MASTERTON-MANGAHAO SPECIAL SETTLEMENT.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VII, Issue 1891, 17 January 1885, Page 2

MASTERTON-MANGAHAO SPECIAL SETTLEMENT.

•A meeting of the above Asso6ia'ti6n'was ■held in the Institute )ast night. Mr J. Vile 'ia'the chair, - The Chairman read tho advertisement calling the meeting, and the business which had to be considered. A letter was read from Mr McCardle as follows:

I very much regret that unforeseen circircumstances prevents my attendance at the meeting called for to-night. Believe me it IB a great disappointment to me, I have, however, done'all 1 could to forward the.best interests, of the proposed settlement, and will continue to do all I can in your interest. In doing sol feel satisfied that I am forwarding Masterto'n's best interests. It only requires a few more suchj societies- as .ours to make.' Masterton thWrstTnl'and.tqwn in-New. Zealand, andjmr district the'most prosperous in tho colony. Lhave-long worked with a ;view' t tothisenU,'attd"l only regret that It has not been.in my power to have done .-more.' I cattjighestjy say tfyat since my every effort in public-matters-has been- for the advancement of 'Ma§|erton "and. the district as a whole, I have great hopes that a change for the bettor Is looming upon us, The present Government are taking up the land settlement ■question hi earnest. We may therefore feel sure that this'settle.raent- of our waste lands will proceed apace. I think this district and the colony aro most fortunate in that they If aye a Government tjfljf considers the land settlement worthy place in'their administration. I'li'ad a long interview with the Hon, Mr Stance re our settlement. He is most anxious to assist us. in all that lies in his power, Vpp meet* ing will be pleased and gratified to hear that the Hon, Mr Ballance is doing all ho to complete the purchase from the Natives of the Mangatainoko Block. The Hon Mr'Ballancp, nearer vlsiteTflW Bush'''uritil''yßster'day. IJ£' wi>M'|reatJv pleasedwith the country *nd the grand "future in s,tore'fojC.the district, He will .b.e prepardd to grant the Mangatainoko 'Block for special settlements, ' Ho is propared to allow, the, Society to do its own surrey. JSoUp'pr'Oves of a proposal I made |q MiM'suWey the rough country adjoin.ing.special into section? pj from 200 to 500 acres, and have the'tn thr,owjv,-qnen on lease or deferred paym&r'xHewiir allow holders of deferred payments sections, to hold a section in our settlement provided'he does not hold in' all more than 320 'acres on the deferred payment-system. He will grant the £I7OO pounds voted. for opening up the Mangahao Block', providing we are prepared to oxpend it so as to assist in open:., ing.up the" whole of the Block. The' Wflddville people have applied for. 10,000 .a'eres above us on the Mangahoa block, T.arjvhighly pleased to "learn that your explorers are so well satisfied with the -Mangahoa block, I have long believed thisblockof land to'be the very best in the province,. lamin a position to state that the gentlemen-appointed to examine thls,blook have done their work faithfully and well/and have not'spared themselves in the performnace of their ■ arduous task. I think it would be well wprjh. tho wljije of the Association before fixing on any site' for a town first to have a flying' 1 survey made. With the surveyor, you should appoint three or more of your members to go. with him and thoroughly inspect the wholo blqpk, and also decide on the main entrance to the block, The above are matters of such vast importance that we cannot afford, to do anything hurriedly or by chance. I also asked the Hon. .Mr Ballanoe whether he would allow the Sooiety to have a sliding scale of prices for their holdings. He does not approve of this. I know Members differ in opinion on this point, I therefore put the matter to him only as a question of mj i)W]i; and not as one from the Society. He will be willing to allow the members to retain for their own use one town section eacli, 1 think we should urge tho Government not to lose any time in getting.everything rpadjfor ■us to proceed with the survey. If all is well I shall be in Wellington on the 23rd and it. will give me much pleasure to do anything I can for you.with the Hon Mr Ballanoe, In conclusion allow me to wish, you every sucoess, and to oxpress my willingness to fill any office you may think proper : to elect me to. On the other hand'l will not feel in any way slighted should-you ohrao to elect others who may have more time at their disposal to. attend to the affairs of the Society. " '•■'•-■' . lam,-&c, ...W.W.McCabdi,e.

The Secretary stated Mr Ballance had since.agreed -to-allow a sliding scale of pricesfor the sections. '. ■ A letter was'read from Mr A. Goldfinch qn .behalf of several settlers in his district who wished to jqin the Association; and asking. what*teps;they'Bhould take. The this thattho list ■,Ws ?■■■':'■' • : v ijK'G-!' o Mji*Jßar^-.Wrote expressing' his re'g : to ;&bondon tftegeo|etepbjflitii) -wHiolr he had been ,.r:s^. Tkijsjofi{& having .: ' »q '■■ '"' ...f.irviVlMl 18(M i ••

beon read and confirmed, the Chairman read the reportof the Exploring Committee as published in full in the Waikarapa Daily of the. 15th instant.

■Mr Gapper said the report gave no area of tlie land recommended by the Committee, Was there sufficient for the settlement? He had" been informed by Mr Llewellyn Smith that there was not more than 5,000 acres of land suitable for. small farm-settlements at the north and also that there was a very extensive; Muffin the centre of the Mangahao Blockreported on. He wished the settlementto go ahead, but it. was advisable to see clearly before them at the start that they" might not. aim at what .they . could not■accomplish. 'He would-ask that more information be given as to area; and 'the' approximate eatimatef- of the land from the river tothehills.. He'did not' consider' the Association should-be the' making of the Government township,- but should: a'o'' choose tMrbldokfH to be able to layout a township Ihat would, benefit., the. whole I'settlement (cheers).- ■'•'■-'■•""" .- . .The; Chairman said Mr Gapper was right to'a'certaij\,;ext.erit. -There-was' only about SW-lcres in the block from the bluff at tho Mangahao. to the Manawatu river, but further along there "were 5000 acres that could be got quite adapted to the. requirements of • the Association,-'running parallel ■ With the; river from the Bluff S.W. for miles.:.'. There was not. 10,000 acres on the north end'of the Mangahao. Going in frdnYthe main road at -Hawera about four miles, they would come to the southermost part of the.block Mangahao proposed to'.be-applied for. Mr Frasi,' who'.kriew the district* was iff favor-of the block alluded toj but one of the' committee,"pfmspectipndid not agree ; with:the; othera'on pointy The block as shown'oil the plan submitted -to tlie meeting contained 11;140 acres, being 100 sections of 100 acres each, 'SOO acres .for roads, aftda township of 640 awes,. ..Inanswer to Mr Gapper the Chairman said the section was twelve mileslpng.by one and a-half miles wide. What further confirmed his--favorable, opinion of the quality of the land was that it embraced over 1000 acres that until recently had been a native reserve, and it was wollknown the natives only retained the very best of the land. In answer to Mr Girdwood he said the road was proposed to be taken through Hawera a distance of four miles, and bo laid off right through .the-centre of. the block' for the entire length of twelve miles.

; Mr Girdwood said that there were patches': near the Gorge that he knew were subject to serious flooding. He was acquainted with that part of the country and knew other? who W frequently been through it and who aaid at times parts of it was 25 feet under water. (Mr Reese: That is right, bufc.we.-do not include that.) There was a terrace 'near at hand fortunately that would be very'useful in time of flood (laughter,) The Committee seemed to have gone very carefully over the selection, but he considered the strip chosen to be too narrow to allow of a central township accessablc to all, and if-the Committee could prove thatthoseflats they Save recommended we not subject to oods, then it would bo goqd. tp take up, but he had reliable information that the flats free from floods were not sufficiently extensive for the purposes of the settlement.

Mr Reese said they had no intention of recommending the flooded flats. There would be some parts that when the block was surveyed would be excluded from the block and included in the river bed, and' fie'" uriders'tqqff' the Government would take the line at high water mark, In respect to the land they had. surveyed, it had in it. thorough good stuff, and the bush was not heavy, With regard to the depth of the block, the original intention was to recommend a block running south from the Manawatu river along the Mangahao for a length of eight miles with an according width that would comprise the 10,000 acres, and they believed a compact block running back to the hills could be got inside of the eight miles in length, '' Mj- Jsl)blewhite, in response to the meeting, gave h'(s views, j|e said there' Was. no need for him to, gay much a|j he found on his rgfcurn to Maaterton that the others had got it all out and dried to recommend the block aooording to the plan before them. There were four appointed to go and inspect the land, but only three \ypnt up, and Mr Vile cleared Out before '"lfc'Ws finished, and left him and Mr Reese to it, (Mr Renall; That Vffls'a,, good plan, too)—laughter.) Holiad heard several speakers tofer to a bluffin the centra of the block,' but' that was a bit of a'hill not hioro than 200 feet'high and ascending from the north Bide the rise wa? w'mdija} aij ijj jjo Jiajjjjy. notjeeable,' and tlie'iiyor'siae of tills nlM' was abrupt,' He found the quality of the'land improved the Jjigher he went.' He was the member referred. ti) by the phairrrjari as disagreeing with the plan reconjiqer): ded. He considered if as Jaid off too Iqng and qarrpW, They wanted a compact block,' and fchepe wajland rjgj)t to the foqfc of tho ridges whjch was. equally as good as that on the bank of the Mangahao, Mr Petersen had his compass with him and took the bearings, and found there was 2} miles by 8 miles of good land at the north endi ajniost level, the rises being nqtlung-but-beautiful graduating slopes/ with even%hter'h : uß.h than fcWlatg. The. Maorjs all spoke Well of'the quality of the land ajl through, but said fjatj at the south end were liable to floods, and Mr Falkner,..an experienced surveyor, confirmed this statement, and the Maoris recommended without hesitation the block at the north end. Ho proposed to go from the Manawatu south seven and a-half miles by a width towards tho •' foot of the hills qf twq and. Malt-inijeii, and" wouidgive tljeiti all the land they required, They ha<l cut a rqad through' the flat for. a (Jiataijgo pf tp njije? an 4 judged they wore not half through t))'e flajj. There was a gqofj ba.nl? tq the rfyer, and on this 'Sq-qalle4 bluff they fqund tl)o only indications of lime stone in the district, Personally ho would just-as soon take a section at the foot of the hills, as ho would on the river bank, The Mangahao was navigable for a flat-bottomed boat or punt to the Manawatu. It is a large and much superior river to the Mangatainoka, He did not see the necessity of laying out fcheblqck jn jongnarrow straggling sections when tjiey could get a sulfcablo gampact block/" Tjie 'north' end 'blockwould be about three miles frqin'the" Corporation block. Mr Bamber moved that tho report of the visiting committee be adopted, The Chairman said the gist of the report had been agreed to by the Inspecting Committee, the only difference was as to the shape of the block, Mr Kibblewhite wanting the block brought down only ty miles from the North. He (the speaker) was of opinion that there was not more then 5,000 acres available there for settlement, and he for one did. npiTwant to' 1 Be driven up oh the hills,' and If they '. only took the Block seven miles to the south he should withdraw, as that would cut out the eye of the land, which was once the Maori'lesfijye at'tjje'bick; of Hawera, where they could get a road in, and another point in favor of this end was that. a road was contemplated froraFitzherbert to Hawera, . . • Mr Roese said it was a little inconstant on the part of Mj Vile to say that if they adopted what it was their original intention to do he would withdraw from the Association. Both Mr Kibblewhite and himself had agreed upon this block, andMr Vile also. (Mr Vile: No!)_ At any. rate when he left he was of opinion with

tho others that there, was-sufficient land there, and he ought not to throw cold water on the enterprise by such a remark.

Sinco Mr Vile left they had gong.atft and found that by stopping at eight mfes they would havo plenty of land-for thoir requirements, The land shewn on tho plan was certainly the most valuable because that,embraced the whole of the alluvial deposits (hear, hear), but ho had no hesitation.in Baying the whole of the .fend'.wtisM sufficiently, goods; Some Maspeople'seeiiied'to. think.:the south ..end-of the block prefe'raljle'to.vchoose. in theinterestsolMasterteri/'M-he would ■ppirtt.out that they make four'inileß'trf ' bridges to. getinto thebiqplt fromfflawera, . wherei3"if\ triGy_ wfen6' in;at : .sabiatufii' they ivould:^isfte' : was a bridge.; • He : these, thihg's'iout to.clearly of affairs ;'them''.thai::they.;. might be guided';■ in-.; their';o!iscjp. s | f e.rjwMy he to see the bwck : takeh , 'in a mos^onaensed ■'•* Mr" Hogg said-that it was no?true that Mr Batti'iice' wanted to interfere, with the choice of the-AssociStiolii, ''• He himself oh jected'ttfthe long straggling biockjhown on the plan. They would'have the settlemerit the.'same shape as Cartertpn,4nd it would be nothing of land liable td.be.flpoded,,ariiihe' settlers would be miles from each oifer Mr Kibblewjiite said .they need h'ot,..*bind themselves to a' block of any "particular shape, but-let the line be traverseaV ? iilong the foot of the' Kills so ag to'.take;ifi afi available land up'to the hills,, "There-was a creek at -the"other end that wasa/good boundary-, having a bank aboutlßfffeet steep.' It looked to him as if soiis-pebple wahted-to:put. the.' "WoodviUe-.'pec'plij out or drive them on to the hifls.v /';.''•'•

,Mr Bunny-said the. question?©f;sie width of the block was not of vmuch-mo-ment. If a rood was made right tough the centre it would be find they would .be able t6;deal withany suitable-lands between;the settleiM|ft'a,nd the ranges at a future time, an&j/this block as shown on the plan " eye" of land they should certaimy go in for it. . ' • ■'.■ .■•■

Mr Kibblewhite said it would be very difficult to take a centre road through the Mock as the hillß.run cross ways.tbtbj river, and they would havo, the gullies to contend with, and judging from,wiatMr Potersen said, the main road 'would-h&ve to he takon along the river. . ■%■■ Mr Girdwood seconded the adqpli'o'n'oF'' the' report, as it diinot bind them to the .shape of the land. '■'.' ";.■-• : In answer to Mr Gapper MrfKibblewhite said the 150 foot bar!-referred towas the northern boundary t,QWsridi Gorge, '■'' ■■' ;.''.' '-■ .''.••.'.' The report was adopted; • -<.;

The Chairman reati the recommendations of the Committee' and dealt with them seriatim, .'■■■'

Mr Renal! asked what means would the Association adopt to raise the money to ■'•''" purchase the 640 acres for a township •" . The. .Chairman said the cost to eaoh member would be about £?.■ For'tmV ■•/ they would get one town acrysvA four suburban sections, and eachwjwoiild have to pay that amount down!*" w ■ ;

Ifr Reese said ifcwaj rathw ujifgrtty . nate that Mr MoGarclle was unable io'" l! attend this meeting :as he ■ understood', from him.that the Minister of Lands was . willing to conceed this 640 acres for a fund "'. for roads throughout the. block; that imme • diately after it was surveyed the selectors'" - would be allowed tochoosesections at the ■ upset price, and the balance would be put in the market for sale for cash..

The Secretary said the 640 acres would give each selector, 5 acres, 100 acres would berequireclfarroads, and4o acres.would be left for a reserve for the town,

The Chairman said the township was one of the best ideas in connection with the Association, and they should stick to it and rate themselves for roads.

Mr Bamber spoke against" the motion of cutting up the 640 acres and putting it in the market for sale, He was in favor of the selectors'getting their five acres and taxing themselves for roads.

Mr J. Brown moved and the Rev W. Jj. Paige seconded the adoption of the first clause of the Committee's datiqns, "That this Association is founded for the purpose of taking up yVOOO aora of land in the Mangahao ValjWt9£isivo of roads,' under the Specialvsfttlements regulations issued by the Government, also to purchase '640 acres from the Government for cash for,se purpose of cutting up Into town ajjij suburban sections."—Carried. ■ ' ' ■'•

" Mr T. G. Mason moved, and Mr 58. Jagb seconded, That the'name'of the Set> tlemeht shall be called the MastertoriMarigahab'Snecial Settlement, -Carnal.' '?!]'#' shall be a Committee,' ef Managpiu'ent'conjifting of a Chairman Secretary, Treasurer, and BevefliewjbW, fi'vo to form a quorum, whose duties shall bo to carry out the objects of the Assgcjatipn.—Carried. .-../.' .'Mr W.' Kibblewhite moved and Mj< Bamber. seconded. That the Opiqmitte§ fromtime fco time-may levy contribution! tq cover working oxponses, but fco exeeed 3dper.aore. —0anded',......,, Clause numb'o'r 5 caused-considerable discussion, "Thatsectionß maybecutupin sizes varying from'so to 150 acrcß accord-ing-to the. requirements of the rnembers." Mr T, P,. Girdwood moved as an amendinent, Th'atthe Bloi be-?pt iu«jgp lfjfj sections of-100 acres each or .w> thereto as convenient, ' •■V]-\ ... Mr R, Evendon seconded.' ' ; ' . •

Tho amendment was lost and the Conv;. mittee'B recommendation carried,- \ Mr J. Brown moved, and Mr. J,, Yates seconded, That tho sections bo valued by the Committeo who will fix a Bliding scale 'of values of the various sections in accordance with the position, and quality of the section?,' but the prM 'price 1 shall not exceed '2(ls per wi4 ' ' ''::•'.' Mr T. P. Girdwood moved, and the Rey W. E. Paige seconded, That each member shall be entitled, to select ilt cost price one town acre and four acres pubur* ban.—Chrrled,

The Rev. W. E, Paige; moved.-that the allotment'of sections bo by ballot,.each selector to take the corresponding number on the plan to what he draws. ■ ; -■■'.'."

. Mr P. C. Frasi moved as an amendment which was seconded by Mr .Hogg,.that lots be drawn for choice of Bectionsf. - . The ainendjiient was logtandthemotion carried. '■ ' •■"■■■ : y- ::l The 'fixing upon the sitq.to took up a. great deal of time'in conseV quenoe'of the inspection oommit.tpe not agreeing amongst themselves as-to best block to recommend, Jjjjw.uhahi- 1 mously agreed'upon that the4s&..6uld be the Mangahao, but there was avHsion of opinion as to which end should be ' chosen, • and as it was ;dqubtfd whether either end containedtheamountrequired, it was resolved on the. motjoh'iofrthe Chairman, seconded- by Air J./WLang. that fclje b.lqck of land a| shqwnprijhfl plan bo 'This block-is'about 18 miles in length, running parallel withjthji ■ Mangahao, and in wjdth about 2s ; nule's. The meeting having tljinned conßidert 'ably, the remainder, of fclje busineßS, eleotion of.pfflcerß,.^(),,f : ps' uitj)8 p,m,' on Mondayj January 19tli, at th@ same.place... • '.,.;:.-'<-,^."•»;' ;.:--