The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1919. SOLDIER SETTLEMENT

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 17, 15 October 1919, Page 6

The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1919. SOLDIER SETTLEMENT

The Minister of Lands and his Department have shown commendable enterprise, in promoting soldier settlement and arc entitled to the praise that was given them by members on both sides of the House of .Representatives during the debate on the Discharged Soldiers;' Settlement Amendment Bill. With so many demands for land to be met some delay is, of course, inevitable, and out of delay complaints are bound to arise. But the figures which were cited by Me. Guthrie arc impressive, alike as showing what has already been accomplished in providing farms for soldiers and the scale on which further settlement operations arc bcinsr prepared. The main facts supplied by the Minister were that already his Department has placed nearly six thousand ex-soldiers on the land or in homes, and that an area nf 109,000 acres is ready for immediate occupation, while a further area of 542,000 acres is being arranered for. Tt is evident that with fnI.OOO acres in hand, in addition to the area already allotted to-return-ed soldiers, the Government and soldier settlers are not by any moans as much at the mercy of land enormia tors as some people have lately been nssertinsr. No doubt a larsro part of the total area at present earmarked for the cxtpnsinn nf soldier settlement is Crown hand but. the area of purchased land which is. or soon will be. available fm- settlement bv ex-soldiers must also be considerable.

Oniif-al afrnotiT-nt by members on both sides of tho House that a sound nolicv is beine pursued in the interests of soldier settlers vas n marked .feature of the debate. Little importance need therefore be attached to the suggestion made by Mit. T. M. Wilford that the two main parties arc divided the issue of the compulsory acquisition of land for 1 soldier settlement.. This evidently is an attempt by a casehardened party politician to keep party barriers standing at all costs. The debate in itself demonstrated that the two parties are not at issue on the subject of compulsory pur-, chase. There are Itcform as well as Liberal members who favour this method of obtaining land, but the really important point brought out —not, of course, for the first time —was that those who are most intimately in touch with settlement operations see little practical beneht or utility in the compulsory systei.. so long as suitabta land can lift obtained by voluntary sale. If the compulsory system offered Ihe best means of obtaining what land is needed, its adoption, of coursit. would be a matter of imperative urgency aiid would not lie seriously opposed. Objection in principle to the compulsory acquisition of land is now confined to a very small minority in the country and in Kirliament! Hut it is the practical aspect of the question that matters, and as to this Mr. Massw was able to state on Monday night that the present system of direct purchase is making land available for settlement at prices that in the circumstances arc moderate. The Government, he said, was able to buy land for cash at less than the nominal market value—this in many cases being based on sales in which little, money actually changed hands—and much or the land secured for soldiers was cheap land. On the other hand, speakinc from a lengthy experience ol thi, conmulsory mirch.i«° clause*, tie declared Miem cumbersome and e\'"°nsive. Tf the advoeiiiw. of comn»!sorv mv nrde to sncp-e«t mnlV'ls by m|nnli I'ind cn»lri '■»: ppoiii'V'd und"* eauitahle conditions, but more repdilv than it is now beinc obtained Indirect purchase, they will naturally eomro.vd a. hearing For the' time beinir, however, their arguments in f/encal terms have no apnarenl, hearing on the promotion of soldier settlement. The time is nnrhaps near when the whole land onestinn will have to be overhauled with a view to expediting subdivision. At the present stage, ho'vevor, it is the obvious duty of the Minister of Lands to secure tho

land that is needed for soldier settlement (in so far as this involves purchase) at the lowest price possible and by the readiest means that offer. This lie has done with marked success. Far from being oppos ed to compulsory purchase, be stated only a few weeks ago that if enough land were not offered to the Government by big landholders, the Government would have to take it compulsorily. Up to the present/, however, it would srem that lai;d has been acquired by direct purchase to greater advantage than ! f it had been secured under the compulsory clauses. Compulsory purchase under new and more efficient methods may or may not become necessary, but the Minister in any ease is on right lines in his proposal to set up local land purchase boards throughout the land districts of the. Dominion. This is a necessary adjustment to the extraordinary conditions nf soldier set tleincnt, and one that might with advantage have been made enrlier.

Imvge as the nucstion of purchase bulks in connrictinn with soldier settlement, -the scheme is nowhere hetter devised Mian in Mic provision it makes for the settlement of undeveloped Crown lands. It is manifest that this form of settlement offers highly profitable results both to the Dominion and to ex-soldiers. In all cases possible the Government ought to settle such land in block-; under the systematised plan in re gard to which it has been in negotiation with the Returned- Soldiers' Association—soldier settlers in organised groups undertaking in the fivst instance the development work wdiieh will open up their future holdings and provide them with means of communication. None an, better fitted.to complete the work of the nionecrs in this country thari the pick of its yrrnnp; manhood who have proved their quality in nnd men of the ripht stamp will find an ample incentive to engage in this form of settlement in the assurance of obtaining farms a;, lower nriees than are possible under any purchase scheme. To the State also the settlement of undeveloped lands offers great advantages. It may very cn-sil" be made self-sur> nortintr. and will materially t-xtend productive enterprise. One of the most prouiisiiifr features of (he soldier settlement scheme jus far as it has gone is brought out in Mr. Massey's statement that more than half of the farms on which soldiers had been placed were unimproved land which had not previously been productive. If the settlement of Grown lands is_ given the place "t cufhfc to take In the Mnl operations, t h is proportion will no doubt be considerably improved unon before the scheme is carried to completion.