The Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1874. THE KARAMEA.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IX, Issue 299, 18 December 1874, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1874. THE KARAMEA.

As we predicted aome weeks a^o, and as must hove been foreseen by all who gave the matter a moment's thought, the attempt to establish a special settlement nt the Karamea under the supervision of a man who was utterly incompetent to perform the duties be had undertaken, has so far proved a lamentable failure. We yesterday published an extract from the Westport Times in which it was stated that a few of the special settlors had found their way thither from the Karamea, and since then we find that two of these men have come on to Nelson. The substance cf the tale they have to tell is such as might have been expected. Upon their arrival at their destinstion the immigrants were generally well pleased with their new home. Being new arrivals they suffered the greatest inconvenience from the snndfliesand mosquilo?s which abound there, but the v , ciimate wag found to be all that wbs desireS, and the soil excellent. They at ence set to work erecting the buildings in which they and their wives and families, when the latter joined them, were to flnd shelter, hot they were naturally anxious to be shown the site of the village in which they were to be ultimately located upon their five-acre allotments. And this was the commencement of thefr difficulties and dissatisfaction. Mr Hyland, the manager, knew nothing of surveying, and, consequently, the plan with which he had been furnished was utterly useless. The old eection pegs by which be was to be guided were not to be found, he became hazy in hia idea, as to the direction in which they were to be looked for, and it Boon becamo clear to those who were supposed to look up to him for instructions and advice that he was completely bewildered as to the precise locality of the projected village. As a man who, unable to swim, when he finds himself in water beyond his depth, begins to flounder abouf, and so hastens the end which might D 9 averted by calmness and presence of mind, so he, discovering at last that he was placed in a position for which nature had never intended him, grew irritable, nervous, and undecided. He gave one order one day and contradicted it on the next, and this, as a matter of course, bred distrust and dissatisfaction among the subjects of his little kingdom. ° Day by day matters grew worse and worse, and all were thoroughly disgusted, when at last, to the intense relief of the setters, Mr O'Conor appeared on the sceue, and very soon a quarrel ensued between him and Mr Hyland. The latter threatened to resign, and in reply was told that he could do so as Boon aa he pleased. The difference of opinion between the two authorities did not tend to inspire the men with confidence, and everything wns soon at sixes and teveua. The new arrivals, of course, found their employment new to them, and did not know the correct way to set to work, and instead of meeting with encouragement they were found fault with because they did not do enough in the day, although they were working with a will. They wanted to get on to their promised land, but all the information they could obtain was that it lay somewhere in the huge forest before them— where, none could tell them. At length, some few of them, disgusted with the want of management, alarmed by" the anarchy that prevailed, and seeing no. hopa of improvement under the existing state of things, made up their minds to leave the settlement and to proceed to WeßtDort overland, Their names are Penney, Rule, Skirton, Barton, Hawker, and Stantou, all of whom are thoroughly good men accustomed to rough and hard work. Many more would have left, with them but they could not etc their way to getting away from Westport, having no funds at their disposal. The two former of those mentioned have come on to Nelson, and the remainder proceeded to Greymouth. From Mr O'Conor, we understand, no official information, strange to say, has been received of the state of affaire, but we are informed-— and to hia credit be it p.aiJ — that he has determined to remain at the ICararnea until something like order is restored. Hitherto the men have been employed, in addition to erecting the necessary buildings, in clearing tne bush aud planting potatoes near the mouth of the river, so that some provision ia made against the ensuing winter season, although the

men justly complain that they had hoped that some of their time would have been devoted to making a road to their new homes. Now that it is forced (^oonMhera by the unanswerable logic of faefcs, the Government will perhaps admit that if the Battlement is to flourish it mnst be under the control of a thoroughly competent man, and we would urge upon them that, anxious as they may he to cut down all expenses, they should not hesitate to offer a good salary to a really capable man. In an undertaking of this kind a pound or two a week should not be a consideration. A thoroughly good man is -syanted, and a thoroughly good man must be well paid to roakeit worth his while to accept so responsible a position. The utter want of management that has hitherto prevailed has not ruined the settlement but has only retarded its progress. A certain amount of money has, of course, been wasted by handing over the control to one who was unfitted for the office, but even this may be forgiven if the Executive at once acknowledge their error and endeavor to remedy it without delay. Tbo soil and climate, as we said before, are highly approved of by the new importations, the eutrance to the harbor is good, as the Wallace reported 14 feet of water on the bar, und the absence of snags except above the anchorage. Up the river the ground is known to be auriferouß, and with a settlement at the mouth where provisions might bo obtained would speedily afford employment to numbers of diggers, and about seven miles .north of the. entrance a splendid seam of coal some twelve feet thick is known to exist, the intervening couutry between it and the Karamea, offering every facility for the construction of a tramway, one creek ouly requiring to be bridged. All these things considered, there cannot fail to be a p/osperocs future in store for the Karamea district if the attempts made to settle it be not marred by mismanagement. [Since tbe above was in type we learn that a telegram has been received from Mr O'Conor, from Westporf, stating that having obtained the services of a surveyor from Westport he has had the allotments laid off, and that the men were at once to commence erecting cottages for themselves and families. From other sources we learn that much is due to the energy displayed by Mr O'Conor for this satisfactory termination of a difficulty that threatened to break up the settlement.]