COAL CREEK FLAT.

Tuapeka Times, Volume VII, Issue 353, 6 May 1874, Page 2

COAL CREEK FLAT.

(From our oibn Correspondent.) April 28. - . The land agitation ha? , not yet subsided, and Warden Simpson's report has caused some little sensation and enquiry. • The Roxburgh Committee's Secretary's letter, of the 21st April, gives a curious explanation of this affair, which shews that our courteous Warden's report is & little erroneous, when he says " the memorial is a gross misrepresentation as to tho nature of the land, and apparently got up by p©oj>lo who never saw it." The land has evidently been visited to some purpose by members of the Committee and others, through whose reports our kind paternal Government has changed the .blocks, and given the people the land they' wanted. I don't wonder at ■ Messf and Grogan's apparent ignorance IpTOn visiting this block ; had they visited the other block, their strong impressions as to it's character) would have been verified. Give the people here a. chance to settle on the land, and they will soon have smiling homesteads, farms, population and. plenty, .The l»nd agitation is opening the people's eyes to the f apt of the country gradually sliding* into the hands of the squatters, and perhaps the tide has turned. Fancy the effect that will be produced in Britain amongst intending emigrants when Mr-. Holloway reports on Otago's " liberal " land laws. The " New Zealand Herald " says "We hope, when Mr. Holloway comes amongst us, that he will be fittingly received; but not entrapped into identifying himself with the politics of the Province." What else can he look to ? If the destinies of the Province are in the h^nds of men who are gradually grasping all the Crown lands for themselves, what are immigrants likely to get when they arrive ? Surely, they want to better their condition, and have land of theirown. The tenant farmers and agricultural laborers of Britain are nbt paupers, although the aristocracy of Britain haer ground thenj into emigrating. They are self-reliant, and, are made of as good stuff as ourselves. If we had liberal land laws, we should entice a stream to our shores that' would astonish those folks who think an agricultural laborer is only Ut to work for a master. Our Provincial Council is about'toas&mble, and the effects of what has been done in the past, ought to guide them in their deliberations for the future. Selling large blocks of land to one man does not pay, 'which Messrs. Reid, Bradshaw, and Co. have found out ; and. perhaps, before this session is ovei", tho present Government will find they have made sonic mistakes. Something ought to be done to. settle miners in the country. If the land was opened on the goldfields, mta would have other things, such as land and cattle to help them, and not be altogether dependent, on the little gold they got ; then a rush to the Palmer oi*elsewhere would not entice them away. There have been some heavy falls of snow on the hills here. The weather k very cold in Campbells, Potters, and other Alpine gullies ; but the miners aore- working theur claims, and appear satisfied with the gold obtained, or they would never put up with such hardship when work is so plentiful. The river is low enough to enable neatly all the claims to. work, and water- is veryplentiful. Butler- and Co.*s dredge ia at work near the Island. I heap they are on • good grjaund. The courageous owners of this dredge have tried a good many places in the river, and they deserve success. ' ' Rabbits are reported to be very plentiful amongst tho Knobbies ; and some of our local sportsmen occasionally have a day's sport amongst them. The lignite deposit at Toko, is tnHmit'ly attracting the attention of the Government. Let us hope that our seam of lignite at Coal Creek will not be monopolised by - the runholder, who, in spite of the memorial and protestations of theinhabitants of the dis* trict, has obtained an agricultural lease of 64.0 acres, which embraces nearly all thia lignite deposit.