H.—39

17

foregoing list are approaching exhaustion, and few of them are expected to last more than ten years. The length of time that will elapse before the money of the War Funds Council is exhausted will depend on the extent of the calls on it by other bodies as their funds become exhausted. The present policy of the Canteen Fund trustees is to reserve their funds to stand behind the War Funds Council as a final source of supply. (C) THE ADEQUACY OF EXISTING STATUTORY FACILITIES FOR LAND-SETTLEMENT. We have to acknowledge the great assistance we received in connection with this part of this question from the Commissioners of Lands in the various centres visited by us, and other State officers who had special knowledge of the subjectmatter. Our answer is that with one exception, noted below, the existing statutory facilities provide all the openings for settling such persons on the lands of the Dominion that are or have been advocated or are reasonably likely to be required. This was the considered opinion of the State officials (at each of the four centres) who in the past were charged with the duty of supervising land-settlement by ex-service men and the administration of the Discharged Soldiers Settlement Acts. The various methods and schemes put before us comprised the settlement of farmers as individuals, or as partners, or as members of a group farming settlement, or as members of a community farm settlement, and we are satisfied that all the necessary legislation to meet any such scheme of soldier settlement is contained in the Discharged Soldiers Settlement Acts. Our attention was also called to Part IT of the Land Laws Amendment Act, .1928, which makes provision whereby any two or more suitable applicants may apply to have an area purchased for them, and if their proposition is sound and the price reasonable the Crown will advance up to 95 per cent, of the purchase price on what amounts to an instalment mortgage with a 1-per-cent. sinking fund, and with interest at 5 per cent. net. The one exception noted above has relation to South African veterans and ex-service men from overseas. These men are excluded from the benefits of our Discharged Soldiers Settlement Acts by the existing definition of " discharged soldier." In our opinion this is a form of relief that, for the benefit of approved men of the above classes, and of the Dominion, might be extended to them, and we recommend that the definition " discharged soldier "be extended accordingly. By " approved men " we mean men that by training, knowledge, aptitude, and the possession of some capital are within the class of those that elsewhere in this report should be assisted to take up land. (D) THE ADEQUACY OF EXISTING PROVISIONS AND METHODS FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF SUCH PERSONS IN BUSINESS. Any existing statutory facilities for the establishment in business of ex-service men are to be found in the Repatriation Act, 1918, and the regulations made thereunder. These provisions were found to be effective and adequate when the Act was being administered, and presumably could be made adequate again if the policy of Your Excellency's Advisers involved the resuscitation of the Repatriation Department's activities. We desire to indicate here, however, that the establishment of men in business is one of the activities which should, according to our main recommendation in this report, be placed as soon as possible in the hands of the Soldiers Civil Re-establishment League, the formation of which we suggest for the purpose of co-ordinating this and all similar activities. We accordingly recommend that this method be adopted of providing means and methods of establishing such persons in business. Further, as in the case of land-settlement, we think that the benefit of these provisions should be for all ex-service men who served in the Great War or the South African campaign, but subject to the same proviso as is suggested under the immediately preceding heading —viz., that the benefit of these provisions should be applied only to men who, by experience, aptitude, and the possession of some capital, are reasonably likely to be successful.

3—H. 39.