PAHIATUA.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume IX, Issue 2926, 16 June 1888, Page 2

PAHIATUA.

(From our own correspondent.)

Some o( your readeis know that tlijjsl celebrated village settlements oK l'ahiatna anil Mangafcainoka" lio on cither side of the Mangatainoka bridge and also 011 either side of the main road; in other words the main road runs through them North and South, while the river Mangatainoka divides the Pahiatua settlement (south of the river) from the Mangatainolia settlement which is north of the nftr. Accordingly the Mangatainoka biHge is tho oxact geometrical centra of this group of settlement. Why then do coach passengers see a mile of virgin bush to right and loft as tliey rumble over the bridge'} It is because a strip along the main road, a mile long and say 5 chains deep on either side, was reserved for a township. This land was sold in "Wellington 011 tho 23rd May, for cash, under the usual complicated and absurd conditions. Nobody might apply for more than one section. The full purchase monoy had to be sent. 111 case ot two applications for one section, an auction (date not giveu)\vaa to be held. Plans wore, only sent up at tho last moment and then were not distributed. So if .% anyone went and inspected the plan. \ at the Post Office, when lie got 011tm ground, he ( could indentiiy However a few-knowing ones were in the swim. They had written for plans to Wellington, and saw thatJjbe sections were dirt cheap at the upret price; the highest boing only 17 10s and the area being about ono acre. The average working man choked off by the obstacles. The result is that there is now a regular tido of speculation. Mr Crewo has alroady run up the shell of a hotel, and got a license; and some whci secured sections atf 5 are asking £SO. I hear also of a butcher's shop and general store going up. You see if tho sections had been advertised locally and plans distributed a month beforehand, and a local auction held, the Crown would ha\t averaged at least £2O a section. Common sense would have also suggested tkt the whole area, including roads and reserves, should have been felled before sale and the pegs flagged. It is extremely expensive and troublesome to foil isolated acres, while the uiifelletl roads and reserves are a gaat, nuisance. I went over the land t\™ before the sale. Speculation is not in my line, but "your own" likes to know.. what is a foot, and I found in mai»' casoa it was almost hopeless to tho roadlines and pegs. ■ I may add that it was absolutely necessary to find the pegs before applying, as in this country, if you buy a section a little lower than tho road, you will be linbto

to floods for an indefinite time until all the bush is down and drains made. There aro also swamps which would « finder a section useless for building 11. ] hope, in time, public opinion will stop this sort of tiling, Had this valuable land been disposed of under ordinary precautions, the Crown would have received a large sum, The colonies cannot afford to give away valuable land. Exactly the same sort of folly to my knowledge is going on in many other places. The land would realise twice as much if proper plans were freely distributed, aiidthisjoiiriiey to Wellington done away with, and the conditions of sale made clear. I forbear from pointing out some very flagrant instances because if I wrote you a long chapter about a future sale you would say you were advertising land for sale and that you wanted payment at advertising rates. However when the sale has boon hold I shall have a good deal to say. As for news I have very little. Woodville is intensely jealous of Pahiatua, and is petitioning that the railway may not be carried through our town; and also that the projected county of Pahiatua bo not constituted. The local licensing committees, «j[fredto)i, Woodville, and Pahiatua, Tire all in a horrible muddle; they have to interpret a complicated Act, and make what sense they can out of the contending statements of applicants, opposers, and solicitors, People are greatly concerned at Mr Crewe getting two licenses, one for a house in Pahiatua nearly opposite the present hotel, and another for a house, not yet built, near the Mangatainolui bridge. They regard it as a sort of spirituous bigamy. I had an idea myself that residence and personal superintendence was required of a licensee. k The skating rinl; has been discontinued, Pigeons aw reported to be extremely abundant across the Manga liao and Tiraumea rivers. A settler's dog worried some sheep, and his mitsjj ter had to pay £ls down as a commutation of damages set much higher, This is about the biggest amount of slaughter I have heard of.