The Dominion. THURSDAY. NOVEMBER 26. 1914. AGGREGATION-ANOTHER EXPOSURE

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2317, 26 November 1914, Page 4

The Dominion. THURSDAY. NOVEMBER 26. 1914. AGGREGATION-ANOTHER EXPOSURE

The evil of land .aggvt'gation has been a good deal stressed by Opposition candidates in the present election struggle, and very properly so. New Zealand is essentially acountry suited to holdings and close settlement, and though, there may be extensive tracts, of poor land which! -can only be profitably worked in laj-ge areas, the only land policy for this country, broadly speaking, is ono which will open tho way to the ideal of the nation of small farmers. Thus it is that when Opposition candidates denounce land aggregation there are very ' few people who do not agree with them in recognising that it is a thing to be condemned from the point til view of public policy. It is a little eurprisiag, however, that followers of Sir Joseph Waed should be indiscreet enough to raise the subject at the present time. Their purpose of course is to endeavour to create tho impression that the Reform Government is a Government which favours aggregation. Indeed, Sir Joseph .Ward himself,- practically suggested as much in his speech at Little ■River tho other' day. Of course, he offered no proof in support of this assertion, and it would havo been wiser on his part to have left the whole subject alone, for since he has. raised it, the official facts must in fairness bo placed on record. Those of the public who have been deceived by the fashion in- which Waidist candidates and their newspapers have proclaimed, their hatred of aggregation, and their eagerness to promote subdivision and land settlement generally will be startled to learn how hollow and insincere those professions have been. Before; touching on the facts of the position we •should like to say that all tho figures which we propose to quote are taken from official records and their correctness cannot be disputed. In the first place as to the promotion of closer settlement, It has been shown repeatedly by official figures that the subdivision of largo estates has proceeded infinitely faster under the Massey Government during the-.past two years than it did under the Ward Administration. That there shall be no room for dispute on this point wo quote once more theofßcial returns on tho subject dealing with lands purchased undor. the Lands for Settlement Act,:, 'Area acquired. Price. (acres). ,fi . . Ward Government. 1909-10 42,805 2(50,703 : 1910-11 11,399 158,796 1911-12 • 44,447 381,483 Massey Government; • 1912-13 '; ; 52,098 428,0.14 1913-14 ..' 141,062 600,708, These'figures are plain enough, and prove beyond, all question that apart trom tho private subdivisions wnich. have been carried out the Massey Government has done more in two years in tho way of. breaking up large estates than the Ward Government, did in three. Now we come to tho question of closer settlement generally, and every person interested in the question of land settlement and the general prosperity of the country which depends so vitally on increased production should, make careful note of the facts and what they mean to the future welfare of the Dominion. According to the. official figures published by the State Statistician the number of occupied land holdings in the Dominion of from one acre upwards actually decreased between 1909 and 1911 from 75,152 to 73,876. v That is to say, while the Ward Administration was claiming credit for putting so many new people on the land each year, the total number of occupied holdings (owing presumably to aggregation or forfeitures) had actually deoreased by 1276 bestween the years mentioned. But what makes the position- still worse is the fact that while the number of occupied holdings decreased as stated, the area occupied increased by over half a million acres—in other words, fewer occupiers and larger holdings. This occurred under the Ward Administration, and the facts we have stated are taken' from the official records of the State Statistician. • If anyone should still havo any doubt that large estates increased in number's under the Ward Administration, which claims to favour closer settlement, let them study the official records showing the number of'large holdings when the Ward Government came into office in 1906 and tho number at the end of 1911, the latest figures available. Thisis how large estates of all classes increased in numbers under the Ward Government: —

Size oMoldirigs Number of holdings, in acres. 190G-7. 1910-11. iflOl Ho 5000 3682 1780 5001 to 10,000 ; ; «5 526' ' 10,001 to 20,000 248 X 2GI Over 50,000 • 88 90 ■ These startling figureß cannot be disputed. .'The only decrease in the nunibbr b'i large estates was-in holdings of between 20,b00 and 6t),O0o acres in size, which dropped by 31— all the rest'increased as stiown. The Wardists charge the Heform.Party with encouraging large land-hold-ings, yet the official records .show conclusively that, under Wardist rule big holdings increased in numbers to. an extent which must shock even their most ardent supporters. It is a. fitting commentary on Wardist bethods that, as pointed, oiit by a contemporary, the party should have chosen as their candidate for a country constituency of small 'farmers a geiltleman who is stated to have ag? gregated to himself a number of farnis previously held by small farmers. Tho case against the Wardist Party is a damning ono from all points of view, and it is perhaps .superfluous to add anything more to the facts .wo have quoted. But in order that the Reform Party shall be done full justice it is desirable to touch one more point, and it is this: that the Massey Government was the first Govbrnnieiit to pass legislation to cndblc the State to.eomptilsorily acquire khd which had beeii aggregated against the public interest. The coiltrast between the professions of the Waijd Ministry and its performances is accentuated by. the fact that tho Massey Government should have so promptly carried this prsii;tical measure of.roforhVtb check the evil jWhieh .had growni up under the ftdminititirMicm ol Hβ rirodpcflUßors in office-