LANDS FOE SETTLEMENT IN THE THAMES DISTEICT.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2041, 20 July 1875, Page 2

LANDS FOE SETTLEMENT IN THE THAMES DISTEICT.

•" meeting, o| thdse/interiekfceil m open-l ingthe'lSndsfor se itMe'ment'*iri' ithe!Talley| of the Thames was held yesterday evenV i^lg^^|n<flleXpp^ouSh.|&o|La^ii,^hambe^s] On the' mbtioif-oPMr'-te N^^mith, Di? Kilgour was called to the chair. ;' / jMrjDcan having read the minutes, Dr Kilgour was authorized to sign them, 1 alter which he introduced the subject for! the '-consideration of Jwhieii the meeting had been called, and in so .doing said—that he, as a private in- ( dividual, must make some excuse to those ; whom he^npw,, addrftss.ea-'fpr his action injtbc matter," wJLibfrr.halw^uld not have ventured to take' upon himself but that! 1 tho great importance of the subject seeni |4o warrant him in so doing; but even i then he would have shrunk from the un^ dcrtaking had it not been for tho co-j ope*ason of; Sfr George Grey, who had espoused thefHcause in such a way as to merit the gratitude of all at the Thamssi IJieyf till -'Mew TthaVlthe land quesj tion, as far as they themselves were -concerned, had been for the last five or six years in a most unsatisfactory state; they shad'iljoenj'literallyiCohfiried^to the}limits of Grahamstown and Shortland; and though! stheMwas injthese neighbourhoods mucti landxo r sell, whose owners were willing to sell, yet no resident at the Thames had been able Jo_ jacquire an^ acjreJL^T. hi&Jiad resulted In"causing many who had made their money here, and who would have' made the best class of settlers, leave them for other places, because they could not acquire land on which to settle, though anxious to do so. The: cause of all this was the attitude of the Government themselves who backed up Te Hira, Te Moananui and the Kingitcs, in their refusal" to part witlj their land, and stated that it would be injudicious to press them, as it might result in an insurrection. But though' Government were thus inactive as far us the interests of the Thames community were concerned, yet they acquired blocks of mountain and swamp, and when these 1 contained any good flat parts suitable for settlement, they had been made what was termed "Native Eeserves," liable 1 to be leased to those who possessed Government interest, who thus acquired much of the best land. They also permitted large tracts of forest land to be leased to TrOmpanies and private indif viduals, so that the lands, in addition td being locked up for this generation, could not be made available for public use for three or . four generations to cornel Government had ako refused to make either railways or 1 roads to open up the; country, though repeatedly asked by himself and others to do so. But while refusing land to the residents of the Thames , whose-right |t : yas tojliave thelrnd, they had allowed Mr-Stewart to obtain 10,00Q acres on which to settle emigrants from Belfast, whichfotlicintwas hard indeed;. Now let them look at what would have been, the 'state of affairs had they been able to obtain-lftncFs; = The argument of the Government that the acquisition of them would have been attended by native disr turbances'was wrong, for had European settlers acquired tho lands between these parts and the Waikato r all danger of an outbreak''wotild' "have been avoided ; much benefit, tco, would have been reaped .by,- those, .in r-business at the Thames, by having settlers in'theirimme-' diate vicinity. Those who kept horses ; might-have, kept theni for 10s a week instead of the 25s "they now pay, and' families could have obtained beef at half the present cost. They were bound to strengthen Sir George Grey who had promised to help them, and in his opinion the best way of doing this was to send a memorial to the General Assembly. He believed the memorial as drawn up might require aome amendment, yet he himself believed all the allegations contained therein to be true, though not, perhaps, capable of positive proof. Mr Dean then read the memorial, which, has been already published. ' Mr.Rowo said he entirely disagreed with the memorial, which he had read , eisewhere, and for the following reasons : ■ —viz., that the memorial entered inio I controversial matters, and he opined that i Government would have nothing to do , with it, but tell them if they could do j better for themselves to do it. That all | the blame ought not to be attached to the Governmeiii^or .their agents ; that there were othors who were jealous' of the Government agents and thwarted them by every means in their power for their own benefit, and the benefit of those in whose pay they were. He would, if he could, employ " all the adjectives in the English language" in speaking of those who thwarted the actions of the agents. Five shillings he, belioved would buy them all, and he could name them all in the-number-aix.^,-He.'himself--was not so ready to condemn the agents,and'.' therefore JlwaS. notJ so J- ready to enter into controversy with tho Govern, ment—tjiat'-he 'bclieyed^he^right course forihem them to p"ursue:*that night was, to delect' a ,/coinniitteje,3.t9 draw- up - a memorial to the,(itpvernment, stating their idesire;:to. get. lands,'in-,-which , case .'he thought Government would ,help 'them. As regarded the memorial, he stated that it was aimed, at Mr ..Mackay, who had I done more for the Thames than any one alive^-'and-'to" whom the" Thames was I .greatly indebted. ..« : , . r '• , Mr Brighouse said he eould'nt agree with Mr Eowe as regarded" ~~th'e General .Government,;that; the. = General Government had faults which ithey muat meet manfully, andjiot ;go, to cthem^in a pandering and servile spirit. He wished that there had been more working miners there present then, but that all working men ought to combine to obtain land. He said their present prospects were bad

indeed, and tliat they, shut in as they were by sea on one side and the mountains on. the other, required land before they were obliged to go elsewhere; that animals require rest from overwork, and ..were sent to fgrass (he did not state what* "kind 6f\ animals),', and so did miners. TDheir interests indeed required watching for s,all I "were against them, from* the premier; to the" Pakeha Maori 1 "{they 'were ruled 1-by would be aristocrats, and taxed by legislators against their will. They were taxed to send " stump orators" to Great Britain, and taxed to bring frliancerffffecfomllcersrano, "orgaiP . grindery to the colony. That they wanted lalid fdrHhleir children and should go raent. This land, However, owing to a, " gagged newslifp^HJOTfederacy Govern-1 .ment- (sic)-they—were unable-to acquire^; j but were like the Britons of old.; driven from one nlace to another.; He further said that their memberj regarded their interests as much asi did a member of some obsolete (!)) county in England, .whose constituents.! consisted pfythired freel, and|"concWded byj urging'all" working clauses* to combine to] acquire land so as to be able to pay the! taxes of the country. j c^Mr«.!pp^.e4n^re.pJys ,to M?- Brighousej fiaiditlhai'alliheuiatMng about tine laka-j tion of the working classes, and their; grievances, brought them no nearer to; their object. What the people wanted; w^s'lari'd/oh "to th'eir"cjr-| . cumstanccs. :\ Tile |wei&y -one? yeafr leases" "in Ohiuemuriwere iiot what they wanted: They did not want leaseholds, theyl wanted land they could buy, and pay rpr,r and>H'mprovg" -rahdrleave? to (fb.eif, children to improve after ~ them. Sir! George Grey had done his best for! them, and their duty was to strengthen his hands/and the way^todoj, this; was not by fighting the Government, but by, going to them and shewing them how they were situated—that numbers were leaving the Thames-'because they could get no land on which to settle, men who had no superiors in the colony. He therefore moved that they appoint a committee; i'tcT draw > jflp /a"?memorial sfafting tKeir yrcani&iL Kj \ L i- */.& \i eJ. i Mr McGowan said he did not alto-; gether agree "with the memorial, neither could he agree with Mr Eowe. His ob>j rdctionsnb>'the f:meMofial-:were—(i:) Tliat the Government did not back up To*Hsra] and: thanking,, party ; in an unnecessary; manner; and (2) in reference to thej rof.by ~Dr>;Kilgour>~lie; thought that they wanted more olj Jjhem, ; - Jfi tiat. r -, theyiyyfcjrese -yery, 'men .'to'- l~'benefit'" the' i 'country, "me.! who, r brought „,wifch; .iheai: lwhicn"they spent^on the im'provem'enV of Jthe. land;, and if t Dr Kilgour had..wanted • 10,050 s acres of land, and'- ac'teH' ~iri"the same way as Mr Stewart, no 'doubt'have'b'een successful:-;He certainly thought that Mr Mackay was at fault in hsoitid matters; and-that! they, oughtito "impress on the Government how some ;had; been f ,abl'ejto obtain Jaud,' Therefore, with the -exceptions he had referred to, he<r would., support";" the memorial. His Worship the Mayor seconded Mr Eowe's motion^and-said that the Boroughj Council and Highway Boards had only! been anticipated in their action jby Dr >Kilgour v HB;said,th.aEt if/fhrey/had any fault to find with any one they should find fault openly, and .'staled" that, as his opinion, paragraph five of the memorial .was-distinctly aimed jit Mitokay.,^v*bo-ka4 done everything possible for them both about thelapenlngnaf JOliinemlifi-^whichl he could not possibly hare opened sooner! —and other matters*.! si '£ -.' ':iti'ffl j | Mr Brodie said thajt neither,the'resolu-j i tion or the rcportWe'rei what they wanted —what they;.wanted was _t.bat Go-j vernment should set'aside'larids on which ..miners might fettle, and .therefore^ asked •Mr'Bb"weta;!amen'd J his; resolution. He quite agreed.that.leaseholds.,wje^e,..of no use. They'we'reasle'd^tdsay2s 6danaero jjent for. r land r which.,they- : could^iu som6 ■iß'st: anccs/ Lpurchase' dutrighY'ftfr'" 5s an acre. ! ,^ irj^r(^.r ,-.;,,.. ', Mr Eowe'said'{haV"tn<^memorial if drawn . up, could,- T be, ramendedr that the'Government'were' acquiring lands in the |T'hames;.distr;ict} -and; it was their duty to set" lands "apart'for "freeholds for the , miners.,; ■; ?-t. -, > n ;-')•* 1 fc !, r f i MrE.'N. Smith" said he'did'not see much that was obnjopqujs/in the memorial^ and that, even if another were drawn upi :it.;mighs ;lbo v ..worso r than!ifcb;o:;oqe now, before them, he thought that it would be better, both for Mr Mackay I and themr selves,- that the allegations should be ma'dejf sol.thatjt if.untrue,; Mx' Mackay might be able to-refute them. OMr>Brbdieispoke againiag to r the: ad visability of asking Government to set aside land for settlement? in'-which he was followed by the Mayor. Mr Comes Bec'onded'*'Mr Smith's motion. Mr Eowe asked that the amendments proposed to be'inadc to the memorial by Mr Smith should be read. ■ vMr-Mpnnie rthought .that. the present 'nicmb'rial' should be' referred' to a' committee to revise, and proposed that Dr Kilgour,'the "Mayor'; and JMessrs;Epwe, Eenshaw and E. N. Smith form that comniiitee.- V. '"" "j"-:": *J. ". T i Mr McGowan asked that Mr Brodie's name be joined. .-Jtfr Eenshaws saij\^hat with; the,;^x-cep-ticn of one and' a' liaVf clauses'" he^cdiT.^uot accept the memorial. „ljle tbf^tight j^ was noVn^essary in order td'o'DTain land to begin by making a lot of enemies. And < that tho • idea ■of the momorial seemed \o be rather making allegations than trying to get land ; that what was wauled was to prevent capitalists from acquiring land and" doling it out to working men on their own terms. He could not support the present memorial, and if he .had.anything to do with,, it he should Un&in by striking' out all; after the first Half clause". y ' .- -i - - - Mr Otto thought we ought to make Government buy land; at Auckland land could spm'etiraes-.be bought/for a shilling an acre, while here a man had to pay • half-a-crown for the leasehold of it. , r A.fter f Boni£ l ._discu,ssion,.. ia_which Dr Kilgour s"tated:.<ihat,iip finculpatipn'.pfi.Mr Mackay was in any way intended, neither did he think there was any ground for saying so, Mr Eenshaw moved an amendment on-Mr'TSslenhie's',amendment, which was •' That a committee be appointed to draw up a memorial to .the .General Assembly, having for its object the obtaining of freehold land in this district for the benefit of bona fide settlers, such memorial to be submitted to another meeting to be held next Monday, the committee to consist of the Mayor, Dr Eilgour, Messrs Howe, McGowan and the mover." At tho request of some one present, Mr Brighouse's name was added. Mr MacDonuoll seconded the motion,

which was then put and carried unani-j raously. j The meeting- then dissolved until) Monday next; - - [ (