Village Settlements.

Feilding Star, Volume XVII, Issue 281, 3 June 1896, Page 2

Village Settlements.

«> (Per Press Association) Melbourne, May 30. The troubles in connection with the village settlements appear to be unending. They have been long recognised as a disappointing failure so far as achieving of the object for which they were established was concerned ; but had they stopped at failure matters would not have been so bad. But it now appears that the paternal solicitude and the readiness to grant assistance displayed by successive Governments have led confiding tradesmen into granting unlimited credit, for recently the Government were presented with a little bill for £2000 claimed by storekeepers as compensation for goods supplied to settlers. The Government, however, refuse to acknowledge any responsibility, claiming that the storekeepers ought to have known the circumstances under which the settlers were placed on the land, and that only a certain amount of money was advanced by State. It appears that they allowed the settlers unlimited accounts at fancy prices in the hope that the Government would pay most of the money owing them, due from those wbo abandoned the settle, meut and sought work elsewhere.