The Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1874.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IX, Issue 273, 18 November 1874, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNES DAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1874.

A _pecia_ settlement is ab:>ut to be established in the Karamea district, tbe nucleus of which will be fora-ed by about thirty of the newly arrived families from home. The terms npon which they are to take up their residence there are, we believe, something as follows :— The men are to proceed to the district at once where they will be employed at six shillings a day in erecting barracks, store sheds, &a, on the Government reserve on tbe right bank of the river, about half a mile from its mouth, and as soon as the n-ccssary preparations are made for the reception of their families, the latter will then be sent down. After that they are to be guaranteed for six months three d .ys' employment in the week at 8s a day, in road making. See, and to rach family will be allotted flftyflve acres of land,' the price to be £1 8s per acre, for which two shillings . per acre per annum is to be pii I for fourteen years, at the expiration of- which time the land will become the freehold property of the occupant. At present tho country in the vicinity of the Karamea mouth is almost a terra incognita,' very few people having visited it. Although we h_ve endeavored to find some one who has a really practical acquaintance with the district?, we have hitherto been unsuccessful, and for a d< seription cf the country have heen compelled to have recourse to the Government plan . From these it appears that on the left or sonth bank of the river, the land, /or about two miles upwards from the. month, has been purchased by-a few natives. ' and it is behind that block that it is proposed to locate the settlers on land thickly covered with piHe and birch trees, but without under- : .growth. There are some two or three thousand acres of flat land, from which the ground gradually rises until some miles inland it becomes mountainous. The en- . trance to the river is accessible at most times of the year, but in this respect it is not nearly equal to the Grey River, although the Karamea drains a very large extent of country. Such is a slight sketch of tbe district so far as we have beeu able to ascertain. The timber is raid -to be exceedingly fine, and will, without doubt, prove a valuable marketable commodity when sawmills have, been erected, and roads are made to the port. In addition to this, the country higher up the river '!s known to be auriferous, although hitherto it has not been extensively worked, on account of tbe difficulties of obtaining provisions. This drawback wiil be remedied to a great extent by the establishment of such a set-tlemen-as that proposed, as it will necessitate the vis ts of steamers at regular intervals, so that the scheme, if successful, is likely, in this particular respect, to prove a great benefit to the province. But we cannot conceal from ourselves that it is a very bold experiment that is being entered upon, in locating upon heavily timbered land a number of inexperienced and unacclimati sed persons, the majority of whom, in all probability, never ■aw a dense bush in their lives. We wish the s:beme every success, being convinced that it would have a beneficial effect upon the trade and progress of the province, but, as shadowed out to us, we must confess that many of the elements of that success appcr to be wanting. We cannot see how, after the expiration of the term during which they are guaranteed a certain sum per week, the settlerß are to obtain a living. It is said that for six months they are to be employed fcr three days in the week at 8s a day in road rrakiog, and that the remainder of their time, namely, three months, they wiil be expected to devote to clearing and cultivating their land. But who will venture to assert that alter three months thus spent, the laud upon which his labor has been bestowed will be in a condition to provide the necessaries of life for a man and his family, in the absence of any other means of obtaining a livelihood? However, for this

there appearß to ns tp be a remedy, namely, that sawmills shonld be erecte 1 by the Government, at which the forest trees that have to be felled may be turned to account. .To plant a man in the midst of a fifty-acre section of fine timber, and to tell him that out of that he is to make his living without any extraneous aid would be sheer cruelty, but if he conld be assured that facilities would be afforded him for converting every tree he falls into cash it would be quite a different matter. If the trees are simply to be cut down and burnt he will, unless possessed of a moderate amount o' capital, meet with the proverbial fate of the horse wbo is waiting for the gras. to grow, bnt if, in clearing his land, he is at the same time providing himself and family wiih the mean s of subsistence, he may fairly expect tv get over the first and most serious of his difficultie . There is another point in connection with this special settlement that is worthy of consideration, namely, whether it would not be wise to extend the facilities for acquiring land to old settlers. It is said that an experienced colonist is to be placed in charge, whose duties will be to superintend and give advice to the new arrivals, and, in fact, to introduce them to life in the bush. This is undoubtedly a moat necessary precaution, bnt would not the example, based upon previously acquired knowledge, of a few old hands, who should be placed on the land on the same terms as the novices, have an effect upon the 'attrr tar superior to that produced by the in structions of a paid overseer? It would give heart to the exotics to find that those who were indigenous to the soil were taking root and flourishing side by side with them. We have thrown out these few hints because we be'ieve that the proposed scheme in its present stage i. not hopeful, a'though fully capable of being perfected.