THE Thames Advertiser. SATURDAY, DEC 5, 1874.

Thames Advertiser, Volume VII, Issue 1911, 5 December 1874, Page 2

THE Thames Advertiser. SATURDAY, DEC 5, 1874.

The 'Cross' published a statement a few days ago to the effect that Mr Stewart had been quite successful in getting applications from persons willing to settle on the block of land given to him for a special settlement at Katikali, We are glad to hear it, now that the matter has gone so far. Mr Stewart, it will be remembered, made a most excellent bargain with the Government. LCach family of Ms immigrants gets 300 acres of land and free conveyance to' the colony, the only condition being that a very moderate amount shall be expended in cultivating. The land to: be given is of splendid quality—perhaps, with the exception of Poverty Bay, the very best in the province—and the settlement can hardly be otherwise than a success. But the provoking thing is that this land should have been kept closed against the people of New Zealand, and should have been given away to a stranger, who gets the colonists, who have given the value to the land, to pay for bringing out people to take possession of what was really our property. We have not the slightest doubt that if the Government had thrown open the Katikati block years ago on the same terms as those on which they gave it away to Mr Stewart, it would have been settled by men who had made some money on the Thames and elsewhere, and whose families are growing up around them. We have to toil away here paying taxes which the Government appropriates towards purchasing lauds which are to be jealously withheld from us, in order that they might form an inducement to immigration, It has often been said that it is a good policy to offer greater inducements in the' way of land to people coming from England than to those who are here, but we think this is a fallacy. The very best immigration agency to any colony is that the people in it should b8 doing well, and any immigration brought tQiJte.w Zealand by saqrifiping

the interests of the residents is very deaily bought. It should be made a cardinal poiut of any scheme that it shall not be of a nature to discourage those who are here from making this place their permanent home, and as we have seen lately, it is questionable whether any benefit we may have received from the immigration portion of the "great scheme" at present being carried out, has not been neutralised by the exodus of good men that has taken place.

There is abundant room in the Upper lhames district for settlements of the same character as that promoted by Mr Stewart—on terms far more favourable to the Government, for those who took up the land would be willing to pay for it, besides expending money upon it, and thus bring, an advantage to the district. A settlement lias been projected for occupation of a block in the Te Aroha district, and Dr. Pollen has promised to do what he can to promote it, An agreement has been made to purchase the land, and sums of money have been paid upon it, and we hope that no time will be lost in completing the purchase, in opening the land, and allowing those who choose to invest their means in farming to do so,