FOXTON IN 1880.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 2106, 23 March 1920, Page 4

FOXTON IN 1880.

A FIELD FOR CHRISTCIIUI?CH I ENTERPRISE. (From “The Alanawatn Herald,” March 23rd, 1880.) C Had the commercial depression to which Canterbury has. in common with the other parts of the Colony been subject, shown no signs of passing away, I question whether I should have ventured to lay before your readers the following information relative to a highly progressive portion of the 'North Island, with which 1 think your merchants might open up an immediately lucrative trade. But with those signs of returning prosperity which those who peruse the commercial columns of the Lyttelton Times cannot fail to observe, it will certainly not be out, of place to jot down a few data telative to one ot the most thriving districts in this island, with which Christchurch has already direct .-team communication, that might he readily extended to a very marked degree. Some weeks ago the chances of travel brought mo to tiie pretty little township of Foxlon, and good fortune threw me in the way of an old friend, now one of Foxton s most enterprising citizens. Conversalion drifted into the —to my friend all-absorbing question of the resources and prospects of the district, and from that into the coila.terial one of its commercial relationship to colonial ■ centres of trade. Greatly"from its peculiar geographical eontignvalion,-and doubtless, also, to a considerable degree from the results of Provincialism, there is perhaps no British colony in which, one community knows so little of am.ilhcr, situated not so many hundreds of miles apart, as in New' Zealand. To fully appreciate this, otic must travel both coasts of both islands, from the Bluff lo“the Manukaa. Take, for instance, Dunedin, Nelson, and Auckland—who that has sojourned in lines 1 (owns hut must have been struck with their social, commercial, and political differences? While, when we reach the fhird and fourth-class townships, such, for instance, as Invercargill, New Plymouth, Napier, and Hokitika, the'apparent absence of anything like community 01/interest is marvellous, when one hears in mind that they arc hut parts of a whole. These differences are, after all, however, more apparent than real; and if is in the hope that I may he able to excite a tooling of mutual interest bet ween trie business men of Christchurch and f’oxton that I jot down these hastily compiled, but 1 am assured, perfectly reliable memoranda. En passant I may say that I have purposely excepted Christchurch and Wellington from the preceding brief comparison, because the former as the centre ot legitimate commercial enterprise in the South Island, and the latter as the Seat of Government occupy exceptional positions. I hat Christchurch should lake advantage of that enviably exceptional position to extend her borders is only to believe that her merchants, her shipowners, and her traders, are as enterprising and go-ahead away from home as they are al tlietr.own immediate headquarters. And, 1 take it, 1 would not he participating in. Unit spirit of enterprise which induced her leading journal to send me to ■this part of the island —albeit on a very different mission —did 1 not avail myself of overy-opportunity to note down what it may possibly be of benefit that the people of Christchurch should know.

Fox ton is a seaport, situated about live miles from the mouth of the Maimwaitt Fiver. The bar carries from 10ft. to 12ft. of water at ebb tide, and there is already a fairly convenient wharf, toward the extension of which, and the erection of sheds. Parliament during the late session voted £15,00(1. foxton is also the terminus of the Aanganni lino of railway—9s-miles in length —the Northern terminus being at Kai-Iwi, some ten miles or so north of Wanganui. It may here he mentioned that (he December receipts on this line amounted to the sum ot £3,034, of which nearly 23 per cent, was profit. The population of the County is 7,000, and it is increasing in a greater ratio than in any other part of the Colony. Its principal centres of population are —Feildmg (Manchester Settlement Bloch), Palmerston, Foxton and Halcomhe, all of which are commercially sound and prosperous. A branch line ot railway —12 miles in length —is about to be laid between Carnarvon .Junction and Sanson, which' will connect the rich agricultural district of which Sanson is the centre, with the port of Foxton. The timber resources of the district are very great, aiu\ there are already twenty mills at work. Amongst the principal kinds of timber sawn are totara, rimu, matai, white pine, etc. As indicative of the rapidly increasing traffic on this line,' it should he mentioned that the Government is at present making 130 additional trucks for use, principally in the limber trade. Foxton is the business centre anil entrepot of this rich district; besides which there is a large tract of unopened country lying to the south of Foxton between it ami Paikakariki, towards Wellington. Negotiations relative to 75,000 acres of this are completed, and it will be thrown open for settlement as soon as the surveys shall have been made. Government also holds liens upon 129,000 acres more. This tract of richly-timbered country will be opened up by the projected line to connect Foxton and Wellington, and by which vast quantities of valuable timber must be brought for shipment to Foxton. Perhaps one of the safesfiadications of

rapid advancement of Foxton and the surrounding district is that during 1879 the tonnnge of vessels arriving' increased by about 1,000 tons over those of 1878; and Hint hot ween 18v5 and'lß/8 the population doubled. The value of the land in the principal street of Foxton is from £8 to £lO per foot, at which price numerous transactions have taken place. Socially, • the town seems a very pleasant place. The streets are wide and clean, (here are several large and well-kept hotels, two Banks, and a more than Ordinarily well-conducted newspaper,, to wit, the “Alanawatn Herald.” In a word, Foxton possesses in a marked degree all the elements of commercial and social progress. The population is somewhere between 800 and 1000. ! These details might he somewhat dry were there not a moral to the laic. That moral, I take it, is that the merchants of Christchurch have a splendid opportunity to their Lands to open up the trade of the country drained by the Alanawatn. Owing to circumstances, the reason for the existence of which it is foreign to the purpose of this article to enquire into, there is not a single wholesale house in the district, nor even a branch of a metropolitan house. The trades are wholly dependent upon Wellington, with the obvious result that the market is ill-supplied and prices rule unnecessarily high. Surely it would pay some Christchurch importers to establish a branch house at Foxlon. Canterbury wants timber, the Alanawatn district wants general merchandise at .fair and reasonable prices. The steamers Bui and -fane Douglas already mako ; periodical trips lie)ween Lyllelton and Foxton,. via Wellington; and if the resources and requirements ot the latter are as represented to me oh the occasion of my recent visit. I feel confident thaj. the acquisition • iif a rapid fortune awaits the enter-' prising merchant who will seize the golden opportunity. —The Travelling' Correspondent of the Lyllelton Times.