main road and he thought that the fewer miles they bad of tbat sort of thing the better for them. As pioneers they seemed contented with their lot, or rather with the promise which the present position held out to them, and in looking forward to dairying as the means of securing better things be was sure they were looking in the right direc'ion. Mr Spragg said there were three ways in which they might undertake tne business. One was by allowing a capitalist proprietor to exploit their district and tike a profit out of it for bis enterprise. The second way was- to form themselves into a co-operative com pany and run tbe business by themselves and for themselves. The drawback to this was that they bad no experience, and in getting it they would probably pay for it as others had done. Bach experience was valuable, but might be needlessly costly. Lt would inv )lve the making of financial arrangements wh»ch might fall unevenly as a burden upon a few of them, and generally it would be adopting in busi ness all the risks and accepting all the hardships which as pioneers they were bearing in connection with theit new country If this wag inevitable they would doubtless take the matter up with their accustomed pluck and battle through with it ; but as settlers they would know how little of wisdom there was in every man and even each small body of men making a fresh track through the bush when others had surveyed and graded and made a good road by the shortest and easiest cut to the desired point. Common senss would say, “ Take the ready made track,” and that was his advice in dairying matters. By that he meant tbat they should connect themselves with some organised and successful body like his own association. Finances would ba more easily and equitably arranged ; all the organisation, perfected during the past eighteen

years, would be at tbeir disposal; markate already arranged with would absorb the output; aud generally they would etepforthwith into a ready made concern. Be did not intend to occupy much of thei\ time, as he recognised tbat he and -Mr Gane had dropped into what was a political function with which bis friend Mr Greenslade was mostly concerned, and that road®. , bridges aud telephones were intended to be the chief topics of tbe evening. He had very much to tell them, and , having seen them and their country he ; would like to have an opportunity of a ; long talk with them purely upon dairy ' matters. If they would later on give him an invitation to visit them, say in the summer time when tbe roads were better, he would come and see more of

their district and give them the bene fit of his experience and judgment in establishing the dairying industry in the Kawhia district. (Applause).

Mr Gane said that it gave him much pleasure to have the opportunity of meeting some of his fellow settlers and to say a few words of encouragement and commendation. He had been farming in tbe Waikato district of tbe electorate for quite a number of years, and had not always found it profitable. In the early days when the Waikato was quite as much a back block district as their own, settlers bad just simiLic diffiaultie® to contend with,

tbe same hardships to bear as they met with at Kinohaku. Markets fa/ stock, either to bay or sell in, we< only available in the neighbourhood#

Auckland, and they had in those t > drive cattle and sheep long dibtMtes in order to dispose ef them—pfactic illy 100 miles. Like themselves, they had to put in much of that time on these journeys, to suffer 10/by aoc:dent or delay, and frequently the result of a seasons effort was sttiply tbe satisfaction of knowing tbat/ney had their best and had touted weight aod finish to tbe stock MJ by labour and perseverance had brought tbeir I firms into cultivatim—Xad displaced the fern and the bush fnd grown in i s place grass and cL;?6r, thus banelilting the locality in which they re s djd. But all this <vhile they were diminishing, rather than adding io, their working capital. This state <1 things oon.iru'd for many a yaar. and it was only'When science came to the rescue and <he business ut dairying 1 or of preserving meat by freezing could be entered upon tbat any outlet of a payable nature was offered to the struggling but not disheartened settler. It was pleating to reflect that tbeir era of such trying conditions need at

the most to last for but a «bort period. All that they wanted to enable them to reach a profitable occupation of their farms wan to oonvert’their forests into pasture land, erect suitable fences and homesteads, and by any and every means in their power obtain good hard roads, giving easy access to every occupied section. Mr Gune particularly emphasised the fact that the land bounded by the Kawhia Harbour and extending many miles inland would, on accountits excellent quality, atfutur3 hundreds of its capabilities. A” a it would be hard to dairying country it would probably compare favourably with Taranawi. The previous speaker (Mr Spragg) had indicated several methods by which this last mentioned industry might be dealt with, and the penpie should wisely consider the »d--vantages contained in at lea=t one of those methods. Mr Gane would like to offer this one piece of advice—don't begin before you are ready : let your grass be in evidence and your three year-old heifers on band in such numbers as to make certain a good payable price for butter fat right away from the start. He said that a district like this should start with at hast a thou- ' sand heifer-’, and settlers would do I well to commence at once to c >llect } the necessary young stock to eff C‘ this object—sink all local jealousies aud make such an effort as will com pel success at tbe outset. Let every'' man help to erect one wrong factory sufficiently central to deal with the whole output of the district, and then encouraging rainunerati in w uid fol low, and disappointment would be uu known. Mr Gane remarked that be would have liked to have gooe through more of the ountry, and should opportunity offer he w -uld bo glad to do so on some future occasi n. (Applause). Tbe following other toasts were honoured t —“ Tbe KmobaKu Branch of tbe Farmers’ Union,” proposed by Mr Greenslade and responded to by Messrs W. Shaw and P. Rosa ; “ The Lic tl Bodies,” proposed by Dr Jenkins and resp >nded to by Messrs W. and H. Shaw ; “ The Hist and Hostess,” proposed by Mr (jreens'ade, Mr Harper responding.