FARMING EXTRACTS. [From "New Zealand Farmer" Journal.] The New Scheme of Village Settlements.

Te Aroha News, Volume IV, Issue 173, 9 October 1886, Page 4

FARMING EXTRACTS. [From "New Zealand Farmer" Journal.] The New Scheme of Village Settlements.

It has been often wrged against the arguments of those who, during these depressed times, have advocated the providing of special facilities to enable able bodied colonists to take up and cultivate Crown lands lying waste and unproductive, that notwithstanding the popular cry of "land for the people," there were no people who were willing to go upon the land. We were asked to believe that; all those who professed to be unable to earn a living under the existing state of things were all loafers, or little better than loafers, who would not leave the towns, with their public house attractions, to nmko a living by cultivating the soil, even if they got the land almost given to them for nothing. It was easy enough to get a bit of land to Work on if there was any real willingness io do so. Land-owners; made sarcastic offers of land to would-be settlers upon terms which they expected the public to regard as "quite too awfully generous." These conditions involved the paying of a fair interest upon the assumed value of the land, besides the effecting of substantial improvements theieon, in most cases for the ultimate benefit of the original landOwner. When people who were utterly without capital failed to jump at* these philanthropic overtures the fact wao triumphantly pointed to as a proof that the people would not. go upon the land when they got the chance. But what have these scarcastic patriots got to pay about the eagerness with which large numbers of working people have availed themselves of Mr Ballance's scheme of village settlements? Many of the allotments thrown open for settlement under this scheme at Hokianga were applied for several times over, that is, the same section was sought to be obtained by many applicants, and its possession had to be decided by ballot. On the 13th of last month the Oreti left Onehunga for Hokianga with no less than sixty passengers, mo.st of whom were men going to begin work upon the sections allotted to them under the Village Settlement Scheme. The conditions under which this land is offered fot settlement have the great merit of meeting to some extent the exigencies of an empty pocket in the work of reclaiming a block of virgin land. The rent is almost nominal, and the sum of £2 10s. an acre is allowed towards the labour of bush clearing, but not more than £50 will be allowed to any one selector on this account. Besides this assistance the Government will, when necessary, contribute the sum of not more than £20 towards the cost of erecting a dwelling house upon the land taken up. The settler is of course bound to do a certain stipulated amount of improvements upon his section. Now there is nothing in all this that can be regarded as a dazzling temptation to be snatched at by a man without any capital. Such a settler, especially if he have a family to provide for, will have all his woik cut out to successfully establish a selfsupporting home at Hokianga under .such circumstances. We don't say that it can't be done, but though the Government assistance granted will go a long way towards en Curing success, it "svill not by any means relieve a man who has taken up one of these sections without money from the necessity of working hard for many years toearn a competence for himself and family ; and yet the people who, we are told, don't want to work upon the land for a living availed themselves of thia chance of doing so with the greatest eagerness. We need not say that we heartily wish them success In their plucky venture ; and doubt not but that many of them will live to blc«sthe day they took' up with a life that Involves no begging, hat in hand, to be allowed to work for some one else for daily wages. We sincerely trust that the result of Mr Ballance's scheme will be such as to encourage the State to carry out the principle upon which it is based still further, and to devote a portion of the public money to the systematic reclamation of our waste lands, so that obey tnay be brought into a condition which will assure prosperous settlement upon them. But we must leave the discussion of this part of the subject to a future occasion.