NELSON

expenditure was much required, and after frequently urging the matter, the General Government have agreed to commence the work, and complete it before winter. The recommendation was also given that £1,000 should be given to supplement the provincial vote for the erection of Nile bridge at Charleston, and £1,000 should be given to supplement the provincial vote to connect the Boatman\'s and Larry\'s with the main road at Inangahua Valley. Also £1000 for roads in the Collingwood and Anatori districts, and £700 was recommended to be spent in connecting Amuri with Ahaura. The latter work has recently been commenced. Hon. members who do not know this district may be informed that for several years past money has been on the estimates of this Council for the purpose of making a road to connect Amuri with Ahaura, but the amount was so small that it was thought useless even to make a good track. This track will be a great benefit to gold diggers and settlers. On visiting the district a few days ago, I was struck with the enormous waste of capital that was going on there. Cattle drovers, when driving, lost so large a percentage of their stock, that I believe in one year the property lost would pay for the road. Another recommendation was that the sum of £1400 should be spent on a road to connect Karamea with the settled districts. This amount would not be sufficient to make a good road between Nelson and Karamea, but with the supplementary sum proposed from another source, it was thought the amount would be sufficient, in the meantime, to make a good cattle track, which could afterwards be improved. The Province received last year from the General Assembly the sum of £5000, which comes by the way of extra capitation allowance, and it will be paid to the Province in twelve monthly instalments. There has also been the sum of £8000 devoted to the service of this Province in the establishment of special settlements, but I regret to say that these special settlements have been limited to immigrants exclusively. Before giving details of the expenditure of this money, which has taken place under the management of the Provincial Executive, I will say that the Executive have not been remiss in desiring to point out to the General Government the advisability of not limiting the occupation of the land to new arrivals. In practice it was found they were not the best fitted persons to become settlers, and representations were made to the General Government to allow an infusion of old settlers amongst them. A letter addressed to the General Government runs as follows:

"Superintendent\'s Office,
Nelson, 19th February, 1875.

"Sir,—I have the honor, in accordance with the request which I understand that you have conveyed to me through the Provincial Secretary, to inform you that the Provincial Government are forwarding to the special settlement at the Karamea, in addition to lately-arrived immigrants, a few families of experienced settlers, whose assistance and advice will, it is confidently expected, be of great service to persons totally unacquainted with the country, and to whom the best means of making their land productive, and of forming homes for their families are necessarily unknown.

"It is also the wish of the Provincial Government, both as regards the Karamea and any other special settlement that may be determined upon, to afford to existing settlers the same advantages as are offered to recent arrivals in the colony, and it shall be glad to learn from you, officially, that this course meets with your approval, as regards the application of the funds contributed by the Colonial Government for the formation of these settlements.

"I beg to enclose to you, herewith, for your information, copies of the existing regulations for these special settlements, and also a copy of the Colonist newspaper of the 19th January, 1875, containing a report upon the Karamea Settlement, by the special reporter of that paper.—I have, &c.,

"OSWALD CURTIS,
"Superintendent."

"The Hon. the Minister for Immigration,
Wellington."

GOVERNMENT GAZETTE 57

The reply to this communication was in these terms:—

"Immigration Office, Wellington,
1st March, 1875.

"Sir,—I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, No. 187, of the 18th ultimo, in which you inform me that in accordance with an understanding arrived at by me with the Provincial Secretary, the Provincial Government are forwarding to the special settlement at Karamea, in addition to the lately arrived immigrants, a few families of experienced settlers, whose example and advice will be of great service to persons wholly unacquainted with the country, and also communicating to me the wish of the Provincial Government, both as regards the Karamea and other settlements, to afford existing settlers the same advantages as are offered to recent arrivals, and requesting me to inform you officially whether this course meets with my approval. As regards Mr O\'Connor in the interview referred to above, I am quite in accord with your Honor as to the desirability, for the benefit of the immigrants themselves, of locating a few families of experienced settlers in the special settlement, and I accordingly than are necessary for the purpose, and I shall be glad to hear from time to time how many are so located. The application of any portion of this money for affording early settlers the same advantages as are offered to recent arrivals is a very different matter, and cannot be entertained for the existing Appropriation Act and under the Acts in force relating to immigration. It may or may not be desirable as a matter of policy, but the Government have to carry out the existing law, and I feel sure that upon consideration you will agree with me that this absolutely precludes my consenting to the proposals of the Provincial Government. I have to thank your Honor for the copy of the regulations for special settlements, and for the copy of the Colonist containing a report upon the settlement.—I have, &c.,

"H. A. ATKINSON.
"His Honor the Superintendent."

I need scarcely say that this communication gave no satisfaction, because I am clearly of opinion that it is one of the most difficult tasks in existence to make a successful settlement of new arrivals—particularly the class of new arrivals we have been favored with. It is very easy for those who have been engaged in bush life to imagine the case of an immigrant with a large family, and penniless, placed in a dense bush and asked to become a settler. The position is one which is calculated to bring about ruinous loss, the heart of any but the most courageous, and it has had that effect. They see the great trees at Karamea, and their helpless families around them, and they see no hope in the future. But many of them now, I am glad to say, are getting on well, and I believe they will form a highly successful pioneer settlement in that part of the country. The difficulties of forming a special settlement in a remote area were great, but the inducements to choose that place were also very great. It will be remembered that many years ago, a large land sale took place there, and states there were at that work gold. Ever since that sale this land has remained perfectly idle, and, although there are many proprietors, not one of them has gone to the Karamea to improve the property and live upon it. That fact alone shows there was a great difficulty in establishing a settlement there. Several years ago a great rush of gold diggers took place to the Karamea. They remained there for a considerable time, and that fact that not a quantity of gold they were compelled to leave the place in consequence of the difficulty of getting provisions. The two incidents I have mentioned show that the land was good enough to tempt purchasers, and gold-diggers to go there if they could only have got the necessary supplies. The Government thought, and I believe wisely, that this was a place specially suitable for a special settlement, because, unless under such an arrangement as would throw at once a number of persons into the Karamea, it would be impossible to form one, there.