MEETING AT OTAKI.

Manawatu Herald, Volume III, Issue 55, 11 March 1881, Page 2

MEETING AT OTAKI.

A largely attendod and influential mneting was held at the schoolhouße at th ■ .hive township on Tuesday evening las. for the purpose of taking more steps in connection with the application for a blook of liud to be thrown open for settlement on the deferred payment system. Morgan Carkeek, E^q., was voted to the chair, and explained the scheme to the meeting. After some discussion, a committee was appointed to draw up a memorial to the Government on the matter. Since the meeting, the following memorandum on the matter has been drafted by the Committee, and after having been moat numerously signed, waa forwarded to its destination : — To th* Hon. the Minister of Lands, Wellington. Sir, — We the undersigned residents in the Otaki District desire to draw your attention to the fact that whereas large blocks of land havo been set aside in other districts on tha deferred payment system, in this district no land has as yefc been thrown open for selection, th-uigh largo areas have been acquired from the natives aud proclaimed waste lands of the Crown. We would respectfully remind you that owing to the extreme difficulty in obtaining

lands with any valid title on this side of the Manawatu, tho whole of this country, contaiatng upwards of 100,000 acres of good land, remains virtually unsettled to the present time. We have tho honor fco request that out of those blocks lately acquired by the Government from the natives, and proclaimed in the Gazette of October 21 sfc, 1880, to be Waste L_nds of the Crown, and known as the Manawatu Kakutauaki Nos. 4 E, 4 D, 4 C, 4 (.., 4 8., and 4 A-, an area of not less than 5.000 acres, n.ay be sjfc aside for sale on deferred payments under the provisions of the Laud Act, 1877, aud thafc tho areas of the sections should range from 20 to 200 acres. We may mention that afc a public meeting held as Otaki to discuss this question, the settlers present expressed their willingness to take up about 4,000 acres on the deferred payment system. We have the honor to be your obedient and humble servants. [Here follow the signatures.]