MUST HAVE LAND.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 90, 17 April 1929, Page 8

MUST HAVE LAND.

AT REASONABLE PRICE. GOVERNMENT RESOLVED. SPECIAL TAXATION POSSIBLE. SIR JOSEPH WARD'S WARNING. (IJy Tclc^'r.i(ill. —Own Correspondent.) WKI.LIMiTOX, this day. An indication that the Government is determined to aecpiiie. .-uHicient land t<> «■ 11^llit* sueeos I'm- its jiolicy of closer settlement, oven if it means applying special taxation to do so, was by Sir Joseph Ward when speaking at the arnnal dinner of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce. "In New Zealand we have to turn our eyes to the land."' .-aid Sir Joseph, amidst applause. "We have to do that whether people in the towns like it or lio(, or whether people in the country like it or not. 1 am convinced that the only way we can prevent the causes of unemployment in New Zealand is to cut the country up into .-mall -cctions. We have to cater for our own people first, and \\.- should not numbers of people from other cnuuirics until we arc -ure they will not dislocate the local labour market, and cause inconvenince fioin one end or tlie country to the ot her.

"Tin' whole trouble to-day is 11 jat it i- ]>r;irt ieally itn pi > —ihle to purchase land at a low <• in)nu' 11 li-ure in In- able to put 111<*11 on to small sections on a profitalde lia.-is. At the pre-enl. moment we Lave not the money to do it. We have authority to -|ieiid C 1.000.000 Oil the purchase of land, hut jiid^ii]'_ r by the results of t lie tour of tlie Minister of Lands it is very difficult to pet the larjio holders to put a suitable juice on their land, that i-. a jirii-:* that will enable us to settle -mail men on a sound lia-is. IT there are men who are noiiiii' tit adopt that altitude, then, if the < Jov eminent fujd> it no i .->arv to achieve it- olijecl liy a -v>l "it of taxation, they will liave mi one to I,la me lmt t hem-elves, (Applause.) We know fro: i ] ia-1 experience that the -\-tem of i (nvcr -et 1 lenient ill Xe\v Zea - i; ii,| 1i is led to Tiappine~s :l .'id pros'.crit v."'