The Dominion. FRIDAY, JULY 2, 1920. LAND FOR SOLDIERS

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 238, 2 July 1920, Page 6

The Dominion. FRIDAY, JULY 2, 1920. LAND FOR SOLDIERS

,At a time when complaints are being raised on all sides, it is perhaps not surprising that returned . soldiers should add something to the chorus, but it is fairly obvious that the complaints that are rife in regard to the extension of soldier settlement lack any real foundation. Anyone who has followed impartially the circumstances leading up to the existing state of affairs will l'ecognise that temporary difficulties have arisen only because the Government, in its eagerness to do its best for soldiers, was tempted to go ; too fast, and in consequence exhausted available funds very much move Quickly than had been anticipated. The fault, if it was a fau|t, is one that soldiers ought to bo roady to condone, but in fact tho Government, is now being blamed and severely 'criticised by 'some at leaat of the men_ whom its lavish expenditure 'was intended to benefit, Now that it desires to profit by the experience it has gained and prosecute the settlement scheme on such jifies as will conduce best to the interests of soldiers arid the country, it is being attacked as' if it wero attempting to cut off advances to soldiers altogether. At the meeting of the. local branch -of the R.S.A. on Wednesday night, for instance, one speaker said that "the Government had been listening to the advice of those people who said that sufficient.'had been done for the returned soldiers...jind that tho Government had gone far enough." There is not a shred of evidence to support this wild assertion, and certainly no one with any authority to. speak on the subject has made any suggestion of the kind. Un-. founded assertions of this nature are not only unjust, but arediable .to do harm, in misleading people, who may accept them as being of Bome value. • . The actual position is that , the Government has not dofrom; its declared intention of discharging its full obligation to returned soldiers—in so far as that may be done under the settlement scheme .'or in other- avenues of repatriation—and is solidly backed IW.public opinion in.that attitude. Figures which were cited by the Minister op Lands in the. House of Representatives yesterday speak for themselves in this connection. Mk. Guthrie mentioned that in round figures the sum of twenty millions sterling had been spent on repatriation .(much the greater part on soldier settlement) and that tho Government now has 691,000 acres of land available for soldier settlers throughout the Dominion.' The total includes a considerable area of more or less improved land acquired by purchase. ■heedless as it is, the controversy that has arisen will serve a good, purpose it it helps k> concentrate the attention of returned soldiers' and other people on what is defective in the settlement scheme as it has thus far, been developed. It is a serious weakness that in many cases, inexperienced soldier settlers have replaced . skilled and. experienced farmer's on high-priced land. . In reporting to his board' yesterday, the Wellington Commissioner of Crown Lands (Mr. M'Cluke) made some remarks on this subject which aro timely and to the; point. Returned men who tbok up virgin bush country, he observed, were making splendid progress, and had already felled and grassed over 10,000 acres, all of which was now carrying stock. .On the othor hand he urged that the purchase of separate farms was not in the best, interest of Boldiers and tended to inflate land values. It is, of course, obvious that the occupation of virgin country not only ensures increased production, but offers soldier_ settlers their best chance of attaining secure independence. The subdivision of large .estates also affords scope for satisfactory settlement and for a material increase in production. On the other hand the establishment of inexperienced men on highly-improved farms is bound to entail a decline, temporarily at least, in production, and at the same time imposes on soldier settlers at the outset of their career on the laud a maximum financial handicap. If due heed is paid to these- considerations in the further extension of tho, soldier settlement scheme the incidental- problems of finance will be appreciably simplified. At best it will be anything but an easy matter to find the money .required. It is mere nonsense to suggest', as some representatives of the returned soldiers have suggested, that the Government need _ only say that it requires a certain amount of money for soldier settlement to get' it. The actual position is that here and all over the world extreme difficulty is being experienced in raising money for the most necessary purposes, That it is the duty of tho Government to find such amounts as are required for purposes of soldier settlement goes without saying, but it has to be recognised also that if the Government went beyond a point of safety in attempting to raise money for any purpose the consequences would rcact seriously on the whole community, returned soldiers included. Tho limits thus set will not prove too narrow if tho sottloment scheme is extended henceforth to tho best advantage of all concerned, and in light of the experience gained during the last year, or two. ■ The principal condition of unimpeded and satisfactory progress is that tho occupation of undeveloped Crown lands should take from this time forward a largor placd in the total settlement scheme.