Te Aroha AND Ohinemuri News. THURSDAY, MARCH, 18, 1909 STATE AFFORESTATION.

Te Aroha News, Volume XXVII, Issue 4387, 18 March 1909, Page 2

Te Aroha AND Ohinemuri News.

THURSDAY, MARCH, 18, 1909 STATE AFFORESTATION.

This above all—to thine own self be true , ind it must follow as the night the day Thou canst not then be false to any man Shakespeare.

Dr. Buddo’s promise (reported in a recent issue) with regard to the employment, should it seem desirable, of other convalescents besides those from the Cambridge Sanatorium, in in the work of afforestation undertaken by the Government, appears a very timely one. There can be no doubt as to the benefit derivable from outdoor occupation by those afflicted with lung trouble, that form of sickness which demands in such a special degree, the infusion into the lungs of as much oxygen as can be poured into them- Afforestation by the State is at the present time commanding a great deal of attention. In the United Kingdom it is being looked to as one of the greatest and most remunerative of the relief schemes, as a scheme ;iiideed which embraces grand possibilities, not only with regard to a temporary palliative for the annual unemployment crisis, but also asaschemefor stemming the tide of rural population into the cities and providing permanent employment for 90,000 men when the whole available area, approximately 9,000,000 acres, is dealt with. This amount of permanent employment it is held, by the Commisson instituted to enquire into the subject, would be considerably increased when those employed in subsidiary industries are taken into account. It is proposed to acquire private property at a fair market price, and where reasonable arrange a profit sharing scheme as between the present possessor, or his heirs, and the State.

It is justly proposed by the Commission that a loan be raised to meet the expenses of the enterprise, the interest on which is to be met by taxation* and it is estimated that after the expiration of forty years the forest will become more than self-supporting, and that in eighty years the amount of revenue annually derivable from the State forests will reach (approximately) the sum of £17,411,000, while the value of the property will exceed the cost of its creation by. £106,993,000 and this after 3 per cent compound interest has been paid on all the capital invested. This undertaking by the State is held to be j ustifiable on the grounds that the shrinkage of the supply of timber as compared with the demand even in view of the substitutes offered, is so marked as to cause a practically inexhaustible demand, thus leaving room for both the State and the private producer to compete for custom. Thß uses to which timber is now so largely devoted in connection with paper, (which as we know is used extensively by the newpapers press) also the damage done by fire in the great virgin forests, all this it is held, is tending to stimulate the price of timber and promote the demand. So that we may look for encouraging developments in the matter of state afforestation in regard to the terrible unemployment problem in the old land, and also in regard to the stemming of the tide of rural population into the shockingly congested urban centres. And at the same time we may find our own afforestation schemes taking on bigger dimensions, and adding yet other forms of promise to our already bright agricultural and manufacturing prospects.