MILLIONS AND MILLIONS.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 210, 4 September 1919, Page 4

MILLIONS AND MILLIONS.

The dabbler in astronomy sometimes rises from his book with bfe mind bewildered and stunned by the millions in which the vast distances of epace are calculated. A similar impression is produced by the new bill to borrow twelve and a 'half millions, plus a „ indefinite amount, for helping so7diers to become farmers. One must -bear in mind that somewhere in the landscape there is a Victory Loan of ten millions waiting to be launched. So wo get this interesting calculation: 10 millions + 12£ millions+ two millions in 1920 + two millions in 1921 + one million a year for an indefinite number of years. This is quite apart from the very heavy requirements of this country in public works. The Government proposes to ask—or rather demand—from this country twenty-six and a half millions between to-day and the end of 1921, without touching the questions of railway, road, and waterworks development. And, by the way, the money raised by the Victory Loan, which will be issued in a day or two, will be applied to repatriation, will it not? Tho Government should really try to make it clear how much repatriation is going to cost. The country -wants to be generous to its soldiers, but even warm-hearted men may get a shock when they read these figures.

The unsatisfactory feature of the lands-for-soldiers policy of the Government, as disclosed in this Bill and the debate upon it, is the apparent intention of the Government to concentrate most of their efforts on the settlement of land that has already been broken in. They mean to go on buying estates, to cut them up for soldiers, and the opening up of Crown and native lands seems to be quite a secondary consideration. There is a good deal to be said for this kind of subdivision. It breaks up big estates and puts many farmers in the place of a few. When such a settlement is a success the product of many cultivators will before long exceed that of one or two. But there are serious objections to its adoption on a big scale. There is the danger of inflated values. There is the fact that' the amount of cultivated land in th& country is not materially increased, and the consideration that such land appeals only to men with money, and for the most part with experience. There is the very heavy cost of placing men on such land. On the Remuera Estate, in the Far North, which is about to be thrown open for settlement, each soldier-settler will cost about £3000 by the time he has his stock, his implements and his house. But our chief objection to the policy is that it is lop-sided. Cutting up of estates should go hand in hand with the opening up of Crown and native lands on cooperative lines, so that soldiers may live in comunities under experienced advisers, and those who have no capital or experience may draw wages by labouring on necessary developmental work until they are in a position to settle down on a section of their own. This would bring large areas of the wilderness under cultivation, and so greatly' increase the Dominion's production, and do so under tho most favourable conditions. What is the position in the Auckland district to-day? "There is nofc an acre of virgin land for settlement in the North," says an official, "and the quantity in the South is negligible." That is tc say, there is no land ready. All the land that is avail-1 able now and in the next few months is I improved land, and there is not very much of that. We arc convinced that the Government is making a serious blunder in so concentrating on improved land. The cost of settling soldiers is going to be enormous, and it is doubtful Vhcther the results will bo anything like commensurate with the expenditure. Should prices of primary products fall considerable-, the position of some of these settlers oh highly-priced land will be precarious. It would be far better to devote some of the money and energy that is. being put iuto the subdivision of these estates, which arc already producing well, to the vigorous opening up of Crown and native lands.