The Manawatu Herald. Thursday, March 30, 1911. NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 973, 30 March 1911, Page 2

The Manawatu Herald. Thursday, March 30, 1911. NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Levin’:' “Closer Settlement Committee is a very live institution. Its objects are to bring under the notice of the Government suitable laud for closer settlement in the Horowhenua County, and to keep on|agitaling until it reaches the end desired. The Premier promised some time since to send a land purchase inspector to inquire as to what land in the vicinity of Levin would be suitable for purchase under the Laud for Closer Settlement Act. The Department has been informed that “the whole of the land in the vicinity suitable for closer settlement was held by Maoris, and was either occupied by them or leased to Europeans. There is no power under the Act to purchase native land, and it can only be secured under the provisions of the Native Land Act, 1909.” The committee are now looking for the scalp of the Department’s informant, and intend to take further steps to point out to the Government that the laud submitted is not all native land. Some ot the members of the committee are quite certain that the Government does not grasp the position, and they say this is shown clearly when the Government makes the statements it has done in the letter above quoted. So much for Levin’s efforts in respect to closer settlement, but what of Foxtou ? There are a number of estates native and European between the Whirokino Bridge and Oroua Downs that are eminently adapted for closer settlement, and some action should be taken to bring the matter under the notice of the Land Purchase Department. The member for the district is anxious to do his part, but it is necessary that he should be supported by prominent people who desire the welfare of the town and district. It is a well-known fact that instead ot closer settlement aggregation is taking place in this district. The Government has provided legislation whereby closer settlement may be effected, and it now rests with the people themselves to make representations to the Government on the subject through the member, for the district. Why not follow Levin’s example, and form a Closer Settlement Committee ?

New Zealanders, by reason of the geographical situation oi. their country, have a peculiar interest in the progress of Antarctic exploration, and the safe return of the Terra Nova from her initial trips to the frozen continent is an occasion for general satisfaction. Such an expedition is fraught with many dangers, with hardships unconceived by residents in u temperate clime. And the men who have left behind them tor a space the blessings and comforts of civilisation, that they may contribute to the world’s store of knowledge, are worthy to be included in the ranks of the heroes. Within the last four centuries exploration, prompted by the Western spirit of adventure, has been prosecuted so vigorously that only a comparatively small field remains for the modern discoverer, and it is reasonable to suppose that in a few decades the terra incognita will have vanished altogether. This is an age ol commercialism, when expenditure is generally associated with investment, and therefore one may look for something more than the mere location of a mathematical point as the ultimate result of various expeditions to the Far South. Apart from the gain in geographical data, Captain Scott’s enterprise is expected to yield important results to meteorology, biology and physics. Already members of the party have carried out a good deal of scientific work and secured a valuable collection of specimens illustrating the natural history of Antarctica. Geology should certainly be enriched by research in that lone laud which, iu a remote period of the world’s history, was nurtured iu tropical sunshine. Perchance a find of gold will draw men to a region where the rigours of the Klondike will be intensified tenfold. It were better that the glittering yellow metal remained undiscovered, for its strange fascination would lure the venturesome and improvident to certain death. From present indications all that the frozen South has in store is for the scientist, but the gain in that respect will be of such worth that the successful issue of the present expedition will be greeted with universal approval.

A dkatii from plague in Auckland ! Despite a system of strict medical supervision at our ports, the dreaded pestilence of the Old World has found its way into our fair country, making itself apparent in three cases at Onehunga, one ol which has resulted fatally. Surely this is matter lor grave concern, and, what is more important, a review of our facilities for coping with the outbreak. It seems unlikely that infection entered by the port of Onehunga. where the shipping trade is coastal, while on the Auckland side the arrivals include “tramp'’ steamers and miscellaneous craft from all parts of the world. Moreover, Onehunga, as a borough, is up-to-date in its sanitary appointments, with one ol the best water supplies in the Dominion, a first class drainage scheme in course of completion, and a regular system of rubbish removal. The harbour is less attractive, being marred by extensive mud flats and a dirtylooking wharf-conceivable refuges lor rats. The fact that the patients occupied a fruitshop suggests that the infection was conveyed with foreign fruit lauded at Auckland and transported to the western township. Whatever may have been the vehicle of disease in this instance, it is known to all and sundry that the rat is a most dangerous disseminator of the epidemic, and the energies of the authorities, aided by the public, should he turned to exterminating the pest.