LAND SETTLEMENT

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 223, 14 June 1919, Page 11

LAND SETTLEMENT

INCREASED PRODUCTION ESSENTIAL

DECREASED LAND VALUES PREDICTED

"It is, I consider, imperative that a vigorous policy of land settlement should bo pursued iu this Dominion," said Mr. \\. 11. Beauehamp, chairman of directors of tho Bank of New Zealand, [it tho aununl meeting of shareholders yesterday: "The State is doing excellent work in settling soldiers on the land, and some very satisfactory results have already been obtained. Some 1209 soldiers have at May 19 (ultimo) been settled, on areas aggregating 553,520 acres, anil further settlement is in progress. Extensive financial assistance has also 'teen afforded to ninny soldiers who are in need of such help.

"Something more, however, should be done. There is still a vast urea of Native llind that is lying more or less idle and unproductive. The State should deal with this, land on the principle embodied in (lie West Coast Settlement Deserves Act, '1892. Under that Act, Native lands in Taranaki aro leased in suitable areas fo farmers, on terms equitable to both parties. The rentals .ire collected, by the Public Trustee and distributed to tho Natives. The Act has operated satisfactorily in Taranaki, and "puld easily be made to apply to Native lands in other districts to the advantage of the Native owners and the benefit of fhe peoplo of New Zealand. The heavy load of taxation that tho country has to bear ns tho result of. tho'war makes it iiecessilry that no means of increasing Ihe earning-power of .the country should lie neglected.

"The-6et.tlerne.nl; of tho vacant lands of the Dominion is one of tho 'principal 'means by which that onming-power eii'n be most readily and expeditumsly, increased. The country must produce more, so that its.surplus for export will expand, if we are to meet our war burdens' satisfactorily and maintain the country's progress and prosperity. But this land settlement , and increased production will be impossible unless further facilities for .transport ■ and .communication are. provided. Therefore roads, bridges, and railways' become essential, and Ihe country should endorse a comprehensive policy that will speedily secure to the , pioneers in settlement these .necessary conveniences. '"Owing to the- present remunerative prices of produce, due mainly to ihe wer

and-the Imperial commandeer, farmers are'buying-and-selling improved lands at very high prices.' With our main markets 12,000 miles'away, with new and formidable competitors in the fields with Europe impoverished through the war, and people educated to the use of substi-tutes,-euoh. as margarine, it is hardly possible that our dairy products can maintain their present values when Ihe Imperial commandeer ends. What, then, will 1)6 the position of those who have paid high prices for-lroid and burdened thomselves with heavy nioi tgiijte charges? 1 "The value.of any farm land nnst be determined by what enn be got-out of it by a .competent farmer. At present this is largely a matter of i,uess-work, .and a farmer, with a biased mind; may easily, persuade himself that he can obtain' better results than the farmer who is selling. Whiii is 1, primarily required os a guide to the real value of land is a more exact system of farm book-keeping. No business, can he successfully carried on without ft proper book-keeping eystem, and , farming, being a business, is no exception to the 1 rale , ; but it.is to'be foared.thatafc ■present "farmers , ' books, where kept at all, are by ho means accurate find are of little •iis9 as an index to the value t-f the land the fnr'mer. is working, and therefore not entirely reliable as a guido to his true financial jjosition. "The question of proper methods of farming accountancy is engaging attention in other parts of the world, and it ■is to be hoped that the outcome of the Consideration that, it is receiving will bis th« evojntioiv of a satisfactory system by which the farmer will be fible to ascertain the trne Tesults of Iris operations and to determine the true vn-hie-of the land he is working, or may be proposing to purchase."