“PLENTY OF LAND”

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 935, 31 March 1930, Page 13

“PLENTY OF LAND”

SIR RICHARD WINFREY ON N.Z. SETTLEMENT PRICES MUST COME DOWN “This country is pot yet one-fourth developed—there is land and to spare, with a good livelihood for double and treble the present rural population.” This is the opinion of Sir Richard Winfrey, a member of the party of British farmers which has just concluded a tour of the Dominion. He stayed behind to see more of the Dominion, and is at present in Auckland. Sir Richard will visit the North of Auckland and the kauri forests before returning to England, via Canada. Before the farmers left New Zealand it was decided that certain of them should give their impressions of the Dominion, these impressions to be published in booklet form in England. The following is Sir Richard’s opinion of New Zealand: “After six weeks of travel from north to south of these islands, the last fortnight being mostly spent in the homes of eight kind farming friends, I say this: “At present the call to the towns is a depressing factor, as indeed it is at Home and in Canada and elsewhere. There are fewer people on the land in this Dominion than five years ago—a striking fact. However, with the far fuller amenities of country life —electric power everywhere, the telephone, the motor-car. and better roads —surely the tide will turn in favour of pastoral and agricultural pursuits. But I do not think that day can come until the price of land falls considerably, and the Government grasps the problem of closer settlement like men of mettle. That means that many of the larger estates, when suitable, must be subdivided. “More self-contained smaller farms is the present urgent need of this country. The small man, who can do most of the work on his holding with the aid of his family, is at the great advantage of having a small labour bill every Saturday night. “There are, tc my certain knowledge, many young agricultural labourers and small farmers’ sons at Home who have but the faintest chance of getting land and becoming their own masters. They could be migrated after wise selection and supervision, but you cannot put the cart before the horse. Suitable Government land must be ready for them at a moderate price, and under a scheme of purchase such as prevails in Canada. If they can be placed in groups or Colonies, so much the better. Success undoubtedly awaits such men who are prepared to work hard, as our smallholders do at Home, because they will be Working for themselves. “Providence has endowed these islands with wondrous climatic conditions, which is more than half the battle, and it may be made a veritable paradise for many more thousands of happy and contented families.”