Appointment of Royal Commission.

In the meantime, a growing spirit of discontent, and of animosity against the Resident Agent culminated in a petition containing statements and charges hostile to the management of the settlement. This document, drawn up by two or three of the settlers and signed by 36, was brought before the House of Representatives; as a result, on January, 17, 1879, four years, almost to the day, after the first settlers landed at Jackson's Bay, notification was made of the appointment of a Royal Commission to proceed to Jackson's Bay. In addition to the special objects of inquiry, the Commission were asked to state whether they considered it necessary to erect a jetty, or to carry on other public works—a surprising request, considering the evidence of the preceding four years.

On March 4th, 1879, the Royal Commission began its work of investigation. They made a very thorough inquiry into all the charges contained in the petition, of which about half the signatories were foreigners; probably hardly one of whom had a clear notion of what he was asked to sign. Briefly, this document, which had largely contributed to the appointment of a Royal Commission, had been found upon examination “in every statement which had not been sheltered against contradiction by its vagueness, to be substantially untrue.”

The Commissioners' Report on the state of the settlement itself is rather gloomy. Certainly, deserted homes—so often the sepulchres of dead hopes—are a depressing sight. At Arawata the prospect was more cheerful than at Smoothwater and Okuru; for against great odds some of the Arawata settlers had succeeded in making comfortable homes. The Government Store and the introduction of foreign immigrants—these and other things had contributed to the failure of Jackson's Bay Settlement; but the Report stated that chief above every other reason for its failure was the lack of any local industry.

The one industry immediately available was the sawing of timber, and the main thing necessary to enable the industry to prosper was the erection of a suitable jetty upon which timber could be stacked for shipment. If only the consideration of these matters had come first, the Commissioners believed that in spite of the mill stones round its neck, the settlement could hardly have sunk. Supposing the jetty were to cost £2,500; this ought not to stand in the way of its erection. The sum of £2,500 would be very judicially expended if it made possible an adequate return for the £29,000 which had been already laid out.

Far from bringing this forward as a new idea, the Commissioners pointed out that before ever a settler landed at Jackson's Bay the promoters of the settlement scheme had stressed these very things—the need of an industry and of facilities for export After making other recommendations, they concluded: “If we may be allowed to paraphase an ancient saying, to the question: What is the first requirement of Jackson's Bay? We should answer—a jetty; and to the question: What is the second? We should answer—a jetty; and if asked: What is the third? We should still answer—a jetty.”