OPENING UP LAND

Auckland Star, Volume LI, Issue 122, 22 May 1920, Page 12

OPENING UP LAND

FOR SOLDIER SETTLEMENT. STATEMENT BY MINISTER. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, Friday. A statement about land settlement in special relation to the settlement of soldiers was given by the Minister of Land- to-day. "What we are coming down- to now in the -way of land settlement," said Mr. Guthrie, "is the settlement of tbe purchased lands we have on hand, and crown lands -which we have not been able t° •bring under settlement owing to the absence of surveyors and engineers. We (have a ntu—ber of blocks that are all ready for settlement except for roading". We cannot give -hem to soldiers until the roading has been done, and we have not been able to get the road—lg done because of the shortage of officers. I have mentioned, also, the lack of -public work- men. "We have at tine present time avail able for settlement, about 700,000 acre . This land will carry from 1200 to HCO men. The land is of varying description?' and will be suitable <m all kinds of farming. It as distributed practically over the whole of both islands of New Zealand. A large area of bush land is in the North of Auckland, and it is of such a character that it Is well worth the attention of the Government and returned soldier. "These figures do not take into account any of the so-called pumico lands an the interior of the North Island, for which special provision was made in the legislation of last session. Nothing definit- baa been done about the settlement of .this land. HOMESTEAD SETTLEMENT. "We are now raising reservations from a large number of (blocks of (land, with the object of throwing them open for! settlement under the homestead tenure,! which -was revived in more attractive! form by legislation of last session. One great bar to the opening of this land is that a large quantity of it is national endowment land, and it will have to be dealt with by parliament! 'before wo can engage an any large scale on schemes for development of it." D_S_TJ____> AGGREGATION. Mr. Guthrie made reference, also, to the operation of clauses of acts of the last two session- dealing with aggregation. "There has 'been," said the Mini-' ster, "an evident unloading of land from large properties, and there have been; but few oases brought to the notice of the Government where there have beenj increases of areas. In these cased the increases are always arranged co as not, to come within the scope of the aggregation clauses. Commonly this is. done by purchase 'being made in the! name of another member of the family.! Thia device, however, will not in ell circumstance- prove to .be a complete j escape from the operation of the law.: I am convinced, indeed I have evidence,' that the cutting up of estates that has been going on recently can be attributable to the'effect of the aggregation clauses now on the statute book, but it is fair to say that, some of the eales may also be attributed.to the high prices now Tilling for land. I am glad to say that the experience of the Government has been happy in respect to these offers of land for sale, for we have had land offered to Us 'by large landowners for returned soldiers at prices which, in some instances, were £10 per acre less than private buyers did subsequently pay for the land. Even at the prices offered the Government had to decide against placing soldiers upon the land at such excessively high values."