THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1927. AN INTERESTING MOVE.

Wairarapa Age, 9 February 1927, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1927. AN INTERESTING MOVE.

The new policy under which the Minister of Lands (the Hon. A. D. McLeod) proposes to offer inferior lands for settlement without rent or other payment, provided certain improvements are carried out, ranks at least as an interesting experiment. Should theexperiment develop with success, its results may throw interesting light on our general problems of settlement ami production from the land. . It is, of course, obvious that if the poor waste lands of which great areas are. at present lying- idle and unoccupied ean bo brought into productivity, the Dominion will benefit immensely. The presentation of free hind to settlors would be a very small price to pay for such a development in wealth-production. Mr. McLeod’s .new scheme represents a bold departure from the conditions in which the State, of recent years, has been asked to pay or forego very large sums in endeavouring to assist struggling settlers. The conditions in which poor land is being offered presumably imply that the settler taking up the offer must rely upon his own efforts and resources. He will qualify for financial assistance only by improving and bringing lus land into use, and so building up a security. Experience only will show whether the prices now available and likely to be available for produce will enable settlers to make good in these conditions. Should the experiment turn out unfavourably, the State may be driven to consider the advisability of directly subsidising settlement, but this obviously should bo considered only in the last resort. If, on the other hand, the experiment is crowned with success, new scope will appear for broadening the basis of production from the land by giving independent settlers an unhampered opportunity to break in lands that are now lying waste. Developing on these lines, the new policy would not only yield valuable immediate results, but probably would do a good deal to stabilise and strengthen general farming industry throughout the Dominion. The successful farming- of very poor lands would provide useful standards by which to measure values and other vital factors in the farming of richer and more fertile areas.