LAND FOR SOLDIERS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 203, 22 May 1919, Page 4

LAND FOR SOLDIERS

THE PURCHASE- ARRANGEMENTS. Now tli.it the Lands Department hu!i to deal with a, settlement problem very much bigger tlmn it has ever dealt with before ac any time, it is felt by Hie Minister-(ths Hon. D. H. Guthrie) that it will nut be possible to ileal adequately with it by using only the old machinery for the purchase of land/ It is not possible for him under existing legislation to make entirely new''arrangements for the purchase of land fcr settlement, out ho has decided to add to the machinery in some particulars. The Land Purchase Board consists at present of' the chairman of tliD board, who is a permanent officer, the Commissioner ot' Crown Lands in the district in which the land under consideration is situate, the Under-Secretary of Crows Lands, and the Surveyor-General—pure-ly a Departmental Board. What the Minister proposes to do is to appoint an advisory member to the Land Purchase Board, one member in each laud district, who will net only in his own district. This man will have the right to advise the board in respect of any land offered to the Government, and ho will act as a kind of intermediary between the board and the vendor. Natur-ally-the Minister -is endeavouring to get the best men in _tho .country to take these positions. Two of the appointments have been already made, and the others will follow shortly. Another set of appointments to ba made will lwve the effect of keepinsj tho interests of soldior-settlers. before tho Department. As announced .by , tho Minister lie intends to appoint supervisors of soldier settlements. - These officers are to be appointed to , ; seats on the land boards, but the statute will not allow of their being given tho right to vote 011 tairds at meetings. They will be. ablfl to assist the boards in their own districts, ami also the land purchase boards, in respect of .properties offered to the. Government for settlemcut by returned men..