PATEA COUNTY MAIL PUBLISHED Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1880. ON GUARD.

Patea Mail, 23 December 1880, Page 2

PATEA COUNTY MAIL PUBLISHED Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1880. ON GUARD.

T<» encourage purchasers to settle on sections northward of Manaia as far as the land is now sold, what provision are the Government making for locating the Constabulary at convenient centres ? A redoubt is built at Manaia, on the north-west corner of the township : and the next camp is at Onunaki, a distance ol twenty miles. There is not even a station at Geo. It is on the side farthest from civilisation and telegraphs, beyond Manaia, that the Plains are most exposed, and it is on that side that settlers will feel least secure. Could not the Government impart a needful confidence by placing a redoubt at Otakehu, with a regular patrol for a distance cither way ? This would give the village a start, and enable the more remote settlers to feel that they arc not far from an armed centre, where storekeepers would supply their w'ants, A daily armed patrol along the road between stations would be a protection visible to the settlers, and would be especially encouraging to those who, having wives and children, will otherwise wait elsewhere till the Plains get more settled, waiting until women can be expected to put aside those fears which recent events must bring on them when left alone on any section distant a few miles from an armed camp. The essence of economy at present is lor the Government to make such provision ns will induce and ensure the immediate settling on the land of all who have purchased with the desire of settling as soon as the course seems clear of risk and panic. To spread the process of settlement over several years will prolong the agony of this West Coast difficulty; and will prolong the expense involved in maintaining a largo armed force on the Coast belt. The present force of 580 armed constables on this Coast must cost over £50,000 a year in pay alone, and of course the rations arc included in the rale of pay, though other incidentals will raise the amount to at least £60,000; without counting cost of equipment. The figures on paper make a larger total than this, but the argument is sufficiently supported by taking £60,000 ns the inside cost of another year’s occupation by the present force. It comes to this : the armed occupation for two years will swallow up the whole value of the Waimatc PlainsThe official estimate of the Plains area from Waingongora to Waimatc is 31,000 acres, and 20,000 are deducted as reserves near Manaia. Taking the whole area remaining at an average of £6 an acre, the total of £126,000 will have been more than absorbed at the end of two years’ occupation. It need hardly be repeated that the force sent on the Plains after the Maori ploughing was much larger than it is now', and that the occupation by a large force, say since June after the ploughing, has now extended over 18 months. The actual expenditure up to date, counting enlisting and equipping of 600 additional men, cannot have been less than one hundred thousand pounds. This sum is about equal to the value of the 15,000 acres sold up to date and the township sections also. This army of occupation is eating its head off. At the end of another year from date, the army at its present strength will have cost a sum equal to the whole value of the Coast belt up to Parihaka. Clearly the plan is too expensive. The Government get no immediate equivalent for their outlay. They have spent and arc spending in

advance the whole sum they are to get

back for the land which they sell for settlement. The value of the back country behind the native reserves cannot be counted as marketable at present, being bush and without roads. For some years the open hind on the Coast will be the only marketable area, and it is out of that area that the Government have to repay the cost of their occupation. As the whole value of that area, including the risky Parihaka block, will have been expended by the cost of armed occupation a year from this date, it ought to bo clear that the occupation should bo cut ns short as safety will permit. The only equivalent for armed occupation is an actual unanimous occupation by settlors. When every section has its man or its family, the native question will be at an end ; for the settlers will bo numerous and courageous enough to act in a body to guard their possessions, with perhaps just a small body of 25 constables at Manaia, 10 at Otakehu, 10 at Opunaki, and 50 on the Parihaka block. To induce the cash settlers to occupy their sections, the Government should place small armed camps with road patrols at each village, including Otakehu and Oeo, whore none are placed at present; and they should give the settlers a clear intimation of the policy to bo pursued. Lot them know’ that full and complete protection may be relied on by the presence of strong armed bodies at all centres of settlement; and that at the end of a term, say 12 months, the settlers will bo expected to act together in conjunction with a reduced force of constables to maintain peace and security in the district. It should be clear to everybody that the colony cannot afford to spend £60,000 a year for an armed guard of idlers on the Plains, to protect an area of Coast which has already cost as much as the Government receive for it in cash. This being a colonial expenditure, the policy should be shaped to suit colonial exigencies.