THE KING COUNTRY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2810, 22 January 1908, Page 78

THE KING COUNTRY.

A -GaiOWING PIOTUaE. " tSRRQGKESS OF SETTLIMENT.' . "CPhoji .Oub Cokbbspokdent.) n .ATJOELATSTD, January 16. I The Maoris boast ithat the .King- Country, . -or "KoUe -Potae, as it -is often teal-led, -has _. j ne«er Sheen, conquered (by ithe",pakeha- jtt ' is "true '<ihat,>neither ,Brifci3h nor. -colonial ! ,foroesN«ver jcrossed the border in the .war days, and iteis-true^ihat .for years ' the Maoris ■ i held if tagaineir the twhite man. ! But "this fgreat 'territory is now- lieing svstematieally mvaaed by' a force' ; will -subject ,"it more thorougKly thanevev military power .could. I ,This 'force is *the settler qjjoneers, and of beinp,! opposed '.to^ihe fleath by Maori owners j of the land, -they are .being -welcomeo!; 'Tho j outposts 'jot'vfcbe «etilar pioneers have ''been pushed into iJaees utterly unknown to ipakehas ja "3 ew years, ago, and .known ,but to fa >few even <io-.day.- _To>.the westward they *exfcend from 3?eakau ~to Urongaporutu, and "to the eastward tthey -are -.reaching the margin ,of Sfeupo JftoaTia. TRohe sPotae lie a great territory, 'equal in -size to a pro- ; .vince, and^there are to'emendoua.idif&culties to --over come, chiefly legislative barriers 'and ■ Government .indifference; but 'the settler jpionee'rs .are beating down the "various barriers or olambering over them, and 'the .absolute conquest of JRohe GPotae is assured. ' • This peaceful invasion of the iKing Country .is -proceeding chiefly from ihe .south. By .-rights it -ehould be the .privilege of J^uoklaaid to conquer >and holdjihis magnm-. j cent .territory, but "the sons of the ;men -who ■Jielped 'to win tik, Waakato ;by -the rifle and the sword .evidently .lack the enterprise of then- 'fathers, and 'therefordSare anissing - one of the greatest chances in New Zealand of securing -magnificent, land at -a mere , nominal •figure. It is ihe men T-aranaki, "Wellington, Hawke's Bay, -and Bay who .are pouring into the TLing' <3ouritry' and securing nearly every section thrown open by fhe 'Government or offered •under Je*ase -by the "Maoris. ". Why Jluck!landers -are pat taking ;theii- part in. this -work is difficult to say. Probably they wiU Income, in. at s a tlater .date and .pay the j pioneers, .of ri-o-day a- -big premium '.ior what itfaey • could iget >at bedrock price .-now. - Jt is no -exaggeration 'to say- that "men axe j securing 3and in the 3Gng -Country to-day for £1 and 25s per acre which, when Droken into .grass,, -will Tie easily worth -£10 or jnore '•per acre. "The .limestone hUl'country stretching -southward *irom "Waingaro in rthe Hakari-mata to Waitara. will form one -of the .greatest sheep districts in New Zealand, -and the numerous great .val1 leys will rival Taranaki)3 best- dairying I la-nds. "Many people lave the idea that the King Country ,is rough and broken. /'lt is on© -of the easiest countries ,in NewZealand. Most of "£hß liills, except in the extreme west, have gradual -slopes amd Tiroad summits, and l there 'is jnore rolling .downs country in "it -flian there „is .in, ..Canterbury. The area of land" in the -King •iCtountry which can -be easily ploughed is immense, -and as .much of ."this- -ploughsble I •country borders -the "higher ranges, it will ' -jcome in splendidly as and crop- - ping ground -,for :the, ,pur,ely pastoral areas. At the ,preseht .time the Waikato is ihe - "stock-iatiening .centre Jieafly ,all .the southern part -of ("the Auckland jprovince, • and if -the "Wfoikato faianers -hnagine -that . they 'haye -a monopoly in £hk direction they 'will make .a .great mistake, 'iqr there' is as t ~-good turnip- country -eastward 'of ;Dtorohanga^Hangatiki BiidrTe. Kuiti as any about oorr r 'Cambridge, md it can _be purchased/a't'.less^than a tenth of*most of . the. y Wiaikato lands. The* presence of _so much, aiable land in/the King Country is one- of its 'most promising because ' it meane : of having to send • stock away -as;stores v cattle *or -aheep cani be fattened -where,, they are, bred, And i% •tnaeaits'also' Qic taure -development/ of -flic dnduafey -and "anuoh -jcloser .settle--' anent tthan if -the pastoral industries alone had «to be depended upon. " ' ' ="= " I W.OLPEiS SOHNAERS has Talue and merit . that c«nnot be ,shak«JW <