LAND FOR SOLDIERS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 138, 6 March 1919, Page 8

LAND FOR SOLDIERS

FACTS ABOUT PURCHASES

GOVERNMENT WATCHES SETTLERS'

INTERESTS

While so many adverse opinions aro being offered about the work of tho Departments concerned in the settlement of soldiors on land, and particularly the work of the Land Purchase Board, tho following instances supplied by tho Minister of Lands, Mr. Guthrie, will serve to show that the Department is not quite asleep, and that the Government is not always ready to pay any sort of fancy prices that may be named by owners offering to sell. Two returned soldiers bought privately n piece of land for <£37 10s. per acre. They thought that they would have no difficulty in getting the Government to finance them, and tho arrangement they made with tho vendor was that tho deal was to be off in the event of the Government refusing to do this. In the meantime they arranged >vith the owner that they should go on with necessary works;, and the owner agreed that if the deal Jell through for the reason that the Government refused help, ho would pay the men for their improvements. They did not hurry the completion of tho deal, and in .the meantime they did about <£100 worth 'of improvements. When tho Government valuation of tho property was made, the reply to the soldier applicants for aid was that the Government could not look: at the land at the price asked. The owner at once got into touch with tho Minister, and was referred by him to the Department. After some bargaining the land was bought for the men at JC27 per acre. They had been saved ,£lO 10s. per acre on a farm of 110 acres.

A young soldier came back and found ft piece of land for himself. He had .<£lloo and he paid down the whole amount on a piece of land offered to him at jE3OSO. When he applied for financial assistance the Government valued the land, and the valuation was The soldier tried to get his deposit back, but the owner would not return it. saying that,he must complete tho deal or lose the .£llOO. The Department took up the young man's case, with the principal object of saving for the soldier his deposit. In the end they secured tho land''for him at oC20!K), a saving of <£1080 on the deal.. Some little time ago the Government was offered a big property for <£38,000. The Department's valuation .was i' 30,000. In the locality the Government was severely criticised for refusing to buy at the price of ,£33,000. 1 The Government has now purchased at .£BO,OOO, and, of course, the soldier settlers eventually will have so much a better chance of making a success of their farms because of tho lower cost price. In another district a property was offered to the Government for 18 an acre, and' this property was also strongly recommonded by leading men in the district. The Government finally bought the land for .£5 an acre.