EARLY LAND SETTLEMENT IN THE WAIRARAPA.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXIX, Issue 8264, 18 October 1906, Page 6

EARLY LAND SETTLEMENT IN THE WAIRARAPA.

MK EDWIN MEREDITH RELATES PAST EXPERIENCES. I AN INTERESTING INTERVIEW. It may safely ba said that there Jo no one m the Waiiarapa whc can personally speak with greater authority in regard to the settlement of the land in the "early days" of tbifl distnot than Mr Edwin Meredith. In those days when towns mere unknown, when there was no incessant clamour for the telephone in the backbloofcs, wheu, indued, many settlers were glad if by hard and unMmiUing toil they could earn simply a livelihood, Mr Meredith was, in the face of bardahips and privations, "carving out" a home in the backblooks, such as cauuot .be found nnywheie in New Zealand to day, and at tho same time, In conjunction with other settlers fiimilarly engaged, laying the foundation of the prosperity and progress of the country. Rpcently a representative of the "Wairarapa Age" approsohed Mr Meredith in. regard to an interview, when Air Meredith courteously related some of bis past experiences. IN 1853. i"I understand, Mr Meredith," said our representative, "that you came to New Z aland in tho early days?" "Yes, 1 arrived in Now Zealand in 1850 and I first visited South Wairarapa in 1854, I think. Very little of the land was settled in those duya. From Te Ore Ore to the Wairarapa Lake there were only 12 settlers, all holding native leases. A good tenure though under disagreeable landlords, but 1 will explain that later. The names of the settlers at that time were Messrs W. Donald (Masterton), James Northwood, (Te Ore Ore), Thomas Northwood, (near Hurunuiorangi), fiorlase, (near Papawai), on the Waiohini) Smith and Revans, (Huangaroa), Bidnill (Lake), and on the opposite side to ivir Bidwill and extending in the direction of Palliser Ray were Messrs Gillies, MoMaster, Peter Hume, Kelly and Russell, with Matthews on the next bank of the lower Lake. The only way it was then possible to travel to Wellington was to go right down the Wairarapa Valley to Palliser Bay, swim the Lake near the mouth, and follow the coast round to Wellington. THE NEW ZEALAND LAND COMPANY. "It may be said that New.Zealand was first colonized by the New Zealand Land Company. Mr Gibbon Wakefield, I believe, represented the Company, hut not being a practical man—with no business qualifications, without sympathy with, or knowledge of, the natives, he was aboat as fitted for the. position as lamto be a bishop. He was a ulever man, bat a theorist—bis ideals were good, but asa man of action he was a failure. Broadly the position was that the Company had got hola of certain lands in the immediate vicinity of Wellington—(So inaccurate were their surveys and careless in their land transactions, that they actually sold a number of sociions to people in England, that had no existence as land—being de facto, enoroachu'ents on Cook Strait) —bat having secured certain ■concessions they bad no ability for oolonizing, confronted as they were by a large population of hostile natives. While the New Zealand Company were muddling on, Hettlement in the neighbourhood of Wellington became very.congested. The cattle and sheep that had been fcronght to the ooantry had increased and there was no room for them at all. It was then that men like , the late Mr W. Donald and othors' 1 have mentioned made their way by the coast to the Wairarapa Valley, where 1 they took leases from the natives.

IN SIR GEORGE GREY'S TIME,

"When 1 first oame to settle in ths North Island Sir George Grey was Governor-General and it was probably by his advioe that it was deo'ded that all acquisitions of land irom the Natives should be made by -purchase and that nu laud should be taken by force or by occupation of ' pioneer settlers as was the case in Australia. As the Native population of the South Island was very sparae, large areas of land were; ao•quiied without difficulty, whereas the North Island being thickly poopled by a war-like race, excessively jealous of intrusion by; the white man, the acquisition of land >by the Crown was slow, involving niuob tedious negotiation. And it •was the great defect of Sir George Grey's pastoral regulations, that 'they had not been restricted to the South Island to which for all practical purposes they were alone applicable. Before returning to England, Sir George Grey had ibe constitution for the 'Provincial Government, and the first election for the Wellington 'Provinoe (whiob then embraued Hawke's Bay) took place just about ithe time 1 came to the Wairarapa. There was an urgent demand for ipastoral land by new arrivals, but the "native" leases to which I have previously referred stood in the way—that is private individuals already holding land and having the right to treat with the natives obstructed the operations of the Government in that direction. The leases which the Wellington Provincial Government were prepared to give at this time were reduced to Licenses and a period of 12 months ••only. 'lhe Government were embarrassed and the means by which they were enabled to deal with the natives was as follows: The position uf affairs had been repre--sented to the Home Government and an Imperial act was passed validating the leases then in existence but prohibiting private individuals from securing further leases as also prohibiting the transfer under penalty of confiscation. Any leases which were transferred, so • to speak, v. ere confiscated by the Government and snyone endeavouring to negotiate or a lease from the Maoris was liable to a penalty of £SOO. Just about this time the Native lease to Mr Sutherland of

Wbareama was confiscated by the Government and the natives seeing that they had no obanoe of getting any further revenue in tbe shape of rent tbey »old the land to the Crown. When I first applied for land Sir George Grey's regulations, provided for a lease of 34 years, subject to being stooked within six mouths, with sheep ot cattle in proportion to the area applied for, •and right of purohase was limited to 80 acres for a homestead. There was no right of renewal at the end of the 14 j ears. They were to be bona fide ibuses, but wo never got them." "Did you think the tenure a good one?" "Decidedly; it would have been a very satisfactory tenure—Sir George Grey's regulations were well devised as applied to the South Island. He had seen a good deal of laud settlement in South Australia. He was an able man with previous experience of colonising, and it waß very unfortunate that he left New Zealand before bis sobeme of land settlement had been carried into effect on a sounder basis. TPB PEOVINOIAL GOVERN-''. MENI.

With the advent of the Provincial Government Sir George Grey's regulations lapsed. 1 do not think a single lease was issued under his regulations in the North Island. The Provincial Government offered us instead an annual license at less than we should have paid under a bona fide lease. I refused the license and advised other settlers to do the same. 1 contended that onoo concede oor right to bona fide leases and we shall have no tenure. However, the' Government would not issue the leases and land held under the licenses I have referred to was offered publicly for sale. This change of policy left the struggling settlers no alternative but to purohase the freehold as best they oould, which they wsre only enabled to do by burrowing money at exorbitant rates of interest—lo per cent., to 12}£ per oent were practically the ruling rates." "The Government do not seem to have treated the early settlers with very much consideration?" "Consideration, no I any man ooold go and nuy another man's place and the man in occupation knew nothing of the sale until he received notice to quit. , There was no protection in the annual license." MAORI LANDLORDS. "Those settlers who stuck to their native leases were very much better off, and came out wealthy men. The Maoris were disagreeable landlords in a way—inasmuch as you always had to keep open house for them. "Very open indeed/' said Mr Meredith, with a smile, "they would gb all over your house—into the bedrooms, everywhere, and, of course, always expeated food and liked to forestall their rent, bnt they kept faith with tbeir tenants, and were thoroughly honest, whioh was in striking contrast to the treatment we received at the hands of our Provincial landlords." A DEARTH OF MONEY. "It came to this,— you could not lease land from the Government, annual licenses were not safe, and if you wanted to settle on the land you had no alternative but to purchase the freehold. The whole country was in a very unsettled state. The only egress from Wellington was by way of the Coast, with the sinule exception of an unformed dray road as far as the Upper Hutt. Not even tracks through the bush till 1855, when a bridle traok was cut from Pakuratai over the Rimutaka to where Peatherston now stands. The Government bad no money, and were dependent on the sale of laud, as soon as acquired from the natives to raise the wind.

WHERE THE MERCHANTS BENEFITED.

"Most of the settlers procured money throusb their agents—the merchants—and were consequently at their meroy. Advanoes were praotioally stools mortgages which covered everything a settler was supposed to possess. All fat stock and wool had, of course, to be consigned to the merchants, who bad advanced the money or supplies, for everything that the settlers required had to be purchased from those from whom they had borrowed. There were few banking accounts. Wages were paid by orders on the merchants, lfc was a most disheartening, deplorable state of affairs. I know of many oases were men virtually insolvent were retained in occupation on sufferance as presumptive owners of the stations they were working, as the only prospect the agents had of getting' their money baok, and tho only ohance the.nominal owner had of making a living, with the off-chance of ultimately redeeming bis holding, if not foreclosed upon in the event of a puruhaser turning up. IMPOSSIBLE TO MAKE MONEY.

"It was simply impossible to make money in the early days, and many aettlere oame to grief after having made a brave fight against difficulties and risk to life, inseparable from that of the early pioneer, of which tho present generation can form no conception. We simply lived. I never worked less than 12 hours a day, and 16 was nothing uncommon with me. After our day's work lending our stook, hunting wild dogs and wild pigs, with whiob our runs abounded, it was no uncommon thing to have to grind wheat (purchased from the natives), as provision for the next day's supply of bread, or oontent ourselves with potatoes. Every settler was provided with a band steel mill —fortunate was the man who had wheat to grind if his stock of flour ran out, which was too often the case. The travelling publio without distinction bad to be fed and accommodated at all times, and often proved a severe tax on settlers who were never over-bur-dened with commissariat. 1 knew one gentleman who felt the strain, to put up a notice over his door every morning before going out on his run—'Grind or go on.' It was simply a livelihood, with the ultimate doubtful prospect of something better for those who could manage to hold on. A CONTRAST. "There is no similarity between the North and South Island," said

Mr Meredith. Sir George Grey could have had no personal knowledge of the North Island when he framed bis pastoral regulations, or he could aertainly not have made them generally applicable to all New Zealand. Thus, whereas from the Kaikoras to the Bluff there is a vast traot of mangificent agricultural Hnd pastoral country, well grassed in its native state, no impediment to immediate profitable occupation, the lands of the North Island on the contrary (with the exception of a few favoured localities, in Wairarapa Valley and llawke's Bay) had to be reclaimed from the forest and the manuka sorub and fern covered hills, necessarily acoompliahod very slowly at very considerable outlay in money, and involving many years of arduous tcii. Practically the whole of the rsortb Island had to bo made tor pastoral purposes by getting rid of the indigenous growth and subptituting in their stead the grasses and clovers which now constitute our pastures. ON THE VERGE OP WAR. "Fortunately the war with the Maoris did not extond to the Wairarapa, though on more than one occasion* we had serious oause for anxiety, rfbile a fierce struggle wbs going on throughout the whole of the northern part of the island. On one ocaasion, through false and very exaggerated rumours getting abroad to the effect that a party of yaubaus with hostile intentions bad arrived at Wairara[H from the north, soldiers were sent up to arrest them at the Te Ore Ore Pah, which was a strongly fortified place. The natives in the pah deolined to give their frienis up, and very keenly resented the expressed intention of the officer in charge that he intended to forcibly arrest their gueets, if they were not peaceably surrendered.. Mr Valentine Smith, a gentleman of considerable influence, and a greatly respected settler, with commendable decision, despatched a messenger to the Government urging the immediate withdrawal of the arresting party, warning them of the impending danger and terrible consequences, if his advice wore not acted upon without delay. I feel sutfl that had Mr Smith's wiser counsels not prevailed on that occasion every white person in the outlying parts of the Wairarapa would have been murdered as the result of meet unjustifiable interference with the Maoris. EXPERIENCES ELSEWHERE. "1 first took op land in the Molyneaux district," remarked Mr Meredith it> the course of sonversation, "but 1 was bluffed out of it within 18 months of occupation. I put in an application for 80,000 acres under Sir George Grey's pastoral regulations. 1 was the pioneer pastoraliat of South Molynenx, and at considerable risk, toil and expense I in driving 2,000 breeding ewes from Waikouaiti, 130 miles, to my station at Popatuna. I lost it as the result of the settlement of a dispute between the Imperial Government and the Otago Association. The latter was awarded an area of 200,000 acres, adjoining the land already held by the Association, and this award absorbed the whole of my station. I waited upon the superintendent and represented to him the great injustice that would be inflicted upon me if the Association over which he presided did not, in consideration of what I had done, give me some tenure of the station I had taken up, un the good faith ot paßfcoral regulations promulgated and signed by the Governor, Sir George Grey. But he was deaf to all my representations, and I was clearly made to understand that my station, as a leasehold, was confiscated, and that the Association dud not recognise any claim on my part to compensation. Subsequently 1 purchased 2,000 acres of land at Waipukurau, and proceeded to make a homestead there, but upon returning to Wellington, was informed by the Commissioner of Crown Lands, with muny expressions of regret, that he had made a mistake in selling'the land to me. Thus I was lor the second time most unjustly deprived of the fruit of enterprise and indefatigable toil and risk expending over a period of nearly two years. There was no Crown land available elsewhere, and in desperation 1 bought 120 bead of cattle from the late Mr William Donald, of Manaia, and with these I started for Hawke's Bay, with the intention of taking occupation of any available land that might, be aoquired from the ualives. As there was no inland route on account of the dense forests 1 bad of necessity to drive my cattle right down the valley to the mouth of the Wairarapa Lake, and then by -the ooaat, and I looked forward to a long tedious drive.

NEWS OF LAND—A HURRIED JOURNEY.

"However, before I reached the Paobau Kiver, X heard that Sir Donald McLean had completed a purchase from the natives of the land on the south] side of the Whateama Rivex. I further heard that a special messenger was on his way to Wellington from Castlepoint to apply for the land under the Grown land regulations, so leaving the cattle in ohargw of the two mon, I hurried off to Wellington in order to forestall hi in by getting in a prior application. He had got a few day's start of me, bat he did not know that I was riding bard to get in before him. On arriving at the lighthouse, by the aid of the lighthouse beeper, I signalled to the pilot on the opposite side of the beads to bring his boat over for me, which he immediately riia, and by crossing iu his boat and walking to Wellington I oat off a distance of 25 miles and thereby reached the land office a day before the other party, and not only registered my application, bat got authority to take possession. Such were the incidents which lei up to, and the circumstances uuder which I subsequently became l the owner of my Wbareama Estate."