PROPOSED TEMPERANCE SETTLEMENT AT RAGLAN.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2239, 13 November 1886, Page 2

PROPOSED TEMPERANCE SETTLEMENT AT RAGLAN.

We are indebted to the Auckland Star for the following paiticulars of a meeting held in the Temperance Hall, Auckland, on Wednesday evening. Mr Joseph Newman was appointed chairman. On the platform were Sir William F<»\, W. Duncan, J.P., T. B. Hill, J.P., A. Con, and John Ormsby, a Waikato chief. The Native Assessor, Paratene Ngata, was also present with his wife. The Chairman, in opening, .said that he had not been on the land, and therefore knew nothing of the district wheie it was proposed to form thehe r>ettlements, but still he was in full sympathy with the movement. He had himself been one of the pioneer settle) s in IS4S. With regard to living near to the natives, he might state that they were good neighbours. He hud lived near 100 natives, and could affirm that he had never lost 5-; worth of his property, and had e\er found them ready to afford him every assistance. He would urge them to try this settlemont scheme. Old as he was, he would not hesitate to try ami form a homestead rather than pass week after week in trying to get nmk in the city. If they had <-mew and pluck, it only tnent three or four years' naid uoik, ati'l then they would hue a comfort il>!e homestead for their wives .iiul f.unrier There was no reason why a man should not be far happier in the countiy th.iii in the i i town. Mr T. H. Hill, an old Rigl.in <ettler, spoke at some length in advocacy of the scheme, pointing out that the land was of q tod quality and contained much valuable timber, and medicinal hot spiings wre within the boundary. He hoped that deleg ites would bo appointed to visit tht» land, winch th'MTO\e>nnu m t weu* jrep.ned to show, a-nd had volunteered the services of Mi V- Kdgecuinbi* for that puipoxf. Mr Peg It >i, of Riglan, also spoke, and said he belieied tint the piesont d^prcs sioii would be for tlieii mutual go<d, for it would cinso tli^m to strike out from tha city into the co'.ntiy. There they had almost eveiyihmg that mini could wish, but he would :isk thun not to believe him alone, but to come -ui<l see for themselves. All through Kagl.m they could grow fruit of the best desci iption in any fut.mtity. What they wanted was earnest settlers, and not those who had any hankt nug after the fleshpnts of Auckland. The climate was s ilubrions, and if they had any regard tor their health let

them come out from the city and settle in Kaplan. Still he would jidviso them to ut'Uh the in itter carefully. A few paddo k-i well cultivated were better than him- r dreds of aer^s of waste, and, what was more, no matter how good the land wan, they mtnt use fertilisers. With perseverance Kaplan w< iild be a land flowing with milk and hone\ ; without it they would hnd Raglan or anywhere else a barren wilderness. .Sir Williirn Fox addressed the meeting. He said that fn.rn almost the first day he landed in the c jinny he had been engaged in the colonisation business. H*> had b'»en early appointed the agent of the New Zealand ftettlemnt Company. When that company had ceased operations he was compelled to locate small bodies on the land as quickly as possible. During that time he had obtained some experience in settlement 0 . What they wanted was principally persevering men. He had himself been a farmer at Kan<?itikei, near Wanganui. He would advise them to bee fcr themselves what the land was like. There were difficulties to be fac^d in the country, and people mn^t not expect to find themselves entering stiaight off into a Garden of Eden. Some very injudicious .settlements had been started, such as Albertland, in 18(>0. It was miserable ti-tree country, but he found the other day that this settlement hid floMii-lied, and what was the ciusc' Simply because there was hardly a public house there, as it had been started as a prohibition settlement. At Port Albert there was no public house, but nb.nit 10 rmlfs back there was one. Ha found that where there had been no hotel thrrewas no drunkard's grave, but at the other there were twelve. He believed that there was better land on the Waipa river thin an>\\ljeie else in the Waikato. He had been there, and knew a little about the country. He had no doubt that with sobriety and industry they could make the settlement a decided success. Several other settlers spoke, and finally the following gentlemen were elected as a committee to receive reports and furnish information to intending settlers : — Messrs T. B. Hill, J. Newman, .1. Brame, J. Buchanan, A. Cox, G. B. Lilly, and F. Jeune. A vote of thanku was accorded the chair, after which the meeting terminated.