OPENING UP NEW LANDS.

Putaruru Press, Volume VI, Issue 219, 12 January 1928, Page 5

OPENING UP NEW LANDS.

- GOVERNMENT DECIDES ON ACTION

A BASIC AND STATESMANLIKE POLICY.

MAY PORTEND NEW ERA.

Recently the Hon. A. D. McLeod, Minister of Lands, an.nounced in Auckland that the Government intended to promote ■settlement by investigating- the possibilities of the vast areas of pumice and gum lands in the North Island with a view to bring-ing-large blocks into productivity. Coupled with this proposal is -a statesmanlike effort to solve the unemployment problem j' jby utilising such labour in the healthy work of enlarging the «ope of New Zealand’s basic industry. In a series of articles e possibilities of the proposed scheme, which may be more far-reaching- than appears on the surface, will be discussed in ■detail.

It takes a man of. courage to get out of the ordinary ruts in daily life. men have imagination enough and to spare. They see the defects in the ordinary routine of life but they shirk the ridicule and criticism which new ideas almost invariably bring about the heads which originated them. It is so easy and placid to follow on doing what everyone •else has done before that this course is generally followed even by those who would like to steer a new path for themselves. Human nature is such that in the bulk it dislikes changes in its accustomed routine, and tins feeling is intensified by the fear that any new proposals may be • regarded as being revolutionary and disturbing.

Tinkering or Fundamentals?

In the political field especially is this so, for here we find so many conflicting interests that the bulk of politicians are content to paddle along in an intensely dull and uninteresting style, tinkering with laws , in an exasperating manner without making any attempt to get down to fundamentals, and so trying to solve in the only possible way pressing M otional problems. It is very gratifying therefore to progressive minds when some attempt is made to deviate from the accepted routine in tackling affairs of the State, and in the quiet announcement made in Auckland last week there is much food for thought, for the proposals as outlined, bare indeed though they be as yet, open up wonderful vistas ! for the future for those who can see. So far no detail has been vouchsafed by the Minister of Lands beyond the bald statement that blocks -of land at Kerikeri, Bay of Islands, and at Taupo are to be experimented with so that gum and pumice lands mow lying idle may be brought into -productivity, thus encouraging settlemerit and increasing the wealth of i the country, and that unemployed labour is to be largely used in the -work. The two fundamentals which stand out here are (1) the putting ’into practice of the realisation that it is ■uneconomic to allow land to lie idle Tf it can be profitably used, (2) the attempt to deal with the unemployment menace—for menace it undoubtedly. is—in a practical and statesmanlike manner.

Provision for Lean Times.

Human nature is slow to change, hut a very casual survey of history clearly shows that great changes come about nevertheless. It is all a matter of education. Ideas on the I liberty of the subject were vastly different only a few generations ago from what they are to-day. The gulf between the serfdom of England with the. liberties of the lords of the manor, and the present viewpoint of small holdings and the inviolability •of the freehold, is immense. Still, perfection is far from being reached, » and with a much stronger and more-readily-enforqible public opinion ob-to-day it seems but a logical - . * - 4 , ITYIP

mclusion that in a very short time the opinion will be generally held that land must be used and made * productive so long as people are m want. The new proposal is a great departure in this direction. Just a few months ago—last winter to be exact —the utmost that the leaders of what is popularly regarded as the most progressive country in the world so for as humane legislation is concerned could do for the unemployed was to raise loans and set . them to do unproductive work. Huge 1 W scaffoldings were erected, town halls parks laid out and such-like i works gone on with. _ In times of stress extra taxation was thus pilec on an already-overtaxed people fo; ■ tittle lasting benefit. With mone; '-y-

scarce, and people in God’s Own Country literally starving, the workless were put to do such unproductive and ornate work. For sheer bankruptcy of idea New Zealand’s leaders surely touched Bottom but two or three months ago. This is patent to the meanest intelligence, though, as we have said, few are courageous enough to admit that the old method is wrong and that a new is wanted. A New Era Possible. Human nature does change, however, if slowly. The folly of putting men to the unproductive work of titivating up buildings in times of want has apparently forced itself upon members of the present Cabinet, and the Minister of Lands deserves every credit for his new and courageous scheme, which, though talked of for years, has not as yet been put into practice. In all probability it will be the beginning of a realisation that it is worse than uneconomical to allow land to remain idle in such a fair country as ours, and that, provided he is willing to go anywhere within reason and accept what is offering, it is the duty of the State to find good and sufficient employment rather than that any of its citizens should want. This being so, surely the first essential in times of strees is to place such unfortunate citizens at productive work. Think as one will, what better work can be ’’“vised than that suggested by Mr. TT'-Leod—“the bringing into productivity of vast areas of virgin land which have never before borne fruit. Such is the acme of statesmanship and a distinct feather in the caps of those who have had the courage to put the idea into practice. It is a new departure, and 1 this being so it should be handled in a careful manner so that it cannot be damned at the outset through mistakes which will bring down the scorn of the scoffer and result "n the project being stifled by ridicule. If handled with wisdom and courage, the year 1928 may mark the beginning of a new era in the economic history of the Dominion.

Unemployment Not Inevitable.

We do not for a minute believe that unemployment is a matter beyond the powers of statesmen to solve. It certainly up to the present has been an inevitable and periodic sore in our social life as at present

-organised, but up till Mr. McLeod’s announcement little effort has been made to deal with it in a statesmanlike manner. It does not follow that there should be any pampering, but it is equitable that every honest man should be entitled to work at a living wage if our standards of ethics mean anything at all. Much unemployment is the result of bad breeding under unhealthy conditions, and it should be made possible to settle such, along with the more fit, permanently at some work on the land. Under these new and healthy conditions, with total change of environment, a large section of unemployables would be

I icnucicu more ul xor me ua.Li.ie ox life. By tackling such problems we are on the right way to building up a healthier race, and at the same time depriving the Bolshevik and the agitator of the only material among , which they can scheme with any de- ' gree of success. I The race for commercial supremacy is in reality the survival of the fittest. The simplest way to achieve i j success in this race is to ensure that •j we are the fittest to survive. Striker ; and unemployment are two of the > biggest handicaps to commercial sue i cess, and the Minister of Lands’ new ; proposal, if handled with courage f and vision, should go a long way to d abolish both. The pitfalls and the r possibilities of the proposals, howy ever, must be left for future articles.