The Taihape Daily Times. AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 1919. TAIHAPE SOLDIER SETTLEMENT.

Taihape Daily Times, 23 July 1919, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times. AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE

WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 1919. TAIHAPE SOLDIER SETTLEMENT.

With which is incorporated “The Taihape Post and Waimarino News.”

The Hon. D. H. Guthrie, Minister for Lands, cannot be congratulated 011 hi 3 frankness in dealing with resolutions passed by a large gathering Of Return‘ ed Soldiers at Taihape, in connection with the acquisition of land for soldier settlement in this diStrict_ The Simple Simon, Brer Fox attitude is played out, and We would suggest that it no longer deceives the most simple amollgst the. people Of this little Conn‘ try. Mr. Guthrie would make his correspondents believe that he scarcely knew there was such a place as Taihape, the centre of a. district that had sent’ some seyenthundred soldiers to fight for ‘freedom and_ fair play; he is not aware that all around Taihape, hemming it in on nearly all sides, are huge estates-—-hundreds ofthousands o.fra'cr_es of .them_._ All he admits to knowing is that Mangaohaneis. under consideration by the Land Purchase, Board. It has been common rumour for months past that Mangaohane was available for soldier settlement, and it was the report, published‘ through Various newspapers, that this -estate had been sold for £170,000, a'month ago, that caused Returned Soldiers in this locality to wonder whether Government was honest in its expressed desire to settle soldiers on the land at all. The Hon. Mr. Guthrie knows quite well that this journal has mentioned several properties which, we are fairly well-informed, are available for settlement. He knows ‘that the whole of the country on "both. sides of the Taihape-Hawke’s Bay Road, leastward of I\loawhango and Pukeolkahu, can be made available for settlement. He ought to know that this main road between Napier and the Main Trunk railway is going to become one of the most‘ ‘popular highways in the Dominion, in the very near future, and, consequently, he knows that the huge areas on either side of itare going tohaveallillez'r:nsing speculative value_ It is such land, land on either side of mainroads, that should be given to our returned men, but, unfortunately, lands abutting on main roads have hitherto beenkept mostly for speculators while soldiers are asked to go back on to the upper reaches oi the Wanganui river. right away from markets and civilisation, or take up Tarawera dust in the volcanic area around Waiotapu. At any rate, that is the nearest land to this district offered for settlement, and we naturally conclude it is the land the Minister tells Taihape soldiers is, or will be, available for selection. We truly 110130 the Returned Soldiers’ ‘Association is satisfied with the Ministerfs Willy.» 730031188 there are so many causes working together to create general unrest, and we would rather the Taihape men pocketed their chagrin and patiently waited for an op_Dol‘tllllitl/’ t 0 express their feelings l‘lll‘ollß'h the ballot ‘box at a general Olection. The men certainly have 1101'hiI18 more to thank the Minister for than the common courtesy of a reply to their representations. It may be noted that Mr. Guthrie states that “the most successful settlement in New Zealand to-day is comprised of high-priced dairying land, on which (‘VOW soldier is making a success.” We would suggest that if the Minister had the Dower to“‘sta’bi]ise the present Prices for dairyfarm products our nonccrn for the future welfare of the soldiers Would vanish. but experience ever has been, and ‘ever will be, that markets are Very undependable. Prices Of dairy-farm products are, in some cases, of a value today, a value that no sane person believes can possibly be made permanent in the farmer-'.’s interest. It is well-known that the dairy-farmer is th,e next prospective victim of the meat trust, which has developed into an “All Foods Trust.” Butter may go up to half-a-crown, bTit let us enter the field of prophecy and state, “it will go down again to one

‘shilling_” But, should it go down only itwopence what will became of the proIfits of the soldier dairyfarmer on the [high-priced land? What will be the state ‘of mind of the soldier farmer on -the ‘hundred pounds an acre land if butter .recedes only a penny? The terrible ifear in his soul will be worse than anything he experienced while facing gall the hellish schemes for life deistruction the Huns could pit against‘ him in the front trenches in France ‘and Belgium. We want a chance for our soldiers that is not affected by the uncertainty of war prices; why will not the present Land Administration deal fairly with the soldiers, and con. cede them the chance they ask for? Those men responsible for the resolution the Minister fires a blank charge at, have worked on the land they ask ‘should be made available for settlement; by years of experience they know what it will produce, and their knowledge is backed up by the fact I that the very land contribTl‘ted nearly five thousand bales of wool last year to the riches of the Dominion, to‘ say nothing of mutton, beef and other products, which they know to be something very considerable. A copy -of this journal that was specially marked *and posted to the Minister has, ap?parently not reached him, as he seems .to be quite unconscious of any other large‘ estate between Taihape and Napier, excepting Mangaohane, that might be available for closer settlement. We mentioned Messrs. Lowry ‘and Wattfs Oruamatua property, comprising 15,000 acres freehold and 20,000 acres leasehold; Messrs. Birch and Sons’s Ercwhon, 12,000 acres freehold and 20,000 leasehold. We also mentioned Ngamatea, 4,000 acres,'and a P.E-.R. lease at £7OO a year; the Vvaiouru grazing run; the Timahanga block, which is admittedly poor land, but owned by the Crown and might‘ }furnish two or three grazing runs to soldiers who preferred them. Vie‘ stated that we had been credibly in-; formed that all the land mentioned] could be obtained at a reasonable price if ‘purchased beforephthep speculator gang gothold of it.) ~The Mangaohane [estate we als'om‘cntioned, but would [be nothing short of a, criminal _act.ffor the 'G_ovcrnlnent ,to .purchase' that land if it isjnot available at the price fixed before it. was ~ allegedly sold to a. .s_vndicatle. By -the way, it would be Eas well if taxpayers will unsist upon knowing where the profits of outrageFous land speculation -‘are going to, for [it is?‘ certainly not understandable why‘ ,such calamitous:operations should be‘ kpcrmitted; why_ the piiblic estate‘ lshould be plundered by only a, few individuals, who seem to have all lthe assistance the powers that be can 1 give them. Even borough business’. 1.-rites are subjcctgto such Operations; } a few weeks -ago two sections that [should have put,,£2ooo at least into! the country’s treasury -we_rc,;knocked down at auct_iOnlto»a buyer from. WOl- I lington for: the .u.pset:-‘price £825, While nobody in Taihapc knew the sale was on, (but we shall return to this" sale and purchase again). Land administration has been for the last decade, a hopeless, calamitous muddle, and the present men in charge pretend ‘ignorance of what is common knowledge in connection with land available fol' Settlement. We ask the Minister to be frank with the returned soldiers of this district, some of whom have exhausted what little store of cash they had, in going about the country looking for land to settle upoll, W 9 UTEC upon our Returned Soldiers’ Associa-l tion to lose no time in furnishing thcl Minister with the information he asks for; we shall be glad to furnish what: information we have that is available. I