BREEZE AT THE LAND BOARD.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XV, Issue 4908, 21 December 1894, Page 2

BREEZE AT THE LAND BOARD.

:; SpeMiSettlements. *Vsj l '■ • ~--r.' , ;'/v ■'■ > Ijt^fi I Soon after the meeting of the Land -yra ' Board was opened mom- <$J; ing the Commissioner; (Mr (T.H. u t) ( "fl 1 Baker) said that .the' action- oMhe ' Department had been ■ presented, and ifsofficeli. unfairly *s| aspersed at the recent public meeting, in connection ; with thejjMasferton V$ J Reform Association.' He considered i\i- ' the more honourable,'course for a \\\ '. member of the Board to have taken f s if the members of the Association \A 1 had any grievances, would have been ,] ' to have first represented them.to tlio Board before taking a leading part 7 s ' -at that meeting and allowing the ' oxecutive officers of the Department / 'to be abused for requiring the As- \ sociation to fulfil |ts obligations. 4 He ' further deemedit the more unseemly • I --housed the word adraedly~of the ' " member of the Board 'to, have so |j acted seeing he was; personally in-' J, terestod,asamember.of-.tj&t-Associ- ' < ' ation,in tryingtoavoidSßkingthe r hrat payments now due to the Crown. '^ 0 As to the demand for the present ' year's.rent,. before, the ballot was f held he : explained by .'circular that if tho members of the Association '' came under the Act of 1892 to get " '' their rent reduced from 5 percent to ■J 4 per cent on the capital value, the ' rental would have to commence on ' s the Ist January or July following 30 i '> days'notice of the completion of the '| 8 survey. He also explained the posi- * 8 tion at theballot and he had no doubt ' - II all the settlers fully understood it, y Settlers were notified that the rent would be payable in advance, but no ® demand was made until last month, ' when two instalments were due. e He failed to see, therefore, that the _' settlers were being harrassed. The •' noxt complaint was that the Board l '> demanded interest for the loan raised 1' on the block before the roads were - 1 ' made, The'fact was that up to date l " £IOOO had been spent on roads in connection with the block. The •* interestcharged'toto'tho whole of jj the settlers on the block was £174 13s 4d, and it would take nearly'six 16 years'to refund what had already been spent, The cost oftho survey of the block came to £B77—not one penny of which had been charged to the settlers, and yet they'were said to be grievously oppressed by the k Department. Regarding the nonc' issuo of the leases, the members had ■° only paid half the fee, and he was £ " therefore precluded from issuing 18 leases, although they were, mado out '" and could be issued as soon as the ™ first half year's rent and balance of *f "fee wore paid. The amount spent on j| 1- the block by the Crown was £2OOO, A 'S and all the money received from the l ' settlers was £25. Mr Baker, ineon,o elusion,.said ho was. prepared to s i prove that the alleged grievances ' e > were imaginary, or trumped up to 1 i evade the payment of rent and put J off making the improvements io- '° quired./" Mr flogff said' he was not in the 10 habit of; being addressed in tho lan- !,° the Commissioner had , '" used,': arid before he would tolerate '£ aspersions on his charaoter as apublio ;o manlewouldsaciificeliispubiicpositions', The Commissioner Baid that he (MijHogg) had taken up an attitude rt adverse to the Departmentln connection with the settlements, and.referencc; had also been his lg connection with the. Rj£ttttrffl „ Association meeting,, He „! happened to aot in , s Hojyas a member of ] ho|vns also M.H.R, tor 3r Before the meeting of u t, lie; wns assailed night ~0 in the Forty-Mile Bush, 1( | who produced documents fromraWßßl v t Board tbroateningto tuin thomoutif T) they did not paytheir lents On reit turning to Masterton he found that y idombera of the Association had ie« ceived similar doouments Tho | e ' selectors represented to him that [,.' they were they could '«■' not get on their land, and as they g: had not thought they \\ ould have to , g pay £lO or £ls within 14dajs He 5 had not asperaed theofficeisofthe ;g Board, but he had sometimes felt called upon to speak out legaicKng the Commissioner,whosoconduct had frequently been assailed by other persons. He had sometimes heard a tho Commissioner speak to his ' officers before the Board as if they were dogs, and his blood has almost 3 _ boiled at such treatment (Tho r(J not believe the Commissioner's statei ment that he had informed members Jof the Association they, would havo to lt pay rant from tho date of the ballot. } _ The Commissioner had not pointed ■ out a solitary mis-statement made at ] the Reform Association meeting He 3 " (Mr Hogg) was there asChauman j' of the Association, and the Commis- ' sioner had, therefore, no light to question his action, Pnctioally thore were no roads thiough tho . block, and yet settlors wcio called upon to' pay rent and loading for ) roads, The statement that £IOOO had been spent on roads was quite incorrect, There were roads on paper s that was all. The .Commissioner [) was trying to extort money from the s settlers, and throughout tho Foity. r mile B.ush the opinion wab held that , the Commissioner was the fuend of '• the big man and not of the small, '• settler, The grossest blunder over • made was when Mr Mai chant was li sent away and Mr Baken as brought .;<, a to Wellington to adnAsterthe Act "?m| here. Mr Baker djdffcindorstand 111 the settlera in the' WflJlihgfon dis- mm 3 trict. Many of them, weie Poles, gl|| , Swedes, etc,, and were put in a bine Jn|tf b funk when they received tho Boaid's||||| l documents threatening them - forfeiture, The poor' fellows did not understand documents, and 'rushed away tolffijf< lawyers.-'The result was tuaUhefllL Board was being discredited It . a fact thathe (MrHoge) had up land in the' Reform Block, but '' 1 4'1 his object was bona fide,w ho wished <ym to make a home for himself, The , rent should begin from the date of' V'*} j tho leasesiwhich shouldnot be ante- , dated, and the Commissionei'snegh"' . gence was the cause of allthehouble '£ , .which had arisen. '~; « , , _ ThoCommissioner-'Yonaremak« \r i ing absolute misstatements ff^J _ Mr Hogg denied that he was mat ing mis-statements. ; He ) considered Mr Baker was holding a position he y was utterly unfitted to hold-he was * '>K 1 a square peg in a round hole '.^ The Commissioner said that Mr '.l Hogg had made a series of state. &t? ments which he,' had utterly failed to prove. ;No harshness had been *ijs shown ; to settlers sinc9. he had been ~XI in'Wellirigton,' He could prove that'" "*» in hundreds- of cases the settlers >'}; l had -received 'great considers/!■ <*'% tipnfrbni the Board.';ThatScandinayian?, did; not the &M Board's'pironlarawainot his Harsh languagewasriot used in circulars.;.;Since,;He been in,«f§i Wellington Ke'M wljjpelleoj I to eTa^oth&|ioVt6^CMn^^^^l

ply with its' provisions. As there had been a lax inspection in the past it was only natural that ho should tread on somo one's corns. Mr Hogg's remarks were unwarranted and absolutely untrue, Mr Hogg said that if the Commissioner would go to Pahiatua plenty of evidouco iii support of his (Mr Hogg's) statements could bo produced, The Commissioner was browbeating the settlers, and treating thorn as if they were vagabonds, instead of honest men. Tho Commissioner expressed a hope that if ho remained at the head of the Board Mr Hogg would not be a member, Mr Hogg retorted that it would bo a bad look out for the settlers if Mr Baker remained as Commissioner. After some farther remarks by both the Commissioner and Mr Hogg the subject dropped.— Post.