COLONISATION.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 282, 29 November 1938, Page 8

COLONISATION.

ITALIANS IN LIBYA.

THE SYSTEM OUTLINED.

This month there are being t-ettle<l in Libya nearly 1000 Il<ili;ui peasant families, comprising between 1.5.0(10 and lli.OlM) people. Italy claims that no single, operation gigantic ha* l>een attempted in the. history of colonial development.

What known as "demographic colonisation''—i.e.. the trausplanlation ot peasants in nuclei—lias been going on for the hifit five years, but only tentatively. It has resulted in the settlement of a population of little more than r>ooo persons. Hut it hae given Marshal lialho ailil his Administration the experience required to settle far larger numbers (say* "The Times"'). They now know exactly how a peasant colonist van live, where he can live, an<l what he can grow. A survey has been made of the water possibilities, and fairly abuiida'it supplies are now available from artesian welle in Tripolitania and from wells and eifterns in C'yrenaioa. It i<4 now portable to plant more than 1.1.000 person* at once, and another 20.000 by 1040.

A certain number of settlements already existed, and new ones, named after Italian patriots <>v colonial pioneers, have been created during the last six months since the Duee suddenly decreed this dramatic piece of empire-making. Farm* have been built, roads made, well* drilled, water pipes laid down, the land deeply ploughed by tractors: all at lireiikneck speed. Piaster will scarcely lie dry on come of tho buildings when their tenants occupy them. The process of settlement i* being niiperviried by two organisation*, tho Libyan Colonisation Board and the National Fascist Institute of Social Welfare. The board was created in I'XVI with State capital art an instrument of "demographic colonisation"'; the institute is simply applying in certain localities tho board's system. To finance the wlifvle operation the home Ooverninent has allotted credits of ."idd.OOO.OOO lire to i>c spread iver live years. Land Already Prepared. The (system somewhat similar 1o that pursued bv (he Jewish Colonisation Association in Palestine and el-ew here. The Colonisation Boa.-d fake- over < lovernnient land and prepares it for settlement. If lniilds the farms, clears and plmislis the laud. euHo-cs the fields, and provides the settler with equipment and cattle, and irrigation canals where required. For a short period the settler works on his farm as a salaried employee of the boa r<l. but as soon as he is well (settled in and knows the ways of the country he advances to the position of ''metayer." in which he ami tlie board become partners and <-haVe the produce of the farm. Careful accounts are kept. The settler is debited with the value of the food and supplies provided by the board, and credited with the value of his produce. This period is leckoned to last for five years, after which a man enters into full possession of his farm and begins to repay the capital invested in it by the board. This is reckoned to take from 2."> to .'JO years. Kach settler, however. Itenefits by a State subsidy paid by the Government of the colony, which is said to amount to about 30 per cent of the value of his farm. The settlers have been most carefully chosen from about 6000 applicants. They come mainly from the "metayer" class so common in Italy, but a few have abandoned small plots of laud at home for the better chance which the fifty-acre farm in Africa will offer, and a few are merely farm labourers. The first condition for selection was that the family should have at least three able-bodied male and two female member*, and if possible no very small children to hinder the parents in their work. Then the physique and health of its members were examined, and exhaustive inquiries made into the qualities as a worker, •the character and political opinions of the head of the family. Well Looked After. Elaborate arrangements have been made to shepherd tjiem in the early days. From the quayside (where they will l>e served by canteeiw, first-aid posts, information bureaux and a special organisation for collecting and redistributing stray children and lost property) to the village settlement* themselves, (where they will Ik>. watched over and guided by a team of official* and agricultural exports) everything possible will be .lone to make them feel at home and well looked after. Their new homes will be attractive stone-built houses faced with white roughcast, containing three bedrooms and a kitcben. with a large covered porch in front, and at the vack an enclosed yard beyond which will lie a stable hik! lean-to. In the kitchen the farmev's wife will find a good supply of flour, rice, macaroni and other household necessities. In the yard there will be a wood pile: in the stable a couple of draught animals with a stack of forage beside them: in the lean-to a plough, a harrow and other tools. The fields outside will lve ready ploughed and seed corn will be provided for immediate by the board. In many caeee there will be groves of olive or almond trees, or vineyards ready planted.

Italy w out on theec linos to turn Libya into another Algeria, a part of the home country beyond the *pu. She has a 'lonjr way to go, and it will ho a fairly costly biu-inces, for it takes more than £2000 to 'finance the settlement of each family. But if she can Cud the money, who can doubt that the job a ill be worth doing?