PETITION RE AROHA TOWNSHIP LANDS.

Te Aroha News, Volume III, Issue 110, 11 July 1885, Page 2

PETITION RE AROHA TOWNSHIP LANDS.

The following is a draft of the petition which will be laid on the table to- night at the meeting in the Aroha Public Hall for signature j — To His Excellency Sir William Dram* mond Jervois, Governor, &c, &c. We, the undersigned, residents of the goMfiplds township of Te Aroha humbly pray that your Excellency will be pleased to give your favourable consideration to the petition of the Native owners of the land upon, 'which the said township id situated. We beg also to respectfully submit to your Excellency the reasoni which induce us to address you on thin subject. Ist. The present tenure is un* satisfactory, being merely a license to hold the land for a period of twenty-one years under 1 the goldfields regulations* 2nd. The rents at present levied under those regulations bear unequally upon the holders of sections, and are in many instances rtndcly heavy. Srd. The fatft of the Innd being held under these conditions, renders it almost valueless as • security, and the priority of thetoWrt is iv consequence j-reatly retarded. 4th. When the tho sections were first taken up large sums were expended in erecting upon them substantial buildings, in on-» instance at a cost of more than £3000, ; but as the duration of the lease becomes year by year shorter the occupiers have less and less inducements to go to further odtlay in improving their pro* perties. Were the main obstacle to pro* gress removed, and residents allowed to acquire the freehold of v the land occupied by them, they would again be stimulated to further enterprise. Although nominally a goldfields township, the place is in reality the centre of a large agricultural district. It is the terminus of tho railway from Auckland, and will be the chief station of the Waikato and Thames Valley line, and it also stands at the head of the nagivation o! the Thames river. With these great advantages it is certain to become permanently stttlerf f and to take rank eventually as one of the chief inland towns of the colony. To further this, desirable object security of title to property is essential, and we therefore pray that: your Excellency will be pleased to grant the request of your petitioners.— We are, <&c, <&c.