MILLIONS FOR NOTHING.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 237, 6 October 1928, Page 12

MILLIONS FOR NOTHING.

LANDOWNERS' POCKETS LINED REFORM'S IDEA OF "HELPING" ' ,!: THE SOLDIERS. TO .ALL. WARNINGS. ,',../. ' ■■:':.y.!(ByTOUCT[STONB.).. .....

New. 1 Zealand's troubles' "during' 'the past-few years are .traceable in the main to a single cause. Even a cursory study of the. course of events since 1919 will this fact. Nevertheless the utmost has been done to conceal it in gr.ejit.t'Jclbiids'of .'words, and , the public at ? ,;large ,ha"s still, little' appreciation .of how , ;-in- face of : positive . and definite warnings of'what must inevitably en--sue; the. national interest and the interests "of'tfe soldiers who had fought for this'Vcountry '"through the Great' War were "in .1919 Subordinated to the' interests;'of a., sinaU,.handful/ of ..landed; pro-, piietors.:, : ..... ; ~:. _■...-, ;..: In- a> previous article a glance was taken! at; the r way in r which/ half a- centur£'"agb rpublic works Eclißiiie was tonr'to-'pieces by -the landowning 'inter'ests> : sb "that the landowners "reaped, tlie great'increase in land Tallica .'.'caused, by, the'. railnyay building while tho populace was left to foot the bili'.y"'Tlii3 , resulted "in-a'huge land boom and.a- colossal subsequent smash. Let us;_now trace the' course of events in connection • with our. latest land boom and , slump, • arid we .shall find the>..same influences exerting:themselves and. the Ba'nje"results following;"' : "-;' " . '■: " ,

same resuius luiiuvvmg. .:.'.. >■ ! '£i early, as. 1915. New Zealand passed 1 legislation; to., facilitate,, the' settlement . oiljthe!.land: of its discharged-.soldiers.* j Atj the 7 ,- conclusion of hostilities in 1918 there, were approximately 52,000 New '. Zealand soldiersr.abroad on -.war service,. tho l; greater number of them returning ' to'-the -Dominion in the following year. . Iri'°h*isV : Budget : speech on September 23, 1919;''Sir;James Allen, Minister of Pin- '. ance,'stated, that if was proposed to use £12,5(j6,000 of accumulated, surpluses for th'e" settlement' of 'discharged soldiers. Up ,to that ypar about a million pounds ha47a,een so: expended., Within twelve months after, the Budget announcement the'.commitments totalled £22,760,000, suchj.b'eing the figure given by Mr. Mas- ■ ■ explaining the position as at September- 30, 1920. Of this sum, £10,000,000 was expended in rural land 5ett1ement.........:.,,..:.;.. ■„■•-, '..-•. The Post-vrcr Boom. " ■ To realise what this means, it is -necessary to consider the size of the ■rural, land market: Since 191G statistics have been published showing ■■-,'' the transactions in rural freehold properties under the Land Transfer Act each year. These give a fair idea of the amount of rural land dealing done annually, and as the area changing hands is as shown it becomes possible to work- out the average price per acre. -The figures ■ work out as follow:—, ~.'■. : ' ' RTJRAL LAND TRANSFERS. Yoar Ending ; • '.'"' Average Price March 31. Amount.- Per Acre. - IMG '.... f15.91'7,000 £7 18 6 1917 15,966,000 ■ SIS 6 191S .... 13i488.000 i 014 O .- ; 1919 15,079,C00 ' 9 0 O .; '■'■'■'■ '1920 .... 43,518,000. 11 10 '0 ;.-.,- '1921 • 54,016,000 11 19 (! :• •■ ;1922 .... 19,792,000 910 G ':-.1023 .... 15,631,000 G 14 G Since 1923 tlie annual of. sales has run at . between £15,000,0.00 and£l7,ooo,ooo annually, and the rate "per .'acre, after rising to £9 in 1924, dropped ■ to £7 0/ in 1927.'-- Between 1916 and • 1920 the average price, per acre of rural land as revealed by the above figures showed an increaseof nearly 50 per cent. There was-no increase either in prices or in the-volume'of production'-sufficient to account f soanng land . values ■ between these dates. The return to New Zealand of over 50,000 soldiers/must in jtself have resiilted in : a keen,'demand for land. These, '■■■, 'soldiers ..were anxious to re-establish :•'■'■ themselves in civil life, and as many of them/Uesired to.go farming prices would ' ftrid to , be pushed xip by thiir competition ainong themselves for such land a? tfas available. ' ... ; : . ' __, ■ .-' ""•■■,' At the Owners' Prices. ; .What' steps, did the Government of . Ne t v Zealand take to help its war-weary men to secure- t land at a price at which the.y had a reasorable, prospect 'of mak- ' ing a lining? The answer is that th? ." Government rook no steps at all to this end. It advanced these men millions of ■-.money to buy land at the landowners' prices, and on tpp-.'qf the Government advances secured, by first mortgage these-unhappy victims' oiytlia State in the gieat majority of cai.-s bid to sub : ; mit to piving the vendors oi :he land second , mortgages. : ~., ; ;■ '...' -. ■ ■ The net result of .the policy pursued by the Government was to cause a colossal boom, in .land values, a-boom fanned to a staggering height when dairy produce prices soared in .1921, and then ran to its disastrous crash ,':wjth the decline ■ the year. This amazing Government policy "was 'pursued, moreover,, in. blind disregard of-the (Gov.eVnment's'J/VQwn ;; land purchase officials. ' All warnings - ; were brushed to one side. The viiraly, land '■" market wasβ^prijpletely:.^disorganised, : and. farmers everywhere were led into gambling with their, properties' in the ' great free-forfall. created by this wanton pouring out of public money to purchase land at practically any price landowners liked to dema'nd.; Men 8, were", mad, of ;--:,,course, to buy land at the prices ruling ■ in the boom years. But how many of ' ; the returned soldiers i were there • who . : thought the; scheme would inevitably ruin them? They "had risked their.lives for.their country, a'rid'sufely they could trust their country to do fairly by them. '.-. How wore to know-.that the ■Government taking? no proper '■, measures to: secure.lands at an econo: •■-"■:mical price? ,'",-.■ ■■■■.->.•..■>-...,. .-

■■■-■: . , The figures'"V.Bovk ' the complete . disorganisation of the. rural land mar- '" kefc that followed on the ■Government ,'.-' ' tossing its ■ millions into r the " laps of '/■ the landowners. To the purchasers at ' ,'" these .inflated prices fell, the hopeless ■ task of endeavouring .to extract from the soil sufficient .to keep themselves : : i and pay the interest on-their appalling "mortgages. ■ In the three;., boom, years ■ over ° 10,000,000 ' acres, ~of ■;• rural free- ■;-: 'hold changed hands^jind^there is "only ' . ■ 20.000,000'"acres ~'6f: ' 'rur.nl; freehold dls.elosed• in*':tj6"*9ccuipati>n :'6f land figures; the onlpones. available: Ti l(lt . gives "■- =ome jdoa.of-.tlie. ; exVent:.of the.gamble. ■;■,';:. Its intensitV:;n:ay:,b ? ; i £!n,ii£ced. from the; ; : . fait .that >m the OKlof to«"th e ->> the roqister have move tban-..1.. i iWo..l.V' •-. V ' ■■■-LanaPuictaseiPfficers Ignored.".; -..,-■ ' "It i= easvA-rsay the Government : V.. -apologists, VtoiK#vise, after; the event." >:■■-.- But was it so difficult to be wise before ' ■ . - 'it? 'Consider,.: forj instance, what, the '■'■ -;-". '■ . chairman- r of-'the.Gbvernment-Land PPu r ' ■ ■ : Commissioners ? iadfbeen saying I ilJgut soldier ■ settlement in his report

each year before.the millions were loosed. And it is not unreasonable to suppose that,what this officer said in private to Ministers was couched' in much more emphatic language than found its way into his official report.. In 1917, with the rural land transfer price averaging under £6 per acre, this was what the chairman of the Land Purchase Commissioners put in his report:—

"With tho present extreme prices ruling for all produce there is little prospect of values for land receding,'therefore some simpler but still; effective method may be necessary to enable the Department to provide land for soldiers at a rental they can reasonably 'be expected to pay." ■ '..-.-'

In 1918, with rural land averaging £6 14/, the Commissioners could see less hope-than ever -under- the Government plan of buying at their friends' the landowners' prices:— .: "Generally the prices now ruling are such that it is found next to impossible to secure land at a price, even without the addition of the necessary charges, that (Will ileave any great margin for working, consequently only the .most experienced and energetic soldiers can look for the success they deserve." In his next report, dated August 30, 1910, a. fe,w weeks before the Budget speech, and with the rural land average for.the preceding year up at £9, the Land Purchase chairman said:— , .

"A good many landowners are show-, ing a true spirit of patriotism, by assisting discharged soldiers to take up lands, and it is worthy of consideration ; if this inode of settlement should not be made compulsory, especially iii the case of owners holding large areas or areas of high value." . ■ - . These suggestions of the Land Purchase Commissioners for the compulsory taking of land—that is, for the placing of' the soldiers' interests before the greed of the landowners—fell on totally deaf ears. The previous reports show that the Commissioners could see little hope for soldier settlers in face of the soaring land prices. , : In defiance of the long-repeated warnings of its own expert officers the Government went ahead with its ruinous pro-ceedings,-anil in their next annual report, under date of July 27, 1020, the Land Purchase Commissioners were powerless to do more than record that:

"... Prices are being paid for properties far beyond .what the members of the boards feel they can safely recommend."

..In face of these warnings it is mere rubbishy flapdoodle for 'the Government and its supporters to contend that the misery and wretchedness inflicted on New Zealand by their deliberate policy was. something that could not be foreseen. Their own expert officers had been telling them for years what must be the, end of- such a policy.- But the basic principle of the Reform party is that those who in'the past have grabbed' the soil must be suffered to wring the utmost that can be extracted from the people for access to it. .. ■'■, ■-. . Y ..', ; . ■ '■,:■. A Prophetic Speech. . • ,■••• Nor was it only from their own officers that/the Government was told the truth about their soldier settlement' scheme. The very first speech in the Budget debate of 1919 told them what was ahead of this country unless Cabinet stayed its hand. No truer and more prophetic words we're ever uttered in the Parliament of New Zealand, than, those spoken by Sir I Joseph Ward on that occasion. Here is what he said: — .

"Now £14,500,000 is a prodigious sum to use for the purchasing of land within a year. r I want .to ask whether they realise what that means. It means that before we are two or three years older a number ;bf ''these soldiers will have to go off the land every year or two. They wiil.be.faced, it nfay be, with financial ruin. . ... No sane or serious man in this "country, whatever his politics may be, can do other than/feel alarmed at the future position of the soldiers who are being driven ,to go on the land at excessive prices. '.. One section of the community,, the landowner' arid -the. landseller, is getting the benefit of that excessive payment. . . . It.is.unfair and unjust to make the soldiers who fought for their freedom to pay exorbitant prices for the land they have v helped to protect. . . . We should: try and have a reasonable valuation put. upon, the land, and not an abnormal war value due to war prices, which is going to murder the men- who are going" upon it in tlie, years that are ■to come.".. . .. ~: ■'..... ,'.- ; ..'

That was plain, honest speaking, but it availed nothing. Tlie landowners were given those excessive payments. The soldiers were put on the land, at exorbitant price, which "offered no earthly prospect of' financially successful farming. And now the men who did it ask that New Zealand should suffer .them to conduct its affairs in the interests of their friends for still another term of years. '

On another day we shall take a glance at some other aspects of the land question in Now Zealand. ' And theii, ; when we have looked around the problem, it may be interesting later to consider whether we could not manage our nationar estate : better, than we do. 'For, after all, God made the land for the people,'and not the people for the'landowners. '

:,' ' (To be continued.)