The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE. TUESDAY, JUNE 1, 1920. GROWING DISCONTENT.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3501, 1 June 1920, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE.

TUESDAY, JUNE 1, 1920. GROWING DISCONTENT.

With which is incorporated “The Taihape Post and Wa-imarino News.”

The settlement of returned soldiers is a problem that is commencing to loom rather large in the public view. There are, according to the Returned Soldiers’ Association, over four thousand soldiers waiting for land on which to become productive citizens; on ■which, they may live and work for themselves and contribute something towards the country's administration. Those four thousand men are not idle, they are mostly engaged in wasting their limited .savings in chasing a “will o’ the wisp.’’ They wander through the country from ]>iaco to place, attending land ballots, hoping against hope that they may be fortunate in drawing a section on which they may get to earn a living. These men went to face the Empire’s enemy, ready to sacrifice their lives in maintaining the integrity of the Empire; they fought for national and individual freedom, for the lives and homes of all the people, of those who stayed at homo as well as those who took part in defeating the enemy. This fact was obvious enough as the men were going away; it was proclaimed abroad wherever a dozen people were gathered together: from Prime Minister right down to a workshop or woolshed gathering. The one great theme then was that it was not possible to do too much for Hie departing men should they be fortunate enough to return. The people of This country were bound by the honour of their very much vaunted promises to seethat something should he done for returned men, and yet there are four thousand 'of them, eighteen months after war has; ceased, waiting anti hunting for a piece of land on which to settle. The people proclaimed that too much could not be done for the men, and when the time arrives to do something they do nothing. It is not the duty of a Minister or of a Government alone to see that the honour of the Dominion is kept bright by fulfilling the promises so freely made to its soldiers. If Premier and Government have no regard for their word to soldiers it. is for the people to see. that, the '-oice of the nation is not dishonoured. There are four thousand men who fought for the land, risked their own lives for the land and now

thosewho never went to fight. at all! are crowding them off the land, denying them enough on which to earn the bread ncedful to keep life in their bodies, and yet there are many who never shouldered a musket holding tens of thousands of acres which they cannot make the best use bf. Of course, it is not for such men to fake the initiative, many have otfercdpthcir land for soldiers and it has been refused as ‘too dear, the remarkable feature being that some of that very land has subsequently been sold pri-1 vately for double the money it was ofiered to the Government. at. The‘ question is, what. is going to b‘o dOIIO for thdge four thousand men awaiting land on which to get back to work and production? Has this country any obligations to those men? It‘ so,! are those obligations going to" be hon- ‘ ourably wiped out, or is the whole} community going to disclose that it is nothing more than a mean, Skulkiflgy dissembling crew,’ ready to I'ePudi“*o its honourably undertaken responsibilities? Perhaps it is not that; it may be that four thousand men are unjustly suffering from a community drift and indilference, but are they not alike in their mercilessness and lack i of honest intention? The Government excuse is that there is neither land inor money for soldier settlement, yet [the Returned Soldiers’ Association, the Dominion Executive of the Farinlers’ Union, the Dominion Farmers’ {Conference and the Press from the ‘North Cape to the Bluff, of every gshade of political opinion, have advocated, or passed resolutions, urging the Government. to -adopt a. scheme having as its basis the compulsory ac- ‘ quisition of large estates. The soldiers [urge that estates valued at £IOO,OOO and over should be pared down to i£75,000, not that landholders should [be turned out altogether. The men’s iland proposals are not of :1 drastic ‘character, and the time has‘now aririved when l:lnd<fi\'ners, Government, ‘and people must. realise that, in the countl‘y’s and colnmunity’S best. interests, there should be no idle men living upon the production of others. In addition to the four thousand soldiers there are doubtless as many more civilians anxious -to get land‘, and no one will deny that such a condition savonrs of economic fo‘olhardi~ ntss. If it is true that the fulncss of responsibility and reward that makes ‘ownership of land a. far more potent instrument of ‘national wealth than more tenancy, why are people and Government drifting down the streamlof ownership into the open sea of naflionalisationi This country wants not land revolution, but it has desperate need of intelligent land reform. It is now time for land reformers to cease their aimless squabbles over method and procedure and get. earnestly to work to obviate a land condition that is fast creeping upon them , whether they realise it or not. Is the , national bent towards ownership, or a ~’ mere tenancy which is the other name [for nationalisation? VVc are not now Econtending for either one or other of ‘the two divisions of land reformers, !but. we are urging the adoption and ‘pursuit of a definite land settlement policy that will block the waylito a revolutionary land policy, which, in these troublous times, could only be the forerunner of misery and great bitterness. Instead of land nationali'.<ation at -this period being a panacea j't'or all ills, it would obviously so acizerituate the present ills by aisorganii sation that all industries would be so [severely affected as to make disaster ‘widespread. The first efiort at calmliug the growing public dissatisfaction rwitli land matters should be the setrlement of the four thousand .<ohlier;~- ! that are now wandering up and down ‘ the country, attending land ballots and iwasting the little money they hoped lto start life with upon the land that ‘will not materialise. If that were ‘done the Government would cc,-use ,driving tliousnnds of people into the t'old;- of extremism, production wnuld int“-‘(‘fi<e. and general contentment '~l~~:v. tnrnincr the people out of mg h-ills of I'e\‘olutionar_\,' propagzanda info that rational enjoyrnent of life that all are by their \'ol‘_V‘ birth into Hm \\'n:'l<l <‘lll'll'l(‘(l fO.