THE SETTLEMENTS IN THE NORTH OE AUCKLAND PROVINCE.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 4, Issue 188, 26 April 1860, Page 4

THE SETTLEMENTS IN THE NORTH OE AUCKLAND PROVINCE.

At Wangarie, about seventy miles north of Auckland, a handful of Nova Scotians, from Adelaide and Melbourne, first sat down and prospered. They have since been followed by others of their countrymen, who have likewise struck prosperous root, paving the way for others now upon the seas, and for numbers still to. follow? Wangarie, some'six years back a sparsely peopled corner, has now expanded to a populous thriving district, extending from the banks of the Wangarie and Mangawai, and gradually approximating, towards Point Rodney. Throughout this territory much of the waste has disappeared—the work of . conversion still proceeds with untiring energy and success, and an opening is being mads in the pursuit of agriculture and commerce, which must speedily tell its own taie.

But it is to Wangaroa, Mongo.nui, and tiro

far north, that the full tide of immigration has set in—immigration, too, of such a class, character, and condition, as cannot fail to command success. Thitherwards have flocked, and are continuing to flock, the elite of our immigrants, men with minds and means and energy of purpose, such as was exhibited, in 1820 and following years, under somewhat similar circumstances, by the first real colonists of New South Jfales and Yun Diemen’s Land. Every effort was made to dash and discourage those immigrants upon their first arrival here. The discarded Minister of the incapable Provincial Government of 1855, being unable to. tamper .with the Land Act of 1858, employed all the pitiful powers of his servile pen to damnify and deride it. Immigrants were pilloried in Lis factious press, under the scornful soubriquet of the “ forty acre men ” These were jeeviugly compassionated because of having been gulled to a Province where there was no land to give them, or if there Were, land only of the most, worthless quality, which none but madmen would attempt to reclaim. Such were the warning knells continuously sounded by the Southern “ Beacon”—such the greetings with which the stranger was welcomed to these shores. Is it. wonderful that doubt and diffi culty should, for a time, have disconcerted even the strongest minded? We think not. But the strong minded have thought proper to judge for themselves, and the result of their judgment already suffices to give the loud lie to the malicious allegations and insinuations of our Provincial defamer.

As we haye said, to Mongonui and the north, a large amount of capital and labour has been successfully introduced. From an insignificant port of call for whalers, Mongonui itself is rapidly springing into an important commercial town-; whilst in the country around, immigrants are not ouly taking up their locations, but converting them to a productive account, with an industry and rapidity altogether surprising. At Mongonui, the. first draft of Prince Edward Islanders, who arrived in May last, have pitched their camp ; and we haye had glowing and cheery descriptions from themselves, which will be wafted across the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, in terms such as will have a magical effect, when it is made patent that settling here is a mere fleabite when compared with settling amidst the half year’s frosts and rigours of North America. But it is not Nova Scotians and Prince Edward Islanders alone who have discovered the fertility of the soil, the excellence of the climate, the facilities of the harbours and water courses, and the many other advantages offered to. the colonists of the north. The immigrants from London and Liverpool are quite as keen in appreciation of the country of their choice ; and before their truthful descriptions the mendacious statements of our Auckland Constellation must needs pale its false and ineffectual fires. Erom gentlemen of large practical intelligence, the accounts which we have personally received, not only of their own success but of that of their neighbours and friends, and of the large field open and extending to new comers, are of the most satisfactory and conclusive character. They suffice to assure us that, from Auckland to the North Cape, the work of settlement is proceeding with active strides, and that the. reports transmitted to Europe, by those already located to their entire satisfaction, will be such as mightily to swell the stream of immigration now steadily flowing in. We rejoice to learn this, for without population how can we colonise ? JVe rejoice to fiud the despised “ forty acre, men” achieving for us that status amidst the Provinces of New Zealand, which the Southern Cross and its conductor have striven so assiduously, but so fruitlessly, to prevent. In the north, we are up and doing at last; and it will soon be seen whether a Yeomanry or a Squatocracy are the best foundations for a permanent colonial prosperity. — Auckland Woekly Register.