The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE. TUESDAY, MARCH 23, 1920. LAND SETTLEMENT FORESHADOWED.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3442, 23 March 1920, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE.

TUESDAY, MARCH 23, 1920. LAND SETTLEMENT FORESHADOWED.

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

' Two lengthy telegrams from Te tKuiti, giving a -brief digest of tspeeches made by the Minister of tLandsl, who has been on a visit in‘specting unoccupied land in the North ‘lsland, indicate that some new land tlegislation may be expected in the [coming session of Parliament. Mr, ‘Guthrie has felt thata responsibility Jrests with him to accomplish something in connection with land settle- ! ment of some kind; he thinks the responsibilities of the Land De‘pEu~tment twere never greater than they are tolday, -and for that reason he is eldeavouring to qualify himself for those responsibilities by going around the country inspecting the waste or iunoccupied lands that can be made, available for settlement_ The thought‘ is, at least, commendable, but all Min- 4 isters, of whatever Department they‘ tmay be in charge at this time, thinkl ’t-hey a.re loaded with more onerous responsibilities than any other MinisUter that went before them. The duties and obligations of a Minister‘ of Lands, at any time, are admittedly paramount, for settlement is the, foundation of production, and upon production depends the volume of progress, social content and industrial 'rest of the whole ‘body politic. The ‘Ministers’ statements at Te Kuiti are tlsomewhat cryptic, they for-eshadow some great movement in la.nd settle‘ment, but that is all. He stated there were four problems of prominence to [be dealt with: (1) to bring as much tundeveloped land as -possible into pro!ductivity; (2) careful consideration of how to deal with waste lands; (3) ‘the tproblem of how to deal with the huntdreds of thousands of acres of dry tland so as to bring them into profit, Eand lastly, settlement of wet areas fiwhich are a wonderfully rich asset for ;the future, few people realising the :enOI'ITIOUS possibilities of those areas. No one will cavil at the Minister's desire to provide for the future, for, unfol‘tllllilt€lY, much too little has been done for some years in providing against a national rainy day. Mr Guthi-ie’s eyes have been opened. he has realised the magnitude of admin- ' istrative and legislative sin that contributed to so much highly productive land being kept in idleness, a bane while it should have been a boon. It is dawning upon the Minister as he travels over the waste lands that there really was something in the peoples cry for land, for settlement, and more settlement, and he is being goaded on :by an accumulation of information‘ to do something big in land settlement. It is rather late in the day of oDDortllnitl/, but it is never too late so long as -opportunity is present to make rationel use of the land whereby alone human life ‘can exist 1 and thrive. The cry for land to cul-I tivate has been importunate since the‘ commencement of ruthless submaringl by the Germans. Starvation was ~ staring in upon British -people, and there was no Crown land upon which! to set the populationto work to grow '« food for themselves, it had all been : mapped up, mostly in huge areas, so 1 large that owners could not work them. The time had arrived in Bri- ‘ tain when all the gold in the country i was less valuable than the all too lit- ' tle food that was available, and those 2 huge estates were divided up and :

‘people turned in upon them.t}lat the ‘nation might hold together". English lpeople are under an obligation to GerImany for toatilliug them an everlastiing lesson on‘ their land folly. In lNew Zealaml there was, and still is, ‘abundant land available for settlement, waiting to produce untold riches, and distribute widespread conitentment, but our Land Administration would not allow people on‘ to it. Large privately owned estates grew larger while small holdings were dis‘appearing by being swallowed into the larger. Instead of following Britainr’s example of turning the people out, men and Women, in hundreds of thousands, to till the land and produce food and clothing, our peoPl€ were driven off the land into our cities and towns till no sort of accommodation could »be found for them, and =1 Dlague seized upon them and carried thousands of them into eternity. Now, however. the Minister -of Lands is {strongly attacked with a desire to settle the idle lands he is only just be-: coming aware of and acquainted with. He is now convinced the country has: a wonderfully rich asset for the, future in its unsettled land; feW_ peo- ‘

‘pie realise the enormous possibilities ‘of these rich areas, and it is distinct . ?ly to the advantage of the future of this country that realisation Ishould not be confinedyto the few; that the‘ process of big estate making should not be permitted to continue at the disastrous rate it has been going since war was declared- We -have cause to; fear the land settlement measures! that the Government Will place before Parliament, for there is already in the ‘ atmosphere a pervasion that National‘ Endownment land, and other good,| bad and indifferent land, will all be offered for cash. Whether it be worth thirty pounds or thirty shillings, it seems doomed to go to men whose! chief qualificationas farmers and runholders money. “The wonderfully rich asset for the future” seems destined to be lost to the future of the body politic by becoming the property of a few rich who will use it as huge sheep runs or cattle ranches. We should be glad, the whole country would be glad, to learn that" the Minister of Lands. had quite other views about the disposition of this land, and that it would be utilised to turn back’ the drift of humanitytfrom the land into the cities; back from where they are p=,arasites upon production to the] land where they could produce for themselves and others; back from the dens of disease and contagion to the tfree pure air under the healthful can-i opy of heaven. Is: there any true-r,I nobler, better sign of the progress of a nation than theihealth and stamina of its people? It need not be asked whether hordeingand confining the masses in cities or distrbuting them! over the land in healthful occupation throughout the country Contributes! most to the health and vigour of a nation, that has heenu demonrstrarted to 81-itain’s disgrace by the lessons and experiences of the war, for the British Prime Minister has stated that! Britain had to bow its head in shame i in the presence of he whom we term| the unspeakable Turk. Our land pol! icy has contributed to the star-.vati»cnV' and enfeeblement of the masses, ren- 4 dering half, or more, quite unfit for‘ protecting the commonwealth against,‘ an invader. It is to he hoped Mr Guthriefs promised activities in land settlement will operate in undoing the land follies of the past.