THE STANDARD. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1872.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume 1, Issue 5, 2 November 1872, Page 2

THE STANDARD.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1872.

" We shall sell to no man justice or right: We shall deny to no man justice or right : We shall defer to no man justice or right.”

The future prospects of our rapidly increasing district, is a question which must be constantly in the minds of all—its oldest settlers, and its newest comers alike, and forces upon our consideration the best means in the present administration of affairs, to secure to that future a name and a glory which shall not be blurred by any reflex of past wJnTeronce.

The chief thing tg for is a fair BQY[ lon of governmental care ”'nich we are complaisantly paying for with a spirit and a confidence far in advance of our means. We must prepare ourselves for the duty which lies before us, and boldly assert our right to be heard in dealing with matters which nearly concern ourselves. We observe, and with some satisfaction, that a tide of prosperity is turning towards the flood. The dark days of the past are remembered no more, and a change is coming over the face of things which cannot but produce satisfactory results ; but there are questions yet unsettled and do not appear to have had that weighty consideration paid to them which is their due. Without the Estimates before us we cannot say what the Government have succeeded in obtaining for the East Coast, or, at any rate this part of it which, hitherto, seems to have been forgotten in the multiplicity of its misfortunes. We have Mr. Ormond’s pledge that the telegraph shall be extended to Poverty Bay without unnecessary delay, which, as a boon to the Government itself should not have been delayed to the end of the chapter. Had this been effected years ago, the indelible blood stains which tarnish our memory of early days might in a great measure have been prevented. Mr. Kelly, tho member for the East Coast has been assiduously working with the Government to this end, and we believe the work will shortly be commenced, but the General Government is highly culpable for its past neglect and can hardly expect us to extend our gratitude for that which should have been accorded long since. In the House of Representatives recently, Mr. Ormond, in replying to a question put by Mr. Kelly, said that

tho Government intended to locate some I of the immigrants arriving in Auckland . during the next twelve months in the j Bay of Plenty district. Possibly Mr. Ormond answered the question as fully as was considered necessary for the information sought; but it shows the necessity there is for including this district in a special representation to illustrate our wants and obtain redress for our wrongs. If there be anything wanting to damage the policy of the present Government, it will be found in an unequitable distribution of money expenditure. The question of locating immigrants in this district is one, possessing so many advantages, that we confess to great surprise in the Government not accepting the opportunity of Mr. Kelly’s question to have enlargedon the desirability of locating immigrants at Poverty Bay. We should have thought that the acknowledged attractions of this district, to men of small means, and for a safe investment of capital would have been a happy thought in the mind of the Minister for Public Works, at the moment of his reply. This district offers a better home, better soil, and a more salubrious climate than is to be found in the Seventy-mile Bush, where, it is stated that the Scandinavians are experiencing the ruggedness of colonial life. Our Provincial Government has recently intimated to the Chairman of the Road Board that it is their intention to send us a share of the immigrants about to arrive ; this may serve the purposes of the labor market for a short time, where a few good f" rm servants and laboring men ’ ou ßl soon become absorbed £ ea ti s fying its requirements. ; nd we shall be thankful for emal J mercies ; but it is desirable that the Superintendent should make such representations to the General Government as will draw a modicum of settlement tinder the Immigration scheme to this Bay.

Such a plan would be an effective way of settling the question as to whether the Natives or we are to be masters of the situation, and would be both a practical and profitable solution of the difficulty of dealing with what the Native Minister calls “ an expensive luxury”— the confiscated lands. Now upon this question we have very strong opinions, and do not at all agree with Mr. McLean in tho- recent utterances he has made in the House in stating the intention of the Government to hand these lands back to the Natives. Such a course betrays our weakness in conciliation, and want of firmness in sustaining a principle, besides detracting from the means at our command'of carrying on the scheme of Immigration in its most complete and economical form.