THURSDAY, MAY 31, 1917. LAND FOR SOLDIERS

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3098, 31 May 1917, Page 4

THURSDAY, MAY 31, 1917. LAND FOR SOLDIERS

Public sentiment will certainly demand that every -possible facility shall bo given to returned soldiers to take up land under the most advantageous conditions, and in order to meet this demand it is quite plain that the purchase bv the State of improved farm land will he necessary. It is doubtful, however, whether the proposal put forward by Mr. A. P. Whatman at the Farmers' Union Conference at Marton on Tuesday last would he in "the best interests of the soldiers themselves or whether it would produce the results expected. With the object which Mb. Whatman had in view everyone will sympathise. He thinks, as we all should think, that the debt we owe to the men who have sacrificed their positions and risked their lives for their country and for the protection of the liberties and property of their countrymen is one which must bo met and paid, as far as it is possible to meet such au obligation, in a liberal and generous spirit. Mr. Whatman has himself set a fine example of generosity •and public spirit in the labour he hasgivcn and the handsome contributions ho has made to various patriotic movements designed to benefit pur soldiers, and it is natural that ho should feel that the State should not be backward in doing its share, for the men when they return and are faced with tho ordeal of starting life anew as civilians. Admitting that ho is right in principle, it yet remains open to doubt whether the best means of advancing the interests of those soldiers who desire to take up land is to place them all on unproved farm lauds. On the contrary, while a certain proportion of improved land should he made available for those unfitted for the arduous task of breaking in backblock lands, tho men who arc able to go into tho back-blocks will in most cases find it a more urofitablc course to tako than to settle on high-priced lands which will involve a heavy capital charge with littlo likelihood of any material increment in value. Hard-headed farmers who have "been through tho mill" hold strongly tho view that for an ablebodied young man without capital the opportunities afforded by an unimproved back-blocks section, with road-making work in the vicinity, arc far greater than those of a State-bought, high-priced, improved farm holding. However, tho real point is that both classes of land should bo available to suit the needs and the capabilities of tho returned men. The Special Committee of the Farmers' Union which was deputed tu give consideration to Mil Whatman's proposal brought forward a

recommendation favouring the com- I nulsory acquisition by the UovcruUl ,Ti i'i a " d tof , fi ™->rfass quality si tabic for such men as are unlit tor bar-fc-block hardships. To (his no excenwoncan be taken. It is in" tee..} a necessary sic)), assuming that U*> land cannot be acquired without compulsion. T| le Committee further recommended that this land should be atmiirod at fair values and should be paid for with debentures bearing interest at -i-i- per cent., free of taxation, the owner to bo left, if he so wishes, land of a market value o at least £'J5,000. The conditions of purchase horostipillatcd are open to serious objection. The Conference winch adopted the recommendation unanimously pledged itself to the compulsory acquisition of the land ah tair values," that is to sav, at a tan- capital value, but in the same oi'cut-h discounted the fairness of its 'proposal by stipulating that the payment should be made in the form of 41 per cent, debentures free from taxation. How many of the farmers present at the Conference, we .wonder, would regard 4.V per cent., oven if it were free from taxation, as a fair return on their capital? Not many we should think. If land is eompulsorily by the State, and we are not saying 'that in the case of large holdings compulsory acquisition of a part thereof may not be necessary, then the least that can bo dono is to pay a fair price, and it is not a fair price to fix. the current market value and then pay by means of debentures which carry a rate of interest below the ruling rate, and which if sold in the open market would not realise their face value. With the proposal of tho Conference generally wc arc in'sympathy, but it is marred bv' the condition mentioned, • and this should be deleted.