The Dominion. THURSDAY, JUNE 8, 1920. LAND FOR SOLDIERS

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 213, 3 June 1920, Page 4

The Dominion. THURSDAY, JUNE 8, 1920. LAND FOR SOLDIERS

A good ease does not need to be overstated, and if delegates to tho U.S.A. National Conference bear that fact in mind when they interview the _ Prime Minister this morning in reference to soldier settlement there ought to be little difficulty in arriving at a satisfactory understanding. It is only fair to recognisc that in carrying out its obligation to soldiers who wish to settle on the land the Government is _ grappling with serious financial difficulties. In its anxiety to meet soldiers' claims as rapidly as possible it has attained such a rate of expenditure as for the moment to exhaust the funds -available for loans under the Discharged Soldiers' Settlement Act, but it is hardly fair to subjcct it on this account to fault-finding criticism. The existing position evidently is largely explained by the extension of settlement on a greater scale and at a greater speed in a given time than at tho outset seemed possible. The Government undoubtedly is under an obligation to 'meet promptly the claims of those men who have entered into commitments on tho strength of an assurance that loans would be available. In all cases such tentative arrangements are subject to approval before a loan is granted, but no doubt some men who hold options are seriously prejudiced uy tho present delay and they arc plainly entitled to the speediest possible relief. It is quite unfair, however, to make the existing difficulties an occasion for condemning what tho Government has done and is doing, in the interests of soldier settlement, or to suggest, as one delegate did at the conference yesterday, that "a vote of no-confidence be passed on the Hon. I). H. Guthrie for his bad handling of tho Discharged Soldiers' Settlement Act." Soldier settlers, no doubt, will readily declare that Mr. Guthrie has laboured untiringly and with excellent effect in carrying .out the policy laid down by Parliament and the Government. What has been accomplished thus far under the soldier settlement scheme is creditablo both to tho Minister of' Lands and the Government generally, and there is no reason to believe that this sound record will bo impaired in the treatment of claims still outstand ing.

While nearly seven thousand reJ turned soldiers have in one way or ; another been assisted by the Government to take up rural holdings, it is stated that something like four thousand soldier settlers have yet to be provided for. This in itself, _ suggests a somewhat serious financial problem, but it has to be remembered that the Government is . by no means at a standstill in its soldier settlement operations generally. Me. Guthrie stated recently that the area of Grown and purchased land at present available for settlement amounts to about 700,000 acres and will" provide from 1200 to 1400 holdings. Apart from whatever arrangements are made to resume active operations under the Discharged Soldiers' Settlement Act, the way is thus clear for a rapid reduction in tho number of intending soldier settlers for whom holdings liavo yet to bo found. The area mentioned is irrespective of the so-called pumice lands in the North Island, which under the right conditions will no doubt offer useful scope for successful settlement, and of further blocks which will bo made available as ronding woWcs can be carried out. In future purchases of large estates the Government ought, if possible, to induce the vendors to accept, payment in bonds. If these were reasonably long-dated, interest charges and the ultimate obligation ought to be adequately covercd by repayments, including those mc.de on land which has been bought with accumulated revenue. A good deal might ] )e done in this way to ease and I lighten the financial problems of ihe settlement scheme. Another and still better way of casing theso problems was suggested by tho kb.A. executive some time am when it proposed that groups of soldiers should be invited to undertake development work in selected areas and thus open up holdings for their own occupation. Up to the present nothing has been accomplished in this" direction, and the principal reason, apparently i s that most soldier settlers arc 'intent on securing improved farms Some mention has been mado of the difficulty of finding blocks Buii-

able for development on these lines, but on a. rccent oeension the Minister of Lands spoke of a liumber of blocks which were all ready for settlement except for roading. It is to be hoped that tho last lias not been heard of tho excellent pro]J&sal mooted by the U.S.A. There |is lies doubt that it offers soldier settlers of the right stamp a shorter road to assured prosperity than some will find in th.; occupation of improved land bought at a high price. In forwarding the occupation of idle lands and also in assisting to promote tho more intensive use and cultivation of lands already occupied, soldier settlers will be advancing their own interests as much as those of the country. Group development and settlement, in particular, offer an immediate and leady means of in somo degree modifying the financial problems whibh at present bulk somewhat formidably.