SETTLEMENT IN THE NORTH. THE HON. MR RICHARDSON'S TOUR. HIS IMPRESSIONS OF THE VILLAGE SETTLEMENTS.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 334, 16 January 1889, Page 3

SETTLEMENT IN THE NORTH. THE HON. MR RICHARDSON'S TOUR. HIS IMPRESSIONS OF THE VILLAGE SETTLEMENTS.

Auckland, Jan. 11. Tjik Hon. Mr Richardson, Minister of Lands, returned from the North yesterday afternoon, and left for the South at noon to-day by the steamer Mararoa. In his Northern tour Mr Richardson was accompanied by Mr K. Thompson, M.H.R., Mr R. Hobbs, M.H.R., and others, and the following places were vi&ibecl : — Whangarei, Kamo, Hikurangi, Puhipuhi forest, Hukerenui Special Settlement (North and South), Kawakawa, Waioraio native settlement, Pakaraka, Ohaeawai quicksilver deposits and hot springs, Russell, Whangaroa, Mangonui, Oruru, Fern Flat Village Settlement, Homestead Settlement, Fairburn's lino, Victoria Valley, Kaitaia, Awanui, t Takahue Village Settlement, Ahipara, j Horekino Village Settlement, Whangape, Jrlokianga Heads, Paknnao Deferred J ay- | meiifc Settlement, Rawene, Kohukolm, Mangamuka, Taheke Village Settlement, or Punakitere, Motukaraka Village Settlement, Waimamaku Village Settlement), Canterbury Special Settlement, Kawerua, Mangonui Blull, Opunake, Kaihu Valley, JUargaville and Helensville. The Hon. Mr Richaidson was interviewed at the Northern Club this morning, and kindly furni&hed ourieporter with his impressions ot the Northern settlements. Have the Government any large area of good land suitable for settlement in the North V asked the reporter. Yes, replied Mr Richardson, they have. It is clear that people have not sufficient knowledge ot the For them lands, or else there would not be so much good hind lying idle as there i^ at the present time. There is the Mangonui-o-wai Valle} , which is approachable irom Motukaraka, opposite Rawene ; there is a very large area ot good Crown land there. It has been in the market for a',long time, and is still in the market at from 5s to 10s per acre. There is a road from the Hokianga waters into the block, and all that is wanted is one or two more people to makeastartandtheie would be u splendid settlement. Part of the block it> within reasonable distance of the Whangape waters. The Mongonui-o-wai is one of the largest blocks of first-class land we have in the North, and is well worth the attention of anyone who wants to go into the eountiy. Reporter : Are these lands of which you speak available for settlement now? Mr Richardson : A large area of the Mangonui-o-wai block is surveyed, and in and about the village settlements there are good sections not taken up. There are also many that have been taken up and abandoned. There is plenty of land for a man to go on to at once, and of course we | shall see and put on more people as rapidly as possible. There i? no difficulty in obtaining land now. There is one thing deserving of attention. In the case of a man going North to settle he should not go theie in winter, because the roads arc then very bad, and the difficulties of getting on the land and making it supporting are enhanced considerably ; many a man may bu disheartened it he goes ■m-_.^i- ; j.l._ ..i.^uoi, wnen ne win nave lv plough through mud tracks and that sort of tiling. Reporter : What do you propose to do in oider to open up these lands ? Mr Richardson : The only thing I think necessary is to call attention to them. I think that when it is knov n down South that thetc are such gootl lands in the North, and when this is known especially in districts where all the good settlement lands ai-e taken up, there will be a large number of new scttloro attracted in this direction. Some of the farmers in the South are now looking out for land, and they are already going into the North Island. They have nob, howover, come to the extreme north because they have been under the impression that the land north of Auckland is miserably poor. Reporter : But that is not your impression ? Mr Richardson : The further North you go the more the land improves, and the extierae North is very superior to anything close to Auckland. Do you understand what I mean '! I mean that here yon have patches of good land, but the proportion of bad land is infinitely greatei. There ate tlncc acres of bad land heie to one acre of good land, but in the extiemc North thete is rather more land suitable ioi settlement than there is bad land. Every creek, every river, and tributory have more or le&s rich alluvial Hats, and the hill lands rising above these are mainly lir&t class pastoral country when cleared and sown down. One advantage which some of the special ■settlements have in the North is the area of open country carrying good cattle feed, so that settlers without a bite ot grabs ot their own can run as many cattle as they can afford to purchase. It places them in the position of the settlers in the South in the old days who had a hundred commonage until the whole of the lands were taken up. The settlers in the North havo practically a commonage in a good many of their settlements. Reporter : What arc your impressions of the village settlements now ? | Mr Richardson : They havo demonstrated tho ouitabilifcy of the extreme North for close settlement. Nothing could bo finer than the produce of their gardens, and you would experience a difficulty in beating them here at any show. The settlers will hold their own in any place with vegetables. Their difficulty is 1 that they have no employment. When the Government advances on their sections and the different road works in the district aro done, there remain only the gumfields. Some of tho settlers object to dig on the gumfields. One man told me that he didn't go there to dig gum, and others at the same place told mo that the gumfields were worked out. On the same day I saw a homestead settler nearer the village settlements than his own homestead,\vhohadgotabout7olb of gum for three-quarters of a day's work. This homestead settler (we saw his place afterwards) had several acre& of crop, and everything very comfortable. He was not too proud to dig gum in order to raise the price of a bag ot flour while his crops were ripening, and the result was apparent. The village settlers as a body, however, are not above gum-digging, and I merely relate this to show the character of a few of them. Most of the settlers say that the gumfields are worked out, bub this is not the case. Professional gum-diggers are living on the fields and are making a fair living there, and I believe these eumfields will carry gum-digging for ten years hence. Reporter : How are these Village Settle^ ments doing now ? Mr Richardson ; The general opinion is that they will require two years' further work from the Government before they will be able to live by the returns from their lands. They admit, however, that if Ordinary settlement were taking plaoe around them, the difficulty would he met by them obtaining occasional- work in bush-felling, fencing, etc., from fche ,new

settlers. Their difficulties are flour, boots, clothes, and the want of money to get a cow or two, and in some instances to purchase agricultural implements. There is not a team or plough on any of the settlements. The only wheeled vehicles are wheelbarrows, and many of the men have put in as much labour in the cultivation of two or three acres of farm land as would, with proper implements and teams, have laid down a fif fey-acre paddock. Reporter : What assistance are the village settlers receiving at the present time ? Mr Richardson : They are getting the, regulation advances lor housebuilding and for improvements on their sections. They have received from these two funds more than half the expenditure to which thoy are entitled, and in some instances they have been paid in full. Their road works are in a forward stale as regards access ; that is, in some cases there is very fair access already, and in other cases there is yot road work to do, but not to the same extent us that already completed, so that work from this source must now be considerably reduced. Reporter : Do you think the present / village settlers would be materially assisted ! by additional holdings being taken up by others ? Mr Richardson : I 'look upon it, that apart from its being on attempt to solve the question of relieving the labour market during a very dull time, though an expensive scheme, the village settlement movement has been a very valuable advertisement to many northern lands, which may be taken up by putting facility in the way of settlement. It is quite clear that it is in the interests of all that these settlements should be made successful, and the settlers enabled, as far as possible, to maintain their holdings- at least those who are honestly trying to form homes for themselves. With -regard to the professional unemployed there are not halt-a-dozen on the settlements. If many of that class went (.here originally they have been weeded out, for they are no longer there. The men on the village settlements now are really first class workers. Of course there has been a good deal of sorting out going on, and many sections have been transfei red once, twice even, but the men now on the land are, for the most part, trying to foim homes for themselves. There are one or two settlers but only one or two — who will unquestionably leave when they cease to obtain advances from the Government. There is nothing the settlers resent so much as to have it supposed that they belonged to Ihe unemployed class, and they bay, " Send us settlers, let us have neighbours, but don't send any unemployed here.' 1 Reporter : Do yuu feel disposed to extend village settlement in the North, to open up new blocks on village settlement terms ? Mr Richardson : That is a question that I ought not to answer. It is a question for consideration of the Government. Individually, my opinion is that the settlement which has taken place naturally, homestead, deferred payment, and village settlement without advances, compares favourably with any of the Government settlements receiving advances. There is the lifficulty, too, that there advances to settlers, to State-aided village settlers, are disturbing the ordinary settlement of the country. Homestead and deferred payment men who have in the past been quite conteuuto work their way, seeing theirneighbours aided with roads to their doors and given other assistance ot diiierent sorts, aro beginning to question wliy they me left out in the cold, because they think they are entitled to similar expenditure. There is complete unanimity on the part ct the village settlers on two points. They bay: "We require employment;," and, " Send no unemployed heie.'' Theie wei« apreatmany other points brought up at dillercnt places.alleration^ which theyasked for in their conditions, such as right to aequiio a freehold. There were demands in one 01 two instances to bo relieved fiom lent for the first throe years, that advances should be made by Government for the purchase of cows, agricultural elements, etc., that payment should be made lot' the improvement of open lands, etc., etc. The settleis were, however, unanimous on the two points I nave mentioned. Reporter : How did you find the other settlements ? Mr Richardson : Homestead settlement has had the best trial : that is to say it has been in \ ogue for some years, many of the homestead settlements having been in exigence for seven >eaic, ami it, has i io\ed very successful. The settlers ha\e nice homesteads and good ci ops. Mo&t of the deferred payment lands ha\e only recently been acquired, but very laige improvements ha\c been made during the shoit time- they have been in hand. Thoiearo veiy few lands held under per petual lease, and this tenure seems as yet to have been little appreciated in the North. Mr Richaulson at this stage was handed a telegram requiring his earliest appearance at Wellington, and he elected to proceed youth by the steamer Maiaroa at noon. Our lcprcsentativH expressed his acknowledgments tor the infoimation supplied and the interview terminated.