LAND SETTLEMENT

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 140, 10 December 1929, Page 12

LAND SETTLEMENT

FINANCIAL HELP

GENEROUS PROVISIONS

GOVERNMENT POLICY

Before he left for the South, the Minister of Lands (the Hon. G. W. Forbes) was interviewed regarding the position of the land settlement programme. The Minister stated that much had been done since the passing of legislation last session to complete preliminaries.

Mr. Forbes said that the selection had been made of an able and experienced gentleman of proven farming ability as the fourth member of tho Land Development Board, and as soon as his acceptance of the seat had been received his name would be announced. It had been definitely arranged to set up at once three Advisory Committees in the North Auckland and Auckland Land Districts, one of which would operate entirely in the pumice- areas of Eotorua. The gentlemen had been already selected for these committees because of their special knowledge, and it only required an acceptance from two of them to permit of an announcement being made.

Mr. Forbes also said that the necessary regulations for the working of the Act had been drafted and would become effective so soon as they had been approved by the Minister of Finance and the Cabinet. He also mentioned that the necessary forms of application for loans, and cognate papers, had been prepared and were about to be printed. "However," said Mr. Forbes, "applications will bo accepted in the interim if merely drafted on plain paper."

ADVANCES UP TO 90 PER CENT. The Minister stated that at the moment it was intended to advance upon tho basis of 90 per cent, of the potential value of improvements intended to be effected by the settler and up to £l"o0 per man. Such advances would not be made for the purchase of stock. No fee would be charged for inspection unless a loan were granted. Every Commissioner of Crown Lands was at present actively engaged upon an overhaul of the Crown lands in the respective districts. Mr. Forbes stated that actual development work was now in hand at Tel Kauwhata under the Department of Agriculture, and arrangements had already been made for the immediate deI velopment of some 2300 acres of I pumice lands about 14 miles from

Eotorua. The Dominion Land Purchase Board had considered a great number of offers to sell properties; but in the vast majority of cases it was quite impossible to purchase them with any hope of successful subdivision and recouping at such prices as the vendors demanded. However, he was glad to say that quite substantial progress had been made, and that although most of the properties had been bought before delivery according to the position and the purpose required, yet in some instances ballots had already been held.

LAND PURCHASE. The properties bo far offered number SOO, and the Government has approved of the purchase of 25 properties, costing, say, £391,100, and many more properties are now under consideration. The general settlement of Crown lands during the last twelve months had been satisfactory, and had not in any way shown a decrease. He had the very fullest confidence that the future would show a marked increase in general settlement. He indicated that the Department would have to be most careful in all that it did. Cautiousness on the part of the Department did not appeaT to meet with approval everywhere, but he felt that the problem now being handled was one that required the very utmost of consideration, as the pitfalls were manifest where hasty settlement was actempted.

ADVISORY COMMITTEES' DUTIES. Mr. Forbes mentioned that the duties of the Advisory Committees referred to above would involve tho combing of all the Crown lands available in the districts mentioned, and that the committees would receive explicit instructions to report definitely as to what areas they considered suitable for~settlement, and also as to what particular proportion of such areas should be developed by the Crown before placing settlers thereon, and what proportion could more suitably be utilised by subdividing, roading, and then providing the successful selector with the necessary finance to erect suitable buildings, fencing, and to effect a certain amount of cultivation. He felt it would probably bo very advantageous to actually get the men on to the ground and allow them to proceed with their own improvements, but conditions as found by the various advisory committees would influence the Development Board in its decisions affecting these questions.

The Minister said he thought it would be unreasonable to expect any marked increase in the number of selectors of the land immediately, and that probably the whole matter would be swinging very strongly, say, six months from now. It was proposed in the eases where the men would actually develop the land to put the oversight of development work in the hands of the Agricultural Department, which, of course, had its expert officers, and was in an exceptionally able position to deal with the matter. The appropriate roading of the various blocks would be undertaken out of the Land Development Fund, and it was intended to utilise unemployed labour in this connection, as he felt that the road development should be very actively prosecuted, and, if possible, be ahead of settlement.