THE LAND AND RETURNED SOLDIERS.

Taranaki Daily News, 20 May 1918, Page 5

THE LAND AND RETURNED SOLDIERS.

HARRASSING CONDITIONS. , | (From' Our Own Correspondent). Wellington, May 10. > j Various criticisms of the Govern I ment'a scheme for the settlement of turned soldiers on the land waj ! heafd at a meeting of the Returned Association this evening. A man who had secured one of the Government see- * tions stated that the conditions and the - tenure made success very difficult to attain. The tenure offered the was a bad one and tho amount of t financial assistance given was inade- j* quate. "The soldier settler does not | realise until he gets on the land how awkward his position is," said the critic, j "The Government will advance £500.; j They may advance £750, but in prac- '- y tice they draw the line at £SOO. Of this h sum £350 is for stock, implements, etc.;,| The Government protect itself by tak» l ing a bill of sale, and this is an instril- •■{ ment of a very drastic kind. It makes ~ it impossible for the soldier to get eredit anywhere else, since every beast and | every implement he puts on liis place _ comes under the operation of the bill of " sale. We can give no security to any«'ijj body else. The agency firms will finance | an ordinary settler, but they will give no credit to the soldier, because'the do- t vernment monopolises his security. The Government should either finance the ■ soldier fully, providing all the money \ needed for building, fences, stock and y implements, or else it should give him.i the ordinary . leasehold tenure apd leti'i him make his own arrangements. He;.? would then have a margin of goodwill' 3 to work upon in a couple of years. lie has 310 margin under the present avrangement. He is hampered at every £ turn by the bill of sale, and many of i thesa men are finding it impossible to | make any real progress on their bold? illgs." • •;!