LABOR SETTLEMENTS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1923, 20 August 1888, Page 3

LABOR SETTLEMENTS.

We are glad to see that the movement initiated by the member for Waimate, and m which he has been assisted by the Canterbury members generally, with a view to enable laboring men m the agricultural districts to acquire holdings of five to ten acres of land, has resulted successfully. It was m point of fact, an attempt to adapt to the circumstances of New Zealand the " three acres-and-a-cow " principle, of which so much has been lately heard m the Old Country, and if carried out will do much towards the solution of the difficulties which surround the ever-recurring question of the " unemployed." Hitherto Minister after Minister has been content to point to the millions of acres of Crown lands still remaining unsold, and has thought that, provided the land were thrown open upon easy terms, it did not matter where situated, and forgetting that land a hundred miles away from centres of population, may just as well, for all practical purposes, be situated m Timbuctoo. What is wanted is that m the very midst of our agricultural districts, men, who can obtain employment during the busy seasons of the farmers, should be able to acquire small holdings of land to which they can turn their attention during slack times, and upon which their families can be profitably employed, and which will indeed enable them to provide those families with the means of subsistence. But the Crown, m many instances, possesses no land m the right place and it follows, therefore, that m those instances land must be acquired for the purpose. In order to do this, parliamentary sanction was required, and fnnds were necessary. Under the Loan Act there was a sum of £70,000 unallocated to any particular purpose, and Major Steward has placed a notice on tjbe paper this session for an address to the Crown asking for a recommendation for the allocation of this sum to this object. That motion never came up for discussion and the result has been that a deputation of Canterbury members led by the member for Wainaate, waited on the Government to urge that at least part of this sum should be set apart for the purpose of establishing labor settlements. This means the purchase of private land by the Government where necessary, and the offering of such land to laboring men m holdings of 5 to 10 acres at a rental of say five per cent on the purchase price. Thus if the land be bought at £6 per acre, a 10 acre holdingjwould be rentable at £3 per annum, and a laboring man could well afford to pay that sum, and would at once he placed beyond the reach of want. Of the £70,000 unallocated under the Loan Apt, it has been found, we believe, that some £36,000 is actually available, and of the available balance the Government has promised to bring down proposals to allocate £15,000 for the extension of village homesteads settlements, under Mr JBallance's scheme, and £10,000 for the establishment of labor settlements under Major Steward's proposal, The beginning thus to he made may seem a small one, but it is a beginning, and will, we believe, give long lived results.