RETURNED SOLDIERS

Nelson Evening Mail, 27 September 1916, Page 5

RETURNED SOLDIERS

A VILLAGE SETTLEMENT SCHEME.

At the ceremony of th laying of the foundation stone of the Soldiers* 1 Memorial Hall at Darfield recently, Mr H. A. Knight, chairman of the. Hall Committee, said that the erection of thehall was only the .beginning of A bigger scheme —that of placing the returned soldiers on the land as farmers. They knew the futility of putting men -with insufficient and -with little or no experience, on the ordinary-sized farm* There were other ways to help l returned soldiers, and he thought that with the help of the Government and of the Minister, a -village garden scheme could foe realised. Under that scheme single men. could live in hutments and have a common dining-room, which would be conducive to economy. There- would l>e ■ no necessity to specialise, especially in the matter of selecting seeds suitable for land in the district. The plots of land for soldiers could be worked on the ipro-fit-shainng principle, if necessary. It would' be to the benefit of the farmers of the district to go into this scheme, and if it were taken up, there were in. the vicinity of Darfield many farmers who would employ these returned soldiers at a fair wage. He suggested that the soldiers' allotment should be from five-to ten acres, or whatever area was desirable, and they would be able, by .' cooperating with the farmers of the district, 'to have heavier work ; done -by farmers' teams. ' The Hon. GL W. Russell, iivthe course of his speech, said if-Mr'Knight would lay before him a- concrete proposal in. (regard to this matter he would bring it before the War Funds Committee, and give it his most careful consideration. The War Funds Council held at present about £20,000, and he thought that if Mr' Knight placed his scheme before him jas suggested he could promise that the council would be prepared to give a subsidy to establish the first returned soldiers' village settleihent ;in DaTfield 1 . . .