A MAN HUNT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 111, 18 August 1910, Page 4

A MAN HUNT.

Victoria does not intend to lag beliind in the march of progress, and she has sent her Minister of Lands, the Hon. H. M. McKenzie, and the chairman of the Rivers Commission, Mr.. Ehvood Mead, to Great Britain in search of 30,000 men, women and children io take up small holdings in the State on land which'the Government has prepared for them by the outlay of several million pounds. The scheme to be laid before the British i agriculturalists owes its origin, apparently, to the disinclination of the Victorians to take up small parcels of land. | "We found," said Mr. McKenzie, "that unless we could get more people on the land, instead _, of having it occupied in such large areas by single proprietors as now, the taxation, of the country would fall very 'heavily on the sh&ulders of those least capable of bearing the burden." The Government consulted Mr. Mead as to what was best to be done, and he recommended that the land should be split up into much smaller parcels. When this policy, however, was put, into operation it was found that the people of the State did not seem inclined to enter into possession of- these restricted areas. It was then decided to exploit Great Britain for desirable settlers. The British emigrants, it was stated, would' be able to take ship for Victoria at a cost of £l2' per head for adults and a much lower sum for children. Eighty per cent, of the passage money is to be advanced to approved set-: tiers, to (be repaid in five years, and carrying interest at the rate of 5 per 'cent. Settlers with practically no capital can obtain a house and a two-acre block of land by making weekly payments which will ultimately extinguish their debt. Another feature of this interesting scheme is a provision under which parties of British farmers can visit Victoria at a cheap steamer rate before deciding whether they will take up land !or not. The one cry of the colonies is | for "more population," .and the Victorian i scheme of securing it .certainly offers , many advantages for both the seeker and the sought.