Wairarapa Times-Age THURSDAY, JANUARY 21, 1943. RE-ESTABLISHING THE SOLDIER.

Wairarapa Times-Age, 21 January 1943, Page 2

Wairarapa Times-Age THURSDAY, JANUARY 21, 1943. RE-ESTABLISHING THE SOLDIER.

QFFICIAL statements have been made from time to time on what has been done and is to be done under the heading of rehabilitation policy —that is to say in. honouring the. promise given to the members of our armed forces that on their return from war service those of them who need it will be given all reasonable assistance' by the State towards re-establishing, themselves in civil life. The whole question is still clouded, however, in a certain amount of obscurity, which ought to be cleared up as speedily and as completely as possible.

There can be, or should be no thought of laying down at the outset a hard and fast policy of rehabilitation, set and determined in all its details. The methods to be adopted and the action to be taken should be based upon a fair and just consideration of the nature of the problem as it develops. The process of adaptation and extension needed will be assisted by making publicly known the nature and scope of assistance sought by men. returning from the war and the extent to which assistance is being afforded. It may be hoped that in the immediate future the development of rehabilitation, policy will be influenced materially by the free and decided expression of public opinion. There certainly should be no question of leaving the whole matter to a State department or departments.

A suggestion of a certain amount of inertia in dealing with one branch of rehabilitation policy appears in the fact that in this district nothing has yet been done towards making use of the Wairarapa Training Farm at Penrose in training returned service men. As long ago as September last an offer by the controlling trustees to make the property available for that purpose was accepted by the Rehabilitation Board, and an impression was given that the early use of the farm was probable. Nothing has since been heard from the Rehabilitation Board, however.

It has been pointed out by the chairman of the Wairarapa' Training Farm trustees (Mr Duncan McGregor) that in 1916 some men returned from the last war had already been settled on the land, whereas with the present war over three years old not a single soldier settler has yet been established. It is, of course, true that mistakes were made in the soldier settlement scheme of a quarter of a century ago—particularly in a reckless disregard of high land values—against which careful, safeguards ought to be established now. There is point, however, in Mr McGregor’s suggestion that if the settlement of soldiers on rural holdings is to be postponed until the end of the war, the Government may then find itself faced by demands so great that it will be unable to cope with them.

If the settlement of soldiers on the land is to be dealt with on practical lines, use certainly should be made of the excellent facilities that exist and are offered freely at the Wairarapa Training Farm. Arrangements to make use of the property should not be left to the last moment, but should be put in hand in good time.

Apart from the training of returned men for sheep and dairy farming, a question that may well arise in this district is that of an extension of market gardening and other branches of rural industry involving the intensive use of small holdings. It has been contended strongly by the member for Wairarapa (Mr Ben Roberts) and others that advantageous opportunities exist in parts of the Lower Valley for development on these lines. Here and in other parts of the Dominion', the offer of small holdings to returned men and the provision of preliminary training for those who need it might well find a place in the rehabilitation scheme.