ADVANCES TO SOLDIERS.

Taranaki Daily News, 3 July 1920, Page 5

ADVANCES TO SOLDIERS.

APPLICATIONS BEING RECEIVED. BUILDING ENCOURAGED, Applications fjom discharged soldier 3 for advances under section 2 of the Discharged Soldiers' Settlement Act are now being received by the Taranaki Land Board at New Plymouth. In fact, as far aB Taranaki is concerned, the Land Board lias never actually closed down on application's, but has forwarded those which it has approved to Wellington, for the final approval of the Minister, who, in a great many instances, has given them the cold shoulder. The statement made by the Minister in the House of Representatives on Thursday afternoon to the effect that some Land Boards had misunderstood the Government's instructions and had stopped all advances, contrary; to the wishes of the Government, 1b regarded as pure camouflage, and an attempt by the Minister to place blame, which he should accept himself, upon the shoulders of others. The Government has still been receiving applications from Land Boards during the curtailment, thereby putting soldiers, and others to a good deal of trouble, but' ' in nearly every instance has turned the applications down. The position to-day is that the Taranaki Land Board is prepared to receive applications from soldiers, and will treat them in the ordinary way, but can still give no guarantee of what will happen to them after the applications reach Wel--1 lington. A guarded statement, which may be taken as an indication of the Government's future policy in regard to making 1 advances on account of dwellings for soldiers, was made by the Minister of Lands in the course of his speech in the Ad-dress-in-tteply debate. He stated that "iti the matter of purchasing homes for soldiers he was satisfied the policy was not relieving the house shortage. What 1 they wanted were new homes, and he intended strongly to recommend Cabinet i: future to build new houses rather than j purchase old ones." From this remark it appears that the future policy will be not to make advances for the purpose of purchasing dwellings, but to confine the ad vanccs to the erection of dwellings.