WORKERS' LAND SETTLEMENT LEAGUE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8480, 6 July 1907, Page 5

WORKERS' LAND SETTLEMENT LEAGUE.

ADDRESS BY MR J. C. COOPER. A general meeting of the Masterton and District Workers Land Settlement League was held in theY.M.C.A. Rooms, last evening, when Mr J. C. Cooper, by invitation, delivered an address on Land Settlement and the Workers' Dwellings Act. Mr R. Rigg, President of the League, occupied the chair, and in introducing Mr Cooper, said the League had had some difficulty in understanding the Workers' Dwellings Act. Mr Cooper would, as far as possible, explain a few of the "mysteries" of the Act. LAND SETTLEMENT. Mr Cooper, at the ' outset of his remarks, said he had much pleasure in dealing with the Land Settlement question, because it was a matter in which he took considerable interest. He explained that in dealing with such an important question he did not wish to introduce any controversial matter, but just touch on the whole V question of Land Settlement from a broad standpoint. He thought that his hearers would all agree with him when he said that the farming industry was the greatest industry in New Zealand, for out of £19,500,000 worth of goods exported from the colony last year, the farmers were responsible for about £15,000,000 worth. Therefore it was evident that if the farmers were taken away there was very little else for i the colony to show in its export trade. As the farmers were responsible for the production of the food supply of the colony, he contended that every assistance should be given to that section of the community, as without theai, the colony would be without its own food supplies. For this reason farmers in latter years had devoted themselves a good deal , to scientific farming. This system of farming had been in vogue for a number of years, but there were few j who realised to what extent scientific farming was carried on in the colony. They had only to look back 300 years and consider the state of agricultural affairs in England at that time to see what rapid strides had been made in | farming. If such progress had not been made we would not be able to feed the inhabitants of the world today. The speaker cited Belgium as an instance of a country where splendid results were obtained from scientific farming. Belgium, he 'said, was a little bigger than the Wellington province, and by the aid of scientific farming the country was able to supply more than double the requirements of its proportionately enormous population. Yet Belgium con-, tained. some of the poorest land in ; Europe. It only went to prove, said the speaker, that the more people there were on the land, the better were the effects that were derived from farming. This was one of the strongest arguments that could be used in favour of closer settlement, and in this direction Mr Cooper was pleased to say the New Zealand Government was doing a good deal for the farming community. The speaker considered that New Zealand should be settled with a yeoman population. He wished them to remember that the people were only tenants of this colony, which belonged to other people, and he would leave them to imagine the result if the protection of the British navywas withdrawn. When dealing with the question of closer settlement, i t must be considered how much land was available in the colony for such purposes. The Minister of Lands had said that the Government had 2,200,000 acres of waste lands, but when the growth of settlement in the colony in the past had been considered, it was evident chat we must look farther than the waste lands in the colony for relief in the future. That, said the speaker, brought one back to the question as to how the lands in the colony were occupied.--There were in the colony some large reservations and large grazing areas. The latter were not yet available for settlement and not likely to be for some time. Taking all the land in the colony into consideration, it was estimated that about 80 per cent, of the people held 4,200.000 acres out of a total of about twenty million acres of freehold and small leasehold areas. The speaker said he had heard a great deal about the aggregation of estates in the past. He would say, however, that he knew of the disintegration of estates by the Lands for Settlement Act and private enterprise. The former was the best means of obtaining land for closer settlement. The State bought the land as cheap as possible, and j with very little additional cost sold it I to the people. It was not a business on the part of the State, but a,duty, to settle the people on the laud as cheaply as possible. The speaker went on to say that already the Government had. spent £5,000,000 in buying land under the Lands for Settlement Act, yet only about £30,000 of that amount had been spent in the Masterton district, where, he contended, they had some of the best land in the colony. Though the Lands for Settlement Act was a good measure, it had some defects. Under the Act at present the Government weie empowered to borrow £750,000 per annum for purchasing land for settlement. Yet, said the speaker, they appeared to be shirking their duty in this direction and settling people on the land by other means. After purchasing land for settlement, the Government were put to other great expense such as the making of roads and the building of railways. In this direction a lot of borrowed money was required, and perhaps this factor deterred the Government from buying the land in the'|first place. Mr Cooper considered that the Government should borrow a sufficient sum to do the whole work of closer settlement properly and at once. Coming nearer home the speaker said that the scope for closer settlement in the Wairarapa and Hawke's Bay districts y/as something enormous, and in his opinion a railway line from Masterton to Waipukurau would do much to bring about closer settlement on the land in those districts. However, when the Government built a railway it should not be a charge against the, State. As the railway raised the price of lands on which it touched, and as the landowners reaped the benefit, the speaker contended that they should help in the construction of such railways. "We in Mas-

terton have never yet been able to get the ear . of the Government, '•' said MrCooper, "and for this reason an effort should be made to form a national land settlement league with branches all over the colony. Such a league could do a power of good and could put their proposals forward at the elections with a view to having them carried into effect." It was impossible, the speaker continued, to relate all the advantages that Masterton would derive from closer settlement. The town >f was not only the natural centre for the Wairarapa but also the centre for the southern portions of Hawke's Bay, and with a vigorous policy of closer settlement carried into effect it was easy to picture Masterton with a population of 20,000 people in a few years time. WORKERS' HOME 3. .'■.,■- Then the difficulty of housing the people would arise. In dealing with the housing problem, care should be taken to avoid the conditions that prevailed in older countries. His opinion was that the Government should do as much as possible to allow the worker to acquire the freehold of his own home, and not only allow him to have the leasehold as at present. In acquiring land for closer settlement the speaker contended that the Government should not wait until the land was actually wanted for dwellings, but should buy early and forestall any rise in the price of land, for what was a farm today might be a town to-morrow. The sneaker then referred to the various' provisions in the Workers' Dwellings Act under which a home could be acquired. In the first case the worker was granted a lease of the property for 50 years at 5 per cent.—-4 per c°nt. interest on capital cost, and 1 per cent, for depreciation. The 1 per cent., said the speaker, was more than enough to pay for the building during the term of the lease, and at the end of that time the worker had paid for the building, and was still in the position of a tenant. In the second case the lease was for 25 years with a purchasing clause. When the purchase was made the whole amount had to be paid in cash. During the term of the lease 5 per cent. had to be paid, 1 per cent, being for depreciation. The defect in this system, said rhe speaker, was that the 1 per cent, for depreciation w*s not allowed for as part of the purchase,.as lit should be. The third system was really the deferred payment system, the term of the lease being 32 years and the rate of interest 8 per cent.—s percent, being interest, 2 per cent, interest on purchase money, and 1 per I ' cent, for depreciation. In criticising this clause, the speaker said that the 1 per cent, for depreciation really meant that the worker paid for his home 1J times over during the term of the lease. The fourth system provided for a term of 50 years at a rental of 5 per cent, 4 per cent, being interest and 1 per cent. depreciation. Here the worker had to insure his life in the Government office to cover the capital value. This •:' might suit some, said Mr Cooper, but the position was that no two men paid the same rate for insurance. The saeaker went on to say that when the Government introduced the Workers' Dwellings Act, the intention was to house the workers and not make a profit out of them. \s it was, the Government were making a large profitoourt r of the workers, and" this, in the shaker's opinion, was wrong. Mr Cooper said that he had not been quite clear with regard to the reading of the Act and had been perusing it before he came to the meeting. Mr B. J. Dolan had endorsed his opinion with regard to the Act as given to the meeting, so the speaker could say that he had practically given the meeting a legal opinion. Mr Cooper did not think the Act was of much use, and was not likely to be largely availed of. He thought there should be an elastic deferred payment system for those workers who desired to become the owners of their own homes. He would ike to see the Danish system of housing the workers introduced into New Zealand. In Denmark the Government did not build the house. The worker picked the land for his house and paid the Government 30 per cent, of the estimated cost of the building, which was built iri any design the worker desired. The balance of the purchase money was paid off. on the deferred payment system. New Zealand might well follow Denmark in thhrgtmnec• tion wifrHhe exception of the 30 per cent. This might be considered large in New Zealand, but Mr Cooper considered that ifjthe worker was.backed by his employer to the extent of 30 per cent, of the cost of the building, it should be a sufficient guarantee. MrCooper said he did not wish to delay them any longer, and hoped his explanations of the two Acts had been satisfactory. The - Chairman said that he endorsed Mr Cooper's remarks with regard to forming a national land settlement league. He considered that the Lands for Settlement Act should be put in force in this dis trict. If this was done the town could not help but go ahead. A petition had already been sent to the House urging on the Government to take steps to acquire some of tthe estates int this district for closer settlement. This was the League's first step, and if the people would support it more good work might be done. Mr J. Mackay said he was fully in acord with Mr Cooper's remarks concerning the construction of a railway through the district. Mr J. C Ewington considered that Mr Cooper was entitled to the thanks of the|meeting for his address, which no doubt would be an incentive to business people to take an interest in the doings of the League. There was no doubt in the speaker's mind that if the Government wanted to purchase land in the Masterton district for closer settlement there was plenty of it to be had. The matter had not been advocated enough, and sufficient pressure had not been brought to bear on the Government, otherwise the land round Masterton would have been more closely settled than it is. He cited instances of three or four estates in the South Wairarapa having been cut up for closer settlement through the agitation of the people. "Masterton," said Mr Ewington, "can't go ahead at the rate it is at present unless some of the large estates around are cut up." He considered that an effort should be made to obtain other speakers to address meetings on the

land settlement question, and thus keep up the interest in the League. An effort should also be made to carry out Mr Cooper's suggestion with reference to establishing a | national land settlement league. He moved a vote of thanks to Mr Cooper for his address. Mr D. Threadwell, in seconding the motion, said that he had seen from experience in other towns in the colony, and in the Australian States that closer , settlement was required' "to make ' Masterton progress. -He thought that the League had made a good start and should continue its good work. He asked Mr Cooper if he thought that; rents were too high for working men in Masterton. Mr' Cooper said the question was a rather difficult one to answer. He could not say if ho saw a building how much rent was required for it. The owners of houses generally required -as much rent as possible for them. However, he would say this that it was a surprise to him how the working man managed to live, considering the ruling rate of wages, the high cost of living, and broken time. Mr D. J. Cameron asked why this rush for cutting up estates had set in? He belonged to people who had come to the district in the early forties, when there was in the district only a few scattered settlers who held their land on sufferance from the Maoris. In those days all Lansdowne was only one holding and Te Ore Ore another. He asked them to look at the position of the country now and see how the land was settled on. He considered that time worked its course in lind settlement. For himself he would sooner see 100,000 people in the colony than 5,000,000., because his chances of success would be greater. When the working man saw the bustle nf life in the towns he thought his chances of success were greater, but with more people there was more competition and less chance for the submerged population. He considered that the position of the worker to-day was worse than in the early days. If wealth was accumulated rapidly now there would only be a reaction in the generations to come. Mr Cooper, in replying to Mr Cameron's remarks, said he did not think the position of the worker was as good a few years ago as it was now. Humanity was advancing, said the speaker, 'and it would be monstrous to say that it was not j advancing on "the right lines. The desire ''lot., land was keen a few years aeo, but it was keener now, j and; there was not the land available now that there, was then. The speaker continued: "We have spread ourselves over an area as large as the British Is'es, and are ; we going to sit down and be content with a million people in the colony? Let me tell you that closer settlement is going to come about despite what you or lor anybody else can say. We are getting to the end of our waste lands in the colony, and the large estates must, be cut up to provide land for the people." Mr Cameron said that his argument was that land would be naturally settled upon by the people themselves witnout any interference from the Government. Mr J. Mackay urged the establishment of a woollen mill in the town. He also mentioned the question of establishing freezing works at Waingawa. The motion was then put to the meeting and carried. Mr Cooper, in returning thanks, said he would be glad to assist the League in its efforts towards close r settlement in the district and the erection of workers' dwellings.