DISILLUSIONED SETTLERS.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3430, 9 March 1920, Page 2

DISILLUSIONED SETTLERS.

BRITISH EAST AFRICA

GLOOMY PICTURE PAINTED.

t Glowing accounts of the possibilities of British East Africa for land settlement have attracted many e.\’— ,soldiers from New Zealand to that 'quarter of the globe. Now those l‘soldier_g are writing home gloomy ne--3 counts of their experiences, and want- ' ings to those who might be inclined to follow in their footsteps. i The experiences of one young l\'+.3\“.' §Zealander who forsook his native :‘eountr_\' and went to Africa are con- ‘ tained in a letter dated. Nairobi, December 18. He strikes a note of warning, and, in addition, gives some in- ; formation of general interest. ‘”_l".le icountry between Mombassa and Nairobi,” he writes, “is pretty good and i very interesting. . . . . Nairobi is :1 [great show, with a population of iahout 15,000, and absolutely new. I'l“here are some tine stone buildings, ibnt everything is unfinished. Every iplaee was full up, so we went to the iY..\1..(‘.A.., and nianagetl to get in R thel'e.. It’s rougli, but cheap. We liave been here 48 hours. and we have been inuking inquiries all round. \Ve hu\'en’t. quite decided. to go back to NL'\\' Zealand, but others (three New Zeala.nder.<) are feeling mighty like it." .-\t‘ter I'et'erring to the experiI enves oi’ other land seekers. the writer eou1ii111()s: “it an-_\,'!lling' our case is :1 ‘bit wm'se. It appears that ‘J})l)ii("z'l7 i tions for land under the SOl<flier.<’ Set- } tlement scheme closed last .Tune_, so no ,notiee was taken of our applications, ‘anti on inquir_\; at the Lands Offiee we were int_'ol‘med that nothing could Ibe done for us. h “Then, a-gain." that exchange is ikiiling us. The price of silver has gone up so high that the rupee has }risen from .1,/at to 2/5. which means that—~well, take my ease; I bring in ,'S~l.<)O from New Zealand, Convert it

into rupees, aim! grt just o\'el‘ £2OO fm: it. Clieery, isn"r is‘? Endeavom-5 are being‘ l1l‘d(l(,‘ to have the British currenc:y brought in here, but it will be 12 months at least before they sueceed in doing so. Land whiczlx -.1 year 01' two ago was \\'ol"rh five I'upees: per a('l‘l‘-. is now selling‘ for 75. Even laiul bavk l 0() miles from the :~ail\\‘ay is going at £1 an acre. Oxen, of which you need 16 to pull one plough, rare t'et<'hing £lO per head. Im}'>lementS. fil'ezll'ms, clothing. food. e‘./erytliing is very dear. There is plenty of Work about the milways, or with manufacturing firms at from £ls to £2O per nlon’tll, but if ‘fakes all that to live. and more to live comfoi't:l‘:)lv.