SETTLING THE LAND

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 203, 22 May 1920, Page 8

SETTLING THE LAND

AREAS STILL AVAILABLE

THE "AGGREGATION" CLAUSES

Some, news about land settlement in special relation to the settlement of soldiers on the land was given by the Minister of Lands to a reporter. It is gcneially known that the Government has had to "slow up" on the soldiers' land settlement schemes, owin„' to having spent all 1ml: a comparatively small amount of the money voted by Parliament. It will surprise most people to learn that tho Government has spent on the settlement and repatriation of soldiers in New Zealand no.less a sum than nineteen million pounds. Settlement has not absolutely coated, but the speed has had to bo slackened. Mr. Guthrio made some reference also to tlie operation of tho clauses of tho Acts of tho past two sessions dealing with aggregation. . "What wo are coming down to now in the way.of land settlement," said Mr. Guthrie, "is the settlement of purchased lands we have on hand and the Crown hinds which we have not been nbl» lo bring under settlement owing to the absence of surveyors and engineers. Wo havo a number of blocks that aro all ready for settlement except for reading. We cannot give them to soldiers until tho roading lias Men done, and we have not been able to get tho roading dons because of the shortage of the officers I-havo mentioned, afso the lack of public works men. Wo havo at the present time available for settlement about 700,000 acres. This land will cany from 1200 to WOO men. Tho land is of varying descriptions, and will bo suitable for all kinds of farmin". It is distributed practically over tho whole of both, islands of New Zealand. A large area of bush land is in tho north of Auckland, and it is of such a character that it is well worth tho attention of tho Government and the returned soldier. These figures do not take into account any of the socalled pumice lands in the interior of the North Island, for which special provision was made in the legislation of last session. Nothing definite has been done about the settlement of this land. AVd are now raising the reservations from a large number of blocks of land witb the object of throwing them open, for settlement under the homestead tenure which was revived in a more attractive form by the legislation of last session. One great bar to the opening of this land is that a large quantity of it is national endowment" land, and it will have to be dealt with by Parliament before we can engage in any large scale on schemes for tho development of it." . • . ~ Mr Guthrie was emphatic in his statement that the effect of the antiaggregation clauses of his Acts of 1918 and 1919 bad been important. "There has been," said tho Minister, "an evident unloading of land from large properties, and there have boen but few cases brought to the notico of the Government where there have been increases of areas. In these cases tho increases avo ulwavs arranged so as not to come within the scope of the aggregation clauses. Commonly this is done by tho purchases being made in the name of another member of the family. This device, however, will not in all circumstances prove to be.a complete escape from tho operation of the law. lam corvinced—indeed, I have evidence—that the cutting up of estates that has been going on recently can be attributable to the effect of the aggregation clauses now on the Statute Boot. B'lit it is fair to say that some of the sales may also be attributed to the high prices now ruling for land. lam Rind to say that tlu experience of the Government has been happy in respect to these offers ,of land for sale, for we have had land offered to us by large landowners for returned soldiers at prices which in some instances were .£lO per acre less than private buyers did subsequently pay for the land! Even at the prices offered the Government had to decide against placing soldiers upon land at such excessively high values."