SOLDIERS AND THE LAND.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 September 1919, Page 2

SOLDIERS AND THE LAND.

A PEW REFLECTIONS. (By D.J.H.) It may be that a few Ideas on tha above will do no harm as 1 am acting aa valuer for the soldiers at the present time. If anything here referred to does any good to the seller, and the soldier buyer, or the people Who find the money, so much the better. It Is only natural that the returned mi»n wants to settle in the locality h* knows- and where his friends and relatives live. Those who had land before they loft these shores mostly sold, and now that they are back and was to buy they find there Is a big rise in values. The rise is not only in land valutß but in everything to be purchased, from the food ho eats, the bed he sleeps in, to the stocks lie keeps, all have increased tremendously in valued. Now, I put It to your readers, how has the land business bo?n managed for soldiers? Places are continually being offered by those who have farmed them for years or only a short time. There is no effort being made in Taranaki for increased production by subdivision of the good land. Increased production we must have all over this Dominion to make tho billy boil. Instead of being purchasers of the offering farms, tho Government should classify land in Taranaki, Or rather, in the Dominion, and strictly limit tho flrtt-clas* area so classified. We Would then have houses and human beings in plenty on these rich lands. If any of your readers dUTer from me, I nsk them when they travel from Hawera to Wanganul to glance on both aides of the road as they go. Then we have the system of supervising when the soldier gets settled. He wants dairy cows r sheep, or dry stock, etc. These purchases must be made through a Government official instead of districts being blocked off and a practical farmer with the local knowledge being his mentor.

Then taka the tnethod of preparing: legal documents between State charges, lawyers, land agents, auctioneers, valuers, land .dealers, etc., there Is too much penalising going on. Government red tape I shall throw In, as It causes delay and beats all the rest. Is It good business to put these lads on land at the present prices and expect them to produce as much butter-fat oft a scratch dairy as their old-established predecessors? There Is an areß of Maori land of 19,000 acres, ImoWn as tho old West Coast lease land, which leases, expired some flvo years ago. The pakelia tenants were given another ten years' lease, ami then It was promised to be given back to>the Maoris If they paid for Improvements. Through a flaw (»|0.,) In tho Act the leasees are purchasing these lands whenever they can. Could these land* not be' held for sodlers? The Maoris who sell are paid the cash, and the money goea In beer, tanglß, motor ■ cars, and raeeß. By and bj our chldren will have to keep their Impoverished children. ; If. the State expects Increased population and wants rural contentment, which begets increased production, the sooner the wrongs of tnls last five, yeara are tightcd by an Act dealing With land on modern lines; the batter. Inferior land keeps a man and his family poor, but good land tells a different tale. Bow can soldiers acquire good first-class land under out present land lawst The small holder with high improvements pays higher rates. He strains a point for a higher valuation for borrowing purposes. The Wlue for rating la taking very little notice of by the lender, and the borrower has to pay values, etc., for his revaluation. The big holder ken* his valuation an low as ho can. This Is noticeable when he dies, as probate Is generally fixed on rateablo values. If the land is sold it generally realises fifty per cent, more, and the State Is thus defrauded, and has been perhaps for jeirs, by assessment of land for land and income-tat. If proof Is needed let some of your readers look up tho records of values of the land for settlement purchases given to those holders by the Jfassey Government They will, I venture, to any, be astonished at the fortunes put into the pockets of the few at tho people's expense. Once our land, laws wero on the mend. Now they are on the bend, and soon, I hope, the late way will end. Soldiers and people, you will have to uproot a lot of big trees in this country to clear the way.