The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. Equal and exact justice to all men, Of whatsoever state or persuasion, religious or political. TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 1887.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2299, 5 April 1887, Page 2

The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. Equal and exact justice to all men, Of whatsoever state or persuasion, religious or political. TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 1887.

The request made by the Surveyor-; General to the Kirikiriroa Road Board is certainly one of the coolest ' .we have heard of for some time. It will be within the knowledge of our • readers that the Government have established a village settlement near Ngaruawahia, on the East bank of , :the Waikato, and have located some half-dozen families there. The land, - whatever its quality may be, is rough, in part covered with bush, and altogether, so we learn, uncomfortably wet. The settlers, apparently, were cognisant of ' these facts, and also of the difficulty, we might almost say the impossibility, of getting on to their sections under exists ing conditions. But the Govern ;ment had promised them employment making roads and drains through the block. They were not . slow in reminding the authorities of this promise. The nature of the reply, which was to the effect that Government would subsidise the necessary works, sent a deputation of the settlers to interview the Kirikmroa Road Board instanter, with the object of inducing that body to bear a portion of the expense.

The board were very courteous and very polite, and all that sort of thing, but tbey were not a little staggered at the proposal. The chairman goodhumouredly told the deputation that the board had quite enough to do with their money in providing highways and by-ways for ratepayers who had been contributing to the exchequer for many long years, and "could hardly be expected to launch out into a speculation of the kind suggested. They would be perfectly willing to see that the work was properly carried out, provided the Government found the sinews of war, a#d he recommended the depu-tation-tOtco)niT|D)unicate further with 'Mr MitlUnoe.'

' Presumably this has Leen done,

for now comes a letter to the board from Mr McKerrow asking that body to undertake the draining and road making, and to contribute pound for potmd towards the cost. This was rubbing it in too hard. The board are no longer inclined to be jocular, oi even good tempered ; they are highly and justly indignant. Apart from the manifest absurdity implied in the request that the board should assist in draining the land of private individuals, it is not right that they should be asked to spend the ratepayers money on those who at best are only ratepayers in prospective and may never be ratepayers at all. Unless the Government change their method, indeed, it were better that these people had never aspired to be village settlers. It is the height of absurdity to suppose that they can ever attain to a reasonable share of prosperity if things go on as they are now. If Mr Ballance desires to make his special settlements successful— we indeed believe he does, and give him our heartiest sympathy—he must take cave, firSt, that nothing but good land is chosen for the purpose ; secondly, that that such land is accessible and reasonably easy to bring under cultivation, and thirdly, that the settlers are of the right class. If these conditions be not observed, then the bottom of ; the scheme .will unerringly fall out, and instead of a smiling, contented peasantry, the colony will be plagued with a band of malcontent paupers. . There is nothing fanciful in this; it is the downright hard truth, and the sooner the Government acknowledge it the better. The hope of the country lies in the settlement Qf its lands, but if settlement proceeds upon artificial lines, as it is doing here, a great deal more care is required in its direction than Mr Ballance appears to consider necessary. It is pei'fect nonsense to set down a lot of people, many, if not the majority of whom have not been inured to hard work, in the middle of a swampy bush, and tell them to make a- garden out of it.

It is worse than nonsense, it is gross cruelty to do this. Winter is coming on and . these unfortunate people will find themselves in a wretched plight; their land under water and almost inaccessible, and they themselves laid under the necessity of living in the nearest settlement, at a time when work is scarce and food relatively dear. When these things shall have come to pass, and their occurrence seems likely enough, what estimate will the settlers place upon the beneficent designs of a Government which induced them to give up their substance, however small, for a shadow, however great.

We trust we shall hear no more about this miserable business, or, hearing, learn that the Government have taken-prompt measures to fulfil their engagements with the settlers they have so far used so badly'. ■