Other formats

    Adobe Portable Document Format file (facsimile images)   TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 77

What the Commission did for £100 A Day

What the Commission did for £100 A Day.

On February 27th they were at Stewart Island, and as to what they did, let the Otago Daily Times correspondent speak:—"The steamer remained overnight at Half Moon. Early next morning the Committee started on an inspection tour up the inlet. At 7 a.m. the steamer was sighted of the north shore of Ulva Isle. Evidently the Commissioners must have been deeply impressed with the aspect of this romantic island, and a few hours later they were seen retracing Heir course of the early morning, and again making their way round page 24 by the north shore. I am not the least astonished at this seeming preference for these picturesque parts. Its off-shore rock works are fantastic, and its numerous small bays and inlets are beautifully encircled with sand beaches. Nothing grander in the sea-scape line could be desired."

Nothing indeed. The day was sunny, and the sky and the sea were blue. Oysters were plentiful, and corks bobbed in the wake of the happy picnic party as they sailed up and down the inlet admiring the scenery. Mr. Seddon paid them £100 of the people's money for that day, because he wanted to shuffle out of facing the land question. And yet there are hundreds of struggling back-block settlers who are without roads, and who are forced to see their children growing up without the educational advantages they are entitled to.