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TE AROHA BLOCK, DEFERRED PAYMENT SETTLERS GRIEVANCES.

In compliance with a pressing invitation received from the above named settlers, we despatched a special reporter, who has just returned from the block. He reports : — Having spent the preceding even- r ing at the Waitoa hotel,' I was enabled to" reach that portion of the Te Aroha block occupied by the deferred payment settlers at au early hour of the day. It^ is' named block tl. on the map, and is situated on the west side of the Waihou river, averaging about a mile or so from its banks. The approach to the land branches off from the main road about a mile and a quarter from the river punt. The track follows what has been laid off for a main line of road leading to Matamata, Oxford, &c, passing through the deferred payment and Grant and Foster's special settlements. en route, I was accompanied to the ground by Mr Reuben Pan*, a member of the Waitoa Highway Board, who has all along taken deep interest in the unfortunate position in which the deferred payment settlers find themselves placed; as also by Mr Breakell, who acts as engineer to the board. The first named gentleman kindly placed his conveyance at our service, and otherwise showed Ma sympathy with the object in view. For the first mile, or mile and a-half, the track crosses Government land, so that the settlement is bounded on one side by a plot of Crown lands fronting the main road, and on the other by Grant and Forster's special settlement blocks. The track is a miserable one, little or nothing having been done in the way of forming or cutting. Arriving on the deferred payment land, we were met by a body of the settlers, by whom we were escorted over the land ; their complaints and the causes thereof being examined minutely. With the time and space at my disposal, you will not expect me to enter into details at present. I may, however, briefly state that their are twelve settlers affected by the existing state of things, representing in all, 2769 acres. The land was taken up two years ago, and in accordance with the conditions of their tenure, a variety of efforts have been made for effecting improvements. These consist of ditching, fencing, and cropping. The fencing is certainly a present benefit, and one which, under better conditions, would amply repay the cost and labor involved. The draining may yet be rendered of some practical value ; but uutil the main drain or its outlets are improved, that cannot possibly be the case. The crops are a dead failure. The oats and potatoes in particular are perfect abortions. The former averages from three to six inches in height, and it is no exaggeration to say they do not go more than a straw to the square foot. The potatoes are equally bad, the net produce not being by a very long way equal to the amount of seed put in. The land is composed of a heavy black soil from eighteen inches to two feet deep, with a clay subsoil. Under ordinary conditions it ought to grow remarkably good crops, but in its present saturated state, it is useless to think of bringing anything to perfection. Briefly put these were the result of our observations. Acting upon suggestions made to them a meeting of the settlers was held in the evening at which they were all represented. The decision arrived at was communicated to your reporter as follows : — That in view of the fact that the Hon John Hall, Premier and Minister for Public Works would shortly visit the Waikato, three of i their number, viz., Messrs Taylor, O'jDonoghue and Stanley proceed to Hamilton as a deputation to interview Mr Hall on his arrival there, and that the district members, Mr J. B. Whyte and F. A. Whitaker, be reqiiested to take part and otherwise assist at the interview. That in the meantime the services of Mr Breakell be retained for the purpose of drawing up a report as to the best and most expeditious means for remedying the evil complained of. In argument- it was pointed out that unless steps were immediately taken to remedy the evil and place the land in a condition such as the settlers were led ,to expect when they* ,took up their lands, next season would be lost to them which they computed would represent not less than '£1000. To obviate a delay which would -prove so" disastrous -it , was i though advisable t to bring every possible" information to bear on the interview -j with- Mr t Hall, hence, the resolution! io engage the i services of Mr Breakell. I ,will only add, that { I made every possible enquiry re«Secting the settlers themselves, and I id not hear a single -word 'uttered to *thei^ (disparagement. x They are und^-, Bto6"d to have some small at "their disposal— sufficient fulfilling all the requirements^of ! tKe !l claSb \ ! 6f - Settlement ' under "tpfiicn* they* have' secured their 1 ' holdirfgs^ * : -Tne»nf6ji;unal» condition' ftr affairs "wHich'^has /overtaken/ tthein 'is -making^otfd^ able' 'mentis, an'diiniell'relibl r is"prpvicle"dr **ndf-tbat at "once/ftliey^w'ill to'" ''meet .their engagements; tor ; the^ Govern-, 'ment and otherwise? be" 'crippled ' in tteir' :enterprise. £:? *That I belieyfyto'Jje the true jmeefang" being A OQ i^rt»k^^liV^pix)6eedeayd^dnc^w,^Tiyi iairK i 'c6iutracteaWlEeT2svefSßi'ent' I ,utJii^tli«f*'

portion of^Be block taken up by you. You re« quested*gfe to report upon tbe state and condition 'of these works, informing me it „was § radically demonstrated to you that the drains id not fulfil the purpose tor which they had apparently been intended, and you had therefore no means of utilizing them 'as outlets ; also that the toads were useless, because impassable, and asked me to give you an opinion as to the best method of rendering the works already constructed available and serviceable. I first visited and examined the outlet drain and road bounded on the west by sections No, 5, 10, 13, 15, and 1 7. This drain, although large enough in my opinion to carry all the water,. which would naturally fall into it,' and therefore answer as an outlet for the settlers, is rendered perfectly use- . less for this purpose, because ithasbecn extended - beyond the natural fall until it intersects (mear the southern boundary of lot 17) a^creek-which, I believe,'; is ?tho; Waiwhero, whose proper /outlet is the^Waitba riveiv an'd not the Waihou. * This creek can be. traced, a considerable- distance above thfepoitfrnanfed'/aUd is x onet>f the*natnfal~" outlets to a large gqrtiqn.of>tho landrtaken up by the Lincolnshire farmers^ and the swamp above. Although overgrown with vegetation, it has evidently been a creek of considerable size and importance, and its open passage had onlr» been stopped by the formation of eel-weirs, several of which are even now in existence.' " The Waiwhero junctions with'the'Pirauniui to the west of the township of Waihou, and they form one of the principal tributaries ot the Waitoa river. Mr. Campb6ll,;ho\vever,!of To Kapara/ bjock, has";: cleared and opened up (removing eel-weirs and 3 other obstructions), the W.aiwhero^ creek for. a considerable distance/his operations terminating „ within a short distance from the pomt v . before/ alluded to. viz:, the crossing of the old. creWlm^, the road drain on the south of section Nb/1741;*^ consider if the Waiwhero were properly, opened » up to this point, and the water consequently allowed to resume its natural course, that the existing drain, if cleaned out and cleared of all slips,' would answer all tKV purposes' for which it appears to have been, intended. .1 consider it , perfectly* useless to attemprto deepen the drain sufficiently to make it the required putle|, as it is for some considerable distance running against the natural fall of the country, as although tbe level of the water is five feet below the surface of the ground at lot 10,' at lots 18 arid' ro'Vho water ■ brought by the drain from the Waiwhero creek 1 is running over the drain across the road, and over the surface of portions of lots 11, 14, 16, and 18. then , crosses over;- the road, -formation '. again, rejoining the drain on section No. 5. The road, although impassable . at present, could easily be rendeied fit for traffic if the question of drainage, were , dealt with, road and drain being the boundary of lots Nos. 9 and 10. This supposed drain and road does not exist. There has been an attempt to make a ditch and throw the excavated material in a parallel heap. The attempt has, from natural causes, proved- a failure, and the work as it now standjjjis.-simpjy useless. The drain has been commenced exactly at the wrong end, and taken against the fall ; the water level at the outlet being 4ft. below the surface, and at the termination ot drain surface level, the drain itself at the outlet being about 6ft. deep, and its termination near,, north- west corner of section ' No. g, not 1 foot' deep. The proper- outlet for this drain is down a natural watercourse which empties itself near Johnson's >Bush. You have asked me to give an estimate' of what I consider the probable cost of completing the provision of the necessary outlets to the land taken by you, so as to allow you to drain and utilise said lands. With the limited time you placed at my disposal, I am unable to give as complete an estimate as I would wish ; but from the knowledge and information, I have, I think, that at least £850 will require to be expended before said outlets are provided and the roads supposed to have been formed by Government rendered available for traffic, JZe'the main road through the settlement, which also is the only means of access to the land taken up by the Lincolnshire farmers, and which has been laid out as the main road through Matamata, Okoroiii, and Patetere, Bee., I am confident that at least the sum of £320 will have to be expended before the surveyed line of road can be made available for wheeled traffic.

A pearl, valued at £2000, has been found in the Kimberly district, Western Australia. It has been sent to England. The British Admiralty have recently recognised the importance of swimming by making the ability to swim a condition of entry into the royal navy. A white man, now living at Elbert County, S.C., was blacked up once by a companion, in slavery times, and sold ax a slave in Charleston for 600 dollars. The next day he washed off the colour, escaped, and received half the purchase money. A veteran watchmaker at Vouvry, Switzerland, claims to have invented a process by which 'watches will run for years without winding up. A sealed box containing two watches entrusted to the municipal authorities on the 19th of January, 1879. has just been opened, and the watches-were found going. Some Circassians lately robbed Dt Barnum while on a preaching tour in Turkey. At the next place he preached the robbers were in the congregation, and so powerfully did he preach of ' righteousness and judgment to come,' that the robbers came and restored all they had taken. A quantity of bees, destined for Ontario, have been received in London from Cyprus. They were let out near London for a fly, and afterwards repacked for the remainder of their journey. They are conveyed in small boxes, partly covered with perforated metal, and are provided with honey and water. A similar consignment of this unusual freight was successfully forwarded to Canada last year. An important experiment with the electric light is about to be tried in -New York by the Brush Company, in the shape of very powerful lamps suspended at a considerable height. The elevated poles in the City of London are not altogether satisfactory, much of the illuminating power of the lights being wasted ; but in New York the high standards will be in open spaces. The poleg will be 165 ft high, 15ft being in the ground. The top lights will be lamps of 24,000 candle-power, with lower ones of 12,000 candle-power. The deaths of noted .Clydesdales recently'sent from Scotland to America are reported, including the famous Druid (1120), first prize horse at Kilburn and Kelso ; Lord Douglas, bred by Mr Drew, and first yearling at Kilburn and Perth ; Glendale, the first-prize two-year-old colt at Edinburgh show in July last ; one of Colonel Holloway.'s best fillies,; and Moffat Brothers'- King of '' the Druids, bred by Mr Cannon, Congeith. ' , A Cool Widow. — " JEglea "is responsible for the following mendacious anecdote : — Near Menindie, on the ■ Darling, one of the gentler sex is to be found who has had the misfortune to lose her better half, for the time being, on three different occasions. - Travellers say that she is by no means the most' amiable of women, and this may account for the heavy, rate of mortality among those unfortunates who venture to woo and win the widow, the, roadside shanty, and the bit of other property: ' It is remarkable that each husband shuffled off the mortal coil in a different way^the 1 ' fhV£ in, the ; orthodox fashion, after a long' illness j * the- next aucotiinbed' froni the'efffed& v of ' ex^psiire injthe busK where 1 he' had wan>dered aftfer* a drinking 'bout j 'third's^nt-'hisghpstto.that bourne from whence'nb -traveller returns Jby suspending himself by a rope ..to, the branch of a gum tree in the< neighbbrh'ood of the fßusn shanty. -The deedVas'd6ne in the darkess of jthe night, and^ amidst the - noise and' confusion 6£ a general carouse \ landlord was no;b missed until the * morning, when one of the more sober iguests discovOTedjhim f hanging where the beef or mutton* neecled 1 for the* table of -the tavern at others times,.was Eune^The. landlady* t watj^ duly, informed ■•Wxjjjlifcg' **' matter, and' quietly f haft V* sfieet| nafflß*^* .around the remains 'ol-tyKe' departep^or^ "suspended), 'andf|leftr£t|{enr; swaying^to and fro until" the", arrwaLof "the'tijbopißr " who| was sent f prj , and *liad' to come;66riS "W distanced "in -me^^nilej^iw^lway^-^ them j y in answer ■jtoghla^enquiry^jfietnw •

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Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WT18820131.2.18

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Waikato Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1494, 31 January 1882, Page 2

Word count
Tapeke kupu
2,338

TE AROHA BLOCK, DEFERRED PAYMENT SETTLERS GRIEVANCES. Waikato Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1494, 31 January 1882, Page 2

TE AROHA BLOCK, DEFERRED PAYMENT SETTLERS GRIEVANCES. Waikato Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1494, 31 January 1882, Page 2

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