AFTER THE WAR.

Taranaki Daily News, 9 February 1916, Page 7

AFTER THE WAR.

FUTURE OF THE SOLDIERS. HOW SOUTH AFRICA SOLVED THE PROBLEM At the conclusion of the Boer War special efforts were made in South Africa, to settle e.v-,soldiers on the land. These ex-soldiers included Australians, Canadians, South Africans, and Britishers. Mr. Digby Noy Johns, of Wolongough Station, near Wyalong, N S.W., was a member of the District 'Land Commission appointed for this purpose in the Transvaal, and, believing that the experience gained might have ,a suggestive value in dealing with the problem which Australia has now set itself, Iw has furnished a statement (which is being circulated among the War Cornells of the several Australian States) giving particulars of the methods adopted and the results achieved. An outstanding feature of the South African scheme was the consideration shown to seriously wounded soldiers. LoriT Milnor expressly desired that this should he done, and according to Mr. Johns, .this preferential treatment involved risks which could not, for business reasons, have been taken with the general run of soldier or civilian applicants. It was Lord Milner's opinion that not only were wounded soldiers entitled to a start at farming with working capital and stock in easy terms, but he considered that where a nation depended upon the volunteer system for '.the defence of her territory and freedom, it was a short-sighted policy not to treat wounded men with terms liberal to the extent of being lavish. Loi;d Milner regarded wounded men as more likely to marry early, to have ■larger families, and to become more firmly rooted on their holdings than unwounded soldiers, many of whom took to soldiering through their roving dispositions, and might bo expected to iroll off farms as quickly as they rolled on to them. Moreover, it is of the bravest men that the largest average is wounded, and Lord Milner's marriage policy was considered an especially good one to counteract the effect of the survival of the timid who do not volunteer, and so survive and propagate -their like.

It was decided, therefore, ithat while unwounded applicants were required to possess or to be able to command capital to the extent of £3OO, and to put in two years' preliminary work on an approved farm, wounded soldiers should be allotted holdings without, having to serve any term of apprenticeship, even though they'had no previous experience of farming. Departmental officers were appointed to instruct, supervise, and assist these wounded settlors, even to the extent of securing labor for them; and except in a few cases, where settlers were guilty of intolerable conduct, such as open intimacy with native women, the Department carried them along until they were experienced and in smooth water.

At first the Department "built houses in advance for wounded settlers, but as these proved a source of endless trouble and complaint, the practice was abandoned after the first year. The settlers hated ready-made houses. So the Department thereafter made advances to settlers to build their own homes, on their own designs, and on sites chosen by themselves, with the result that in the majority of case 3 the buildings erected were considerably over the value thaiti would have been obtained by letting contracts at the same price, and everybody was satisfied. The greatest care was taken to ensure that the holding allotted to a wounded soldier was sufficient to maintain him and a wife and family as well. Less highly improved farms were allotted to unwounded men, and there was little enquiry into the character of these soldiers provided their military discharges and reference from O.C. showed that their service in the field had been satisfactory. Only when these men applied for Government assistance did the department require to be satisfied as the sufficiency of their experience. Otherwise they were required to get practical experience on approved farms.

This provision of two years' apprenticeship of unwounded soldiers had the effect of weeding out a large number of undesirables —the lazv. unsteady, rolling stones and adventurers, who were prepared to try their luck at Government expense, ready to,throw up the sponge and clear out at the first reverse, and abuse the Department for their failure. Tt was found that any applicant worth having wtould gladly serve two years with the certainty afterwards of getting a tract of state land, together with improvements aiid workin" capital to the value of £7OO, also a quantity of Government live stock, with ten years' term of lease at a low graduated rental, and 50 years to pay for the holding—in other words the chance of a splendid ■start in life for which an ordinary civilian has to work ten or fifteen years to save the capital.