UNDER FINANCED.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 37, 13 February 1926, Page 14

UNDER FINANCED.

EMPIRE MIGRATION SCHEME. ALLOWANCE FEE MAN £500. £2500 NEEDED. (By Telejrapn.—«w-'-' to "Star."i KAIKOHE, this day. Land classification in the North was discussed with the Hon. A. D. McLeod, Minister of Lands, at Kaikohe last night by deputationists. The speakers explained the Church immigration scheme as it affects this district and others up this way. It was asked that all native lands be classified. There was a lot of land held by the Government and by people who 'took it up for speculative purposes which wa* lying practically idle. So far, noxious weeds had not come into this part of the North to any great extent, but it was threatening to become a menace on these unsettled lands. The opinion was expressed by the speakers that it would be far better for the Government to give the land away than to let it get into its present, and perhaps worse state. It was suggested that the form of settlement should be somewhat similar to that under the Homestead Act. Statements were made by farmers to the effect that, for an expenditure of £4 to £5 per acre, land in the vicinity of Waipapa and Kaikohe would carry four to five sheep to the acre. There were thousands of acres of this class of land at the Bay of Islands awaiting settlement. "Not Much Daylight." Replying. Mr. McLeod said that, as Minister of Lands, he had investigated the immigration scheme of the Home Government, but could not see much daylight. His Government had been criticised severely for not taking advantage of the proposals made regarding the settlement of immigrants on the lands of the overseas Dominions. It was not much use, however, because the maximum amount the Home Government would expend on each immigrant settler was £500. The Home authorities had definitely stated that their information had led' them to believe that that was sufficient. The Minister went on to say that, considering he had just gone through a scheme to settle 10,000 soldiers at an average cost of £2500 per man, there was very little prospect of settling men from overseas at £500 each. Even settlement on small areas cost the Government a lot of money. For instance, to build a home, fencing, etc., it had cost at the very least £1250. In West Australia, it had cost approximately £2250 per man to settle men under the Home Government's terms, leaving £1750 to be found by the West Australian Government after £500 had been given by the Home authorities. Over on the other side it had also been found that 50 per cent of the men had deserted their homes and gone hack to the towns. He was not going to consider such a scheme whereby Xew Zealand would suffer a loss. Even if the Lands Department had the land available at the present time that could be worked advantageously under the immigration schemes outlined, there were thousands of men already in Xew Zealand who should come first. The Rating System. There was also, the Minister continued, another aspect of the whole casei ' If the Government allowed these lands to be given over to settlement at a: peppercorn rental, as suggested by the deputation, say, for argument, at one shilling per acre, that would be on the unimproved value. As the various counties rated on that value, .where was the money coming for roads, maintenance, etc? He had just about concluded a most comprehensive tour of the great North, and had been informed practically everywhere he went that the County Councils could not collect enough rates as it was for roading purposes. What, therefore, would be the position under the proposed scheme? What would happen then? Anyway, he. concluded, he would ask his colleague, the Hon. O. J. Hawken, the new Minister of Agriculture, to come north as soon as possible and view the lands for himself. They would then confer and see what could be done. That was all he could say at present.