SOLDIER SETTLEMENT.

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 16961, 9 October 1920, Page 9

SOLDIER SETTLEMENT.

+ LOAN BILL BEFORE HOUSE. AN INTERESTING DEBATE. t (abridged press association- repob£.) r A\ ELLINGTON, October 18. In the House of 1? e p res on tax i ves tolay, the Prime Minister moved the econd reading of tlio Discharged Solliers' Settlement Loan Bill. He said ho Bill could scarcely be called cenentious, as he thought most of the nemtacrs agreed to the principle of lelping tho soldiers. He wished to 1 aakc it clear that the money would not c k? used for any other purpose until -j he soldiers were supplied with the land } e.'juired. The amount of tho loan was t ;G,COO,GOO, and he thought he saw a vay of adding to that another million, rhe rate of interest would be 5J per ■ent., and though tho term of the oan was not yet fixed, ho thought it vould not bo less tliaii ten years, and lot more than fifteen years. Two and l half millions of this loan would bo ' ;et apart for payment of death duties, • j ind, judging by previous experience, ; : ic thought that this sum would be | ;aken un for this purpose. There were j ; compulsory clauses in the Bill, but:, ;hese differed from tho provisions of previous Bills, and the impost would anly amount to a sum equal to one ► ear's land and income-tax. This was i :ho last compulsory loan, because nothing but war. justified compulsion, and is no war was now in sight, he thought : ;hey could afford not to insist on com- 1 pulsion in future. Clauso 17 instituted i new principle, enabling tho Government to buy back its own debentures if they were being sold on the market it below par. This was regularly done in Britain, and was, ho thought, good business. Mr Massey then read tabulated details of tho Government's operations in connexion with repatriation and settlement of soldiers. Summing up these operations, he said, they showed a ncreat record. No country in the world lad done so much for its soldiers, and, ie was particularly jjleasod to say, tho ;reat majority of the soldiers were dong well. There had been failures, but blieso were few and far between. The country was' undoubtedly solvent, and he did not think the threatened commercial depression would affect us, or, at least, not for long. Mr Wilford said no one could doubt the solvency of the country, because cvliilo we had increased our indebtedness to £201,000,000, our private wealth alone would balance that. No ono would object to assistance being given to the soldiers, but the question was whether we were doing tho best we could with the money we had. He did not think it was necessary to put tho compulsorv clauses into effect, because ho believed that all the money required would be readily subscribed, so good was the i titer est, and so good was the investmont. There even . a possibility of the Government receiving moro money than was required, and, if so, ho recommended the Govornmentto adopt the suggestion made by Dr. Thacker, that tho surplus should be handed over to local bodies, whoso loan proposals misht be imperilled by the more attractive Government proposals. A point ho wished to make, however, was the' failure of the Government from want of sympathy to take land compulsorily for soldiers. The Prime Minister was fond of telljng the House that he had made 20,000 subdivisions in recent years, but when he was asked how many new settlers had been placed on these subdivisions he could not reply. Sir Massey: It is quite impossible to SaJ Mr Wilford said tho whole of the land purchased (or soldiers had hcen purchased by private treaty and ho quoted figures supplied by .the Commissioner of Crown Lands in Canterbury showing the excessive prices being asked by owners of land offered to the Government. . Mr Massey: Theso prices were not) PJI Mr Wilford declared that there were two properties in the Wairarapa which, belonged" to two men who were without chick or child. Soldiors ware clamouring to have Hhose properties acquired. These estates ought to bo taken, and should bo taken, through tho Public Works Act. Tho Prime Minister had said that land should bo taken compulsorily. Ho said ho would do so, but 'lie had not done it. No individual should be permitted to hold lancE to block soldiers' settlement. It had been the proclaimed policy of tho. Government to settle Soldiors in tho districts from which they came ? hut had this been done ? It was a crying shamo that land fit for soldiers' settlement was being held just because the owners did net offer it. It ought to be taken compulsorily. The Hon. T>. H. Guthrie said tho Leader of the Opposition seamed to think that tho Government was subdividing land merely for sport. The fact was that tfhey had found homes for , 15,000 soldiers. One of the Wairarapa properties referred to bv- Mr Wilford had been offered to tho Government at a price at which it would have been a gift, but it had to bo turned down because the property. could not be profitably cut up. Ho. defended tho Government from tiho criticism of tho policy pursued in buying land for soldier settlements. Wnen the men first began to return from the war, it was felt that they were net in a condition to break.in new land, and some small areas were bought to settle them on. That practice was now ending. J_iO paid a tribute to tho generous assistance given by the peoplo in tho Waimrapa in placing men on tho land. Fifty thousand acres had been bought there, inu'Ti of it at about half the market value. On- this land 184 men were settled. Other parts of Wellington province had also done well, and the province had settled j more soldiers on the land than i any other province. The Minister also detailed the good work by the Repatriation and After-Care branches of the Department in looking after returned men. Applications. for financial assistance had lately decreased. Up to September 20th 4375 loans for acquiring or establishing business had been approved, involving an expenditure of £'!>c>2,44{>. Further, 9243 men were granted loans for the purchase of furniture, tools, etc., and 3735 received assistance in other way/. The payments made under nil headings on behalf of the men totalled £1,472.512. Failures of the men to repay their obligations to the Department were v orv few— only about five per cent, of the total assisted. • Mr Mitchell congratulated the Government and the country on what had been dono for the soldiers. After a lengthy debate. Mr Massey replied. Ho deprecated the policy of talung land by compulsion for settlement purposes, bcause of tho ocst and delsys causcd by Court proceedings.. If land* was to be provided for soldiers, the most expeditious method was to pp.ss the Taxation Bill now before the House, impose a graduated land tax, and if the land was in existence it would come under settlement. But, personally, lie did not know where the big estates were which some members talked of so glibly. Tho second reading was agreed to on the voices. The House immediately went into committee on the Bill, which was put through in five minutes without amendTrentr It- was then read a tLird time and passed. The House rof-e at 12 o4 a.m.