IN THE PUBLIC MIND.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 134, 8 June 1929, Page 8

IN THE PUBLIC MIND.

TOO MUCH SETTLEMENT.

POLICY OF CONCENTRATION NEEDED.

(To the Editor.)

In a recent paragraph the Hon. W. D. Taverner nut a noint of view that has been too long repressed, namely, the evil of too much "land settlement." At the present time there are perhaps ten thousand farms for sale in New Zealand, of which probably seventy-five per cent are offered at less than they cost. Ifc is indisputable that Giles in tlie aggregate is greatly over-acred. The first need is not for more boundary lines and bush burns on virgin areas but more prosperity 011 the lands already alienated. Cheaper money is of less importance than more money; and more money can only follow better security. Good security that will attract financiers can, in its turn, only grow on profitable farming, in which one important factor is the prospect of being able to sell your farm if the need arises. A wild policy of opening up fresh territory must debase the security of every farm in the land. On the other hand, a policy of consolidation of the present farming progress without adding to the idle areas will sharpen the national appetite for land and make it a good lending proposition. Cheap money is of little consequence to a farmer who requires urgently one thousand pounds and can only get two hundred and fifty. Cheaper costs, cheaper marketing, better roads, better transport, better farming, and particularly the development of more valuable products, are the great needs of to-day. Blackberry and other noxious weeds are the great aftermath of land denudation. The natural bush is their firmest barrier. Extension of settlement necessitates extension of costly railways and roads, increased marketing costs, less and more expensive civic services, and more hardship for the people, all of which would be avoided by the more rational policy of concentration. From the national viewpoint it might well be the best statesmanship not to open new areas but rather to buy in remote blocks and demobilise them. The agricultural axiom to manure the best paddocks might well be applied nationally. Land deputations seem composed of men who are full of eagerness to be up and doing, and Cabinet Ministers and the public can hardly fail to be swept along Avith them. But there is the other side. The settlement of the land itself is a dead idea. It is only the settlement of the people that counts, and shovelling the people out into -the ever-widening maw of unprofitable farming on the same old lines means only adding some more to the already shocking list of gaunt disillusioned. The new Government's best task is simple. Just make farming pay. ARTHUR SAINSBURY, THE MUNICIPAL BAND. ; "Strepitoso" is surely lacking in business acumen when he fails to understand such a simple statement as "adequate publicity" in relation to the Municipal Band's performances. Your valuable paper is abounding with just such answers, and each "startling" and "eye arresting" advertisement is a direct answer to such a simple statement. To put it in a nutshell, "It pays to advertise," not a meagre few orthodox lines at so much per inch as we see any week-end, but a real live publicity campaign to make the people realise that they have at their command such a splendid combination of musicians as the A.M.B. Independent of colourful and arresting advertisements, ono form of "adequate publicity" I could strongly recommend is to let the band tour the Dominion and be their own publicity agent. Other bands have found this the most satisfactory and remunerative method. How many Aucklanders would possibly have heard the Artillery Band had they not travelled to New Zealand at, I believe, "great cost" to the promoters of the exhibition. "Strepitoso" knows, or should know, that cold, blue fingers, sitting in draughty rotundas in our open air parks on cold winter evenings do not tend to produce a good ensemble. I maintain that collectively the Municipal Band can "deliver the goods." Considering all things—one being that the ratepayers cannot . support a full military band—l say the band compares favourably with any band. CADENZA AD LIB. BROADCASTING THE BAND. After reading the numerous letters on the above subject from "Ratepayers," "Owners of the Band," etc., I wonder if it has ever struck your correspondents that the whole fault lies with the Broadcasting Company and not, as usual, with the City Council. Why cannot the Broadcasting Company create and employ a band of their own? Does the loss of the right to broadcast the Municipal Band explain the large decrease in wireless permits issued? I think not. A day set apart for a street collection I quite agree with, but that the amount aimed at should be £25,000 to enable the City Council to lift the other £25,000 granted by the Government some time ago to relieve unemployment in the city. DESPERATE. PROTECTION AND PIG FARMING. Why is pig farming conducted on such a small scale in New Zealand? The reply can be given in one word, "Duty." When the writer left Canada about ten years ago pollard was sold for about £2 10/ a ton. Allowing for an increase of one hundred per cent since that time, it would still be about fifty per cent lower than the present market price here. During the ten years I have been in this country the lowest price I remember for pollard was £8 10/, which only lasted a short time. I think one could say that the average has been about £10 10/, and all other grains are proportionately dear. Canadian farmers feed grain to their pigs from the time they are weaned, with the result that porkers are put on the market at about four and a-half months against about eight months here. In a country like New Zealand wjth its mild climate is a shame that the duty prevents the dairy farmer from feeding pigs during the winter months. His pig returns should be at least equal to his butterfat; whereas I have heard farmers here bragging to others about having made £100 to £ioo from pigs in a season, and those men were milking from seventy to one hundred cows. Should the Government see its way to give free trade within the Empire as regards all grain produce, the action would revolutionise the pig industry aud would also be a great benefit towards the feeding of concentrates to the dairy cows. The writer speaks from personal experience, as he was dairying in Canada and has also followed it in this country. F.HJR. A HARD TIME. Your correspondent "My C'ountree" has mv full sympathy. I have been in New Zealand for over twenty years, but I am still "Homie." During recent years we have had a terrible struggle, as my husband's trade is one of the many which is fast dwindling, consequently I have tried to get some work. I have answered scores of advertisements ajid travelled miles, but, alas, there is no hope for a "Homie" who is no longer young. I have written to influential people asking for work for my husband, only to have my appeal ignored or charity offered, which we do not want. I had relatives who fought the Maoris, the Boers and the Germans; others who slogg e( l their hearts out to help coekies to pay oil their mortgages in return for isolation in a shed and the privilege of doing their washing on Sunday whilst the "boss" and family were at .church. MY AIN FOLK.