THE LAND PROBLEM.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 89, 16 April 1927, Page 8

THE LAND PROBLEM.

The proposal to establish a New Zealand Land Settlement and Development League is not to be interpreted as an attempt to embarrass the Government or to provide a new" field for the activities of party politicians. It is rather, as General Russell said at the Conference, an attempt to form "a well considered public opinion" on this subject, based upon first-hand information from all available sources. Unfortunately, there seems to be ample room for such a project. The Minister of Lands, in a communication to the meeting, stated that, since the post-war slump began, not less than 30 commissions or committees have reported to Government on the land question. But it is none the less true that nothing effective has yet been done to solve this great problem; and that in itself provides complete justification for the steps that those interested in the land question throughout the Dominion are now preparing to take.

There are certain phases of the land question that must appeal even to the average "man in the street" as requiring grave and prompt consideration. The scarcity of land available for settlement and likely to be productive, the comparative failure of the attempt to reclaim our swamp lands (as explained this week by Mr. McLe'od), the financial and other difficulties that have to be faced by our "backblock" settlers, as was instanced in the "Star's" recent shocking revelations of the state of things at Ngaroma, the futility of bringing out large numbers of immigrants yearly to "go on the land" when there is no prospect of settling them to their own advantage and the benefit of the country, these are some of the questions into which the proposed Board of Inquiry should collect information; and if its work in this direction is well done, it will more than repay the Gov- | ernment and the Dominion for all the time I and trouble and expense that it may entail.