The Patea Mail. (Published Wednesdays and Saturdays) SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26, 1878.

Patea Mail, Volume IV, Issue 368, 26 October 1878, Page 2

The Patea Mail. (Published Wednesdays and Saturdays) SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26, 1878.

I?U|ep!j to Mr Barton, the Hon Mr. Monday afternoon, stated—(l wore six survey parties hard at work on the Wairnate Plains, and a very largo area Was being surveyed.. None of the land would be put into the market until it had all been surveyed, and he expected that the land would' be ready for sale early next year. (2) —That,lie could not say positively where the sale would take place, but he thought Wanganui would probably be selected as the most central place. (3) —That portions of both the Wairnate Plains and the Waitolara block would be set apart for sale on the deferred payment system, and (4) that the land would be sold in the ordinary way, by auction, a deposit payable on the fall of the hammer, and the balance in one month, except for the deterred payment land. The New Zealander rather jumps on the idea of holding the sale “ anywhere else save in Wellington, unless, of course, it could be held on the land itself.” Jt calculates tlrat “the hulk of the purchasers will he residents of this F Wellington] city, and cities further south.” Both the Wanganui papers are up in arms at the idea of the sale being held in Wellington, and, of course, look upon it as undeniably right that the sale should take place at Wanganui, as, according to the Herald, “ Wanganui settlers have long suffered from the baneful effects of sales of local Crown lands in Wellington.” Neither of the Wanganui papers give a thought for Hawera, (the hotel accommodation—and consequently the accommodation for travellers—of which, for its size, is unrivalled on this coast), or of Carlyle, where also abundant and good accommodation can be found for a large number of visitors. It would not suit Wanganui journalists to recollect that the Wairnate Plain is far away from the Wanganui County, and entirely out of the jurisdiction of the Wellington Land District. It seems to ns that New Plymouth being the official head quarters of the Land District in which the Plains are situate, should have been considered, even by Wanganui men, to have more claim to ho the place of sale, than Wanganui. It can be looked upon only as pure meddlesomeness, and almost impudence, for Wanganui to lay any claim to right of sale of Wairnate land being Held there. Naturally, wo think that the whole of the land being within the Patea County, and Carlyle being the Comity Town, and situated between the two blocks of land to bo sold, and being, moreover, not far from a central position as respects Taranaki and Wanganui, that it would be simply impossible to find a better place at which to hold the sale, than Carlyle. We could offer no objection to Hawera being chosen—from the accommodation it affords to visitors, and from its nearness to a portion of the land to be sold. If the Waitotara and Wairnate Plain lands are offered at the same time,, then Carlyle is certainly the best place for the selling. The object should be to secure the largest number of bona fide occupiers, and the best way to aid that object is to have the sale at some place conveniently within rekvcli of both Taranaki and Wanganui, or, for the matter of that between Wellington and Auckland, so as not to run up travelling expenses unnecessarily. Carlyle cannot be beaten on those grounds, whilst being the County Town of the County within which the whole of the laud is situated, its right to be the place of sale is undeniable. Like the Herald we should be very sorry that the bulk of purchasers should be residents of Wellington and cities further south. City men, in other words, speculators, I ought not to be considered. They seek to buy for the profit to be made by resale, and help to shut out the men who would buy with the intention of settling on, and cultivating the land, and who, if need should arise, would be prepared to defend themselves on their holdings, Wanganui, in this matter, should be content with a back seat. Patea has little to thank Wanganui for, and we see no reason why its writers should be allowed to flaunt its importance, or assume, unquestioned, rights where none exist, and over a district which it has very much, and in many ways, wronged.