CORRESPONDENCE.

Taranaki Daily News, 14 August 1920, Page IV

CORRESPONDENCE.

ANOTHER. SCANDALOUS PURCHASE, (To the Editor.) ' Sir,—Quite recently you very kindly published In your widely-read Journal particulars, furnished by myself, of the 'purchase of an estate, by the Government, for soldiers' settlements. You will remember that the Minister for Lands denied the accuracy of my statements, and from his place in the House promised to publish a statement giving 1 the particulars of the purchase in order to prove my "irresponsibility" and to show the public that the said purchase was not (as characterised by me) a scandalous transaction. Well, more than a month has elapsed, hut the Minister's promised statement has not made Its appearance. Why? Simply because my particulars are accurate, and neither tho Minister nor his Government can explain or justify this, scandalous purchase. However, for the moment we will let, that purchase stand for future treatment. The present Minister for Lands was not in office, I understand, when the aforesaid extraordinary land deal was engineered, but he was in office when the Government bought another estate in the North Island for soldier settlement, comprising over 11,000 acres. The following authentic particulars of tills estate must satisfy tlie public that there are some very efficient: underground engineers among the large landed gentry of this little Dominion. This estate of over 11.000 acres was valued In 1912 (dqn't forget, Sir, 1912) for taxation purposes. The official taxable unimproved ritlue of this estate as valued In 1912 was £45,000. The owner paid taxation upon this va!uatl6n right through the war period up to 1919, and then tliß Government bought It for soldier , settlement, and It ?as unloaded on to the shoulders of returned soldier settlers at an aggregate value of £ 130,000. Tills Government, that never misses an opportunity to explain its eternal gratitude for the sacrifices made by returned men, forget, or never recognised the fact that whatever additional value was added to this estate between the years 1914 to 1919, was the result of the hardship, sweat and blood of the men who for those years were sacrificing themselves to defend it. To-day, Sir, there are thousands of men looking for land, but this "bleeding-heart" Government has spent, so to say, about £14,000,000, all of which • went into the pockets of a few big landed proprietors. The result is thousands of returned men have been left out in the cold ,and their applications for land are shelved.

But to return to this precious estate. Let me repeat, please, Just to refresh our memories. Valued officially In 1912 for taxation purposes, the unimproved value was £45,000. On tills £43,000 the owner paid taxation right on until 1919, when the Government bought It and loaded returned soldiers with It at £130,000. Isn't it lovely? It may be some apologist will want to know about the amount of improvements. Quite right, too. Certainly a very propetf question in suoh a connection Well, the Government valuation" of Improvements on this estate when the valuations were being fixed for balloting—not my valuation, mark you—was £1320. It may astonish you, as it must astonish the general public, that allowing each settler his statutory grant of £750 for building and stocking, It cost the state £IO,OOO each to place several of the settlers on this estate, and the average cost to settle each «nan was fiSSIO. The altitude of the country Tuns from 30 yards to very nearly a quarter of a mile above sea level. Verily this was a great purchase. There are other peculiar facts connected this estate, but I must reserve them pro tem, as tills letter Is getting somewhat lengthy. Notv, I ha.ve not mentioned the naime or locality of this esta.te These facts can come later. I want the Minister to do a little research work. He can add the ful# particulars of this glorious effort to help returned men to the return lie promised to publish about the Tiraumea scandal. Furthermore, let him remember that we do not want any cant or hypocrisy Introduced Into the discussion, and no smoke screening. Just plain facts will All the bill. We do not want any "slobber" about returned soldiers deserving „£ 10,000 worth of aalstance. This fact is admitted Personally I am not complaining about returned men getting too much assistance. .My complaint is embodied in the statement I made before the R S.A. meeting weeks ago, and which the Minister resented, viz., "That in the purchase of estates for soldier settlement, judging by the prices paid in many instances, the Government seemed more anxious to conserve (he interests of their large landed supporters than they ivere trt conserve the interests of returned soldier settlers " I have given instances and facts in support of my opinion, and when the Minister has dealt with the estates already quoted, I have more to follow. Let me, 111 conclusion, say that my opportunities for seeming nuthentic particulars concerning estates purchased are very limited, but so far the instances given cannot be refuted. Finally, let me say that If no other estates were quoted, enough particulars have been made public to make any self-re-specting (ipyerminent. sit up and take notice. 1 wondor if it will,—l am, etc., W. H. HAWKINS.