DOMINION WORKLESS

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 451, 8 February 1933, Page 5

DOMINION WORKLESS

("Post" Special Commissioner).

COUNTRY MUST PREPARE FOR LONG TERM . MEASURES SMALL FARM BILL

Wellington, Tuesday. On the ground that unemployment was not a short term problem but one, the solution for which must he spread over a number of years, the Rt. Hon. J. 'C. Coates advanced a claim in the House of Representatives to-day, when moving the :second reading of the Small Farms (Relief of Unemployment) Bill, that the State was justified in calling upon specially raised funds to assist in the permanent absorption of relief workers and their families on the land. According to the latest registration figures, said Mr. Coates, the unemployed in New Zealand totalled 67,865. Expectations that this num-

ber would be materially reduced not having been realised, he had come to the cor\sidered conclusion that the problem was not one that eould be quickly cleared away. Once that point was fixed, care had to be taken to see that whatevler attempted m'ethod of lsolu»tion xvas adopted, ' it worked in with the general capacity of the country itself. It was not possible to borrow money from overseas to carry on public works. Finance wa.s not available and even if it were it was a matter of opinion whether in the end much assistance would be afforded by that means. New Avenues Unemployment was not a ishort time problem it was one that would be spread over some years to come. Bearing that conclusion in mind, the Government was entitled to. look for new avenues into which expenditure of unemployment funds could be turned to the hest advantage and which would represent the most remunerative work to the country as well. The general interests of the country must be the first consideraticn and when the work contemplated was completed, New Zealand would be left in a better position as a result. Mr. W. E. Parry (Lah., Auckland Central): Should not land settlement stand on its own feet? Mr. Coates said he had been eharged with stating that land settlement was the solution of the unemployment problem. He hucb not said that al- . though he had gone very. close to it by contending that of all the sehemes under consideration, land settlement would help to solve the problem as quickly .as anything else. Principles of Bill Referring briefly to the provisions of the hill, the Minister said that the prineiple of the measure could be applied to those whose capital had been reduced to even £100. Its terms were not confined to the unemployed alone; its objective also was to 'assist the man to utilise the remaining portion of his capital and set himself up on a piece of land. Crown lands were for the most part unsuitable for settlement. The cost of developing them to a stage where they would be suitable was also a consideration. No accelerated land settlement from that source could be looked for. The aim of the legislation was to place as many families 'as possible on small areas carrying from 18 to 20 cows and at a cost ranging from £350 to the maximum of £750. The advantage of using for this purpose portions of land already settled, was that all the facilities required were in existenee and the element of time, which would be a faetor if development had first to be undertaken, was removed as would also be the financial difficulties it presented. Under the hill, the landowner would have an opportunity of leasing portion of his holding for four years, the lessee having the right of purchase at the end of 10 years. This would give the owner a chance also to relieve himself from some of his present charges and place him in a better position eeonomically to work the remaining portion of his farm. Farmers' Co-operation From his own knowledge, numbers of • farmers were willing to cooperate in the scheme. In many cases, mortgagees at present were getting no return whatever and if they could he put in the position of getting a portion of it Mr. F. Langstone (Lah., Waima^. rino): From the Unemployment Fund? The Minister: I will come to that in a minute. You may be quite right in having a suspicion that the mortgagee will say "here is a! pool from which I may get something." _ Continuing, the Minister said that the period of four years had been selected for the first lease because it was impossible at present to place any definite value on the land. Mr. J. McCombs (Lah., Lyttelton): Is the idea that the land will sell above its present day value? Mr. Coates: It may sell above or it may not. Mr. McCombs: Another soldier settlement scheme.