THE BILL FOR THE COMPULSORY ACQUISITION OF LAND, 1908

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 245, 10 July 1920, Page 7

THE BILL FOR THE COMPULSORY ACQUISITION OF LAND, 1908

Sir.—This Bill was again brought into prominence at tho annual meeting: of m Dominion Farmers' Conference held n Wellington in July .1917, .that lUhouW immediately.be given eftec to. rho c o dentials of the members of. "»*»»" ence .were that in meet cases tto weie farmers themselves, and as membe«of the conference represent tho iarmuu community-of the whole of tb<, Dommion. And'what has happened?- Was here then, or has there been since up the resolution pawed at the 1917 meet ing? The only answer, is. not the slisntCS And what reason is there to bei given for the present deplorable and chaotic state of settling soldiers on the land? Onlv this, that for the first three years of the war the question of settling sol--dern on the land on their return to the Dominion was not even taken -seriously, nd the most valuable time lost .Mr, . Massey, during 1914, and parture for the.Homeland -held ofcee I Prime Minister of New Zealand, Mmfeter of lands, Minister of Labour, Mm[iter of ''Industries and Commerce, Commkioner of-State .Forests, Hinuter m charge of Land for Soldiers, Valuation, Scenery Preservation and Electrical DePartaent.- -By holding these .different portfolios at tho same Um«-.jt. was « .Soral impossibility for. him. tq d««e euicient timo>. make- a. sucfea of the most ■ momentous and far-reach issue, namely, the land for returned soldiers I have 'made the above statement no simply, as it appeals to me, but .to ever Hvinkimi person in the Dominion, and :rS trust that Mr.-Massey himself may not. take exception to my remarks, because I think he has had am-.pie-time, and the. more. especially recently, to-realiw in all fairness, that my Remarks made are but. the simpl» tr And whathapnened when Mr. Massey sailed foi-England? Sir Franc*, Bel was appointed to carry on the land job for ■■returned men, and to say the least of it there were no improvements made. Sir. brands- Bell was in the first instance writtentoby hePatnoic Societv of Wairarapa, which was In©, tot public body,to recognise and carry unanEisly that the of land was. the only possible way to deal with the matter. Sir Francis Be Is reolv to the same was hardly what had toSwticipatedby.thePataoho&ocietv, being characterised at the time as Tinere vapouring or empty dotation on a Salter that -required careful and ma-, hired"thought. Very shortly after this Z newspapers, of which I have a copy, S?e Shffids Bell the credit of statfnc that so far 304 soldiers had been ettle,! on the land; that there was mow .$d available than present r«siiflM»te and that although improved b«l W been purchased by the Government in Sv cases the returned soHers preferred going into ■ the backblocks as St.-settling on the iniprovedjand.. All I b.4e to "say is that in-1917 there Jerea«r r l.r^ n «ml«rorreturn«d toldien following on the trail of .the eluive ballot and without success, oftenimes spending their smal savings by.. eo doing, and ever since their position has become more cruel. Men who have been ■following the ballots for two or three vears and without success, have become dispirited,' angry, and fed-up with f tho whole business. And at the present time now that a prohibition order has been token' out against the returned soldiers from buying homes or 'farms with Government assistance, what is the . position?- Nothing doing until more cash makes its appearance; but tnihoa: that may bo'yet settled otherwise than by .the. present system in vogue. However. : tmr powers that be, after being placed;.in rather a'tight corner by the Dominion Executive of the R.S.A., fought a did rearguard action, placing some iOO.OOO acres of Crown and nativo lands as an obstacle to bo overcome. This for the' time being set tho . U.S.A. men' a-thinking, and as was stated "by Mr',- Guthrie himself that so far j

only 27 applications had been receirji, ; I thiuk for tho time beinff.llr. Qathm has won all along the line, and the mow especially as ho 6tated when ho wffl. asked the question why only 27 applications had l«en made for this splendid, large, and fertile block his answer being, I <lon't know. Most people will say that Mr. Guthrie should know, and, tailing that, as Minister of Lands, ho should make inquiries on a matter ho is not conversant with. Possibly the aeroplane' service to and from this pet 700,000 acres .may.hare had a deterrent effect on periodical visits. (Roquicscat in pace.) And now, after all these years of waiting, where timidity, vacillation, inertia, and incompetence" have been tho chief characteristics of the Government's laudsettlement policy, it is up to the Government to get tho matter dealt with in ; • a businesslike way, and the only method of so doing is by adopting the compulsory acquisition of laud. Members of the U.S.A. aro of one mind on the matter, and are getting the 1908 Act, with its amendments, made effective, so that the land shall bo taken at a fair value and the payment thereof made by Government securities. The 1917 Dominion Farmers' Conference carried unanimously the undermentioned recommendations: (1) That the most valuable and adaptable land for settlement should bo classified and dealt with accordingly; (2) that . tho payment of tho land be made, by Government security Mr a term of 25 years, having rate of interest at i\ per - cent, free of income tax; (3) the returned man has the prior right to get land in his own land district if he so desires, but this does not debar him from going outside if he eo desires, but would ob-. viously cancel prior claim as against claim in his own district; (4) farms to bo acquired on a 10 per cent, basis on \ the number of men who have left tho different land districts, but 6omeof tho richer districts may have to supply land for the men who could not get suitable land to settle on iu, their own district;, in other words, the poorer, district.' The effect of giving returned men prior claim in their own land district will obviously do away with tho Dominion ballot, and will confine itself to the local ballot: only. This will very materially assist in expediting matters, and at tho same time represent a huge saving that ; has up to the present time been frittered ' ■< away in pursuit of a fruitless errand. ; The reorganisation of the present land ■; purchase system wants immediate atten- . tion. At the present time there nre'two laud-purchase boards, local and Dominion, with«a final tribunal, Cabinet. _ A property, under the present purchasing : i system, has to meet with tho ■ approval of the, above-mentioned, otherwise it may be turned down. In other words, the ; Dominion Land Purchase Board can throw out the recommendations- of tha local land purchase board, but if approved of goes finally to Ca'binct for symr pathetic consideration and endorsement. This method entails a. huge waste of ■ time, and oftentimes creates a costly mess up. The local land purchase boards. I should have the straight-out buying,, be- ; ing. composed of men of expert experi- ' enco and a full knowledge of the_ different properties iu their own locality for '. settlement purposes. If this is given of-.' feet to I venture to 6ay that the many' sad mistakes in purchasing properties in' the past will not bo of a recurring nature. ■ In placing the few above-mentioned ] facts before the Dominion Farmers' Conference in 1917, I have had the satisfaction of knowing that the figures given by; me were a. low estimate, my figures being that 10,000 men would require 10,000 farms, .average acreage per farm 200 acres, equals two million acres. The '■; ■latest bulletin is that just under 7000 ... men have been settled'on the land, and the average farm acreage is 202 acres for the same, but the cruel fact is that there' is another five to six thousand men still waiting: to get on the.land after thoso already settled. This will bring theniim-, . ber of men settled and .-waiting for settle- j ment up to 13,000, and this is the posi- \ tion after five years, and ten months have elapsed since the commencement of the war, and to avoid the unenviable' position of again becoming in a stale of shortage by not having sufficient money •before completing the house and land purchase, and tho more especially as the' borrowing of money is at the present .'* timo a very costly .procedure, the.compulsory acquisition'fof land and- embracing the clause to be' paid for by. Govern- ■; ment securities only may materially assist the Prime Minister, who is Minister of Finance, in performing his simplo duty by the men of the E.S.A.-I am, etc., A. P.■WHATMAN. Mastcrton. - -