WELLINGTON NEWS

Hokitika Guardian, 31 July 1925, Page 4

WELLINGTON NEWS

SOI.DIEIt SIOTTI.EME.N'I’S

(Special to “Guardian”.)

WELLINGTON. .fulv 20. Tlio story ill' Soldier Settlements ns disclosed in the Budget is not a very credit able one from the economic point of view. The Government lias no doubt done its very best to help these soldier settlor*. and probably a certain percentage can be said to have made a success, but the position of the majority is tpiite the reverse. The capital provided from all sources for discharged soldier settlements, totals £20.570,380 and of this amount £13,500,000 represents accumulated surplus, that is money squeezed from the taxpayers. The recominendations of the Dominion Re-Valuation Board, up to the present, have resulted in 22.2HU.H1),). and il to this he added remission of rent or interest in necessitous cases and cases ol hardship it will he seen that quite 111 per (cut of the capital has vanished as 1 . .i i

completely as if the money hail been tipped into the Pacific Ocean, fn addition to this, at the close ol the last, financial year the arrears outstanding on intcrel and principal amounted l<> £580.755. while £22-1.105 was outstanding as postponed instalments, and the arrears of rents amounted to 2210,800. It is an inglorious exhibition, hilt nothing else could have been expected, and the heavier the loss the greater will he; the reputation of the politicians responsible for it. ft has come to lie regarded as in the highest degree statesmanlike to fritter away public money, and to filch I runs the pockets ol taxpayers for the benefit ol the tew This is seen in the Housing Loan.- as well as in the Soldiers' Settlement Scheme. Similar efforts at soldier set11<.moots have been made in Australia with practically the same di-astmus results in respect to financing the soldier .settlements and the cutting up of large estates for closer settlement: have been more or less cosily and ineflcetii e because they are uneconomic, political expediency being the 'reason for their establishment; and political expediency and sound fimuiee can never he harnessed together. Here is a property of a thousand acres that is being proiiinhly farmed by a single farmer; il is acquired for closer closer settlement I : ... * .. .-v iiif # * tmi I'm i-dk t\ 1 ft 11111*0 \1 -

and is cut up into ten litrms cl nuproximutely 100 acres each after allowing for mailing ole. V' !uut* tli(‘ single fanner lin'd one sot of buildings aiicl farm eijuipmenl. there must now he ten sets of buildings and the necessary equipment, all mining to the capital cost. To work the smaller areas iequires a great deal more real larming knowledge, and intense farming must he scientific to he profitable. 'I lie farmer on the smaller area is handicapped in two ways, lor his capital ~o s| is much greater than in the ease ~f Hu. single farmer, and he lacks the knowledge necessary to make larming a small area profitable. An examination of the history of closer settlement, soldier settlements and group settlements, will reveal the same unnappv results —failure and loss. It seems t not fur small farmers to succeed there must be close by markets, but that is not the ease in New Zealand, and the farmer on the small area has to produce for export, and i- handicapped hv high costs and ineflii ieney. In point ol fact, the svstem is uneconomic. WOOL STATISTICS. It can he safely said that wool statistics have lost their force and value since Sir Arthur Goldfinch, in hi- last ctfort. made such a terrible mistake in his forecast. The t rade, no doubt, anted to a certain extent on the strength of his statistics, and not so very Jong ago a prominent textile man ol Bradford publicly requested Sir A. G. to refrain from making lorcsasts respecting wool for he was altogether wrong. It is douhtfol whether much value would he attached to any ltirlher statistics or opinions that he may venture nr publish. It is quite an easy matter to compile the statistics of production and distribution of wool of a single country like N.X.. hut to hn-eenst the trend of trade, one must have the statistics relating to consumption and in stocks nit hand whether manitl'm ltired or partly liutmtfarturcd. However the break in the wool market recently experienced was mainly owing to the difiiculties of Imaiice and the restricted purchasing power ol the mass ol the consumers. Dalgety and Co. Ltd. have issued their statistics of production and dirt ri l:ii I ion of the NX. clip, and these

show Dial at t.he -ales held in New Zealand during the past season. D l ' bales were sold as compared with 50'!.s!';i bales in the previous season, and the quantity unsold was 03.039 hale-; this with the quantity sold gives .i2'k--131 halts which approximates to the actual production of wool last season. The average price per hale for wool sold in New Zealand inclusive nf everything from II to pieces and hicks of i votv class of wool ranged from £2l 12s (ill bale, at luveiv:.rgill to £3l lb, per bale, at Napier where the highest average was obtained. The averuof at Chi isteimreh was -03;) IDs 2d per hale; at Wellington. £29 15s 9(1 ; at Wanganui, £29 -Is lid; at Timaru. £29 (is f)tl ( 229 Its 7d) and Dunedin £2B 13s 2d; Auckland. £.27 3s 3d and Gisborne 225 3s 2d. ’I lie average tor t lie whole of the sales was £29 -Is Sit. and only Napier. ('bristeburcli. Wellington and Wanganui exceeded Do- average. As there were no sales held in Gisborne ii is obvious that the sales reported from that centre are the private sales made there. Of course there was a certain amount of Poverty Bay wool oliered at Napier and Wellington, and probably at Auckland also. Ol the wool sold' in New Zealand, that is -102.795 baies, I'-e United Kingdom took 237.1.1 :i bales, or just a little more than 51 i per cent; the New Zealand mills secured 72.13(1 hales; Germany and Austria. 05. 170 hales; United States and Canada, 32.023 bales; I-raiice 18.1-1! bales; Japan, India and China. 12.729 bales; Belgium and Holland. 9.021) bales ; Italy and fiwilzerlaml. 8.51 M kales; Australia. 5.821 hales. Of the total quantity sold. 7.1 >B9 Bales were of merino and 100.705 bales crossbred. These figures, though extremely interesting, and valuable as records ol production and distribution, do not help one to form any opinion a* to the prospects of the marker.