REPAROA SOLDIER SETTLEMENT.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 17428, 12 April 1922, Page 10

REPAROA SOLDIER SETTLEMENT.

THE MEN "MAKING GOOD." (press association telegbam.) WELLINGTON, Acril 11. When Parliament was last-in session, a good deal was heard in criticism of the Reparoa settlement ior returned soldiers, the Hon. D. H. Guthrie, . . uistor iu charge of Soldier Settlements, has returned to Wellington after a visit to Reparoa. He said his visit had convinced him that his original opinion that the block offered possibilities of successful settlement was a sound one. He had gone through the settlement, and the progress that had been made in two years had astonished him. He had received splendid reports of the calibre! of the Reoaroa men, arid consequently had no anxiety respecting the future of the settlement. During his visit, Mr Guthrie received a deputation of settlers, who made requests of general interest to soldier settlers. They said that cattle sickness had broken out, .and that the Department of Agriculture advised that renewal of pastures might be a remedy. To give.. ett'ect to this advice, the settlers asked for a further advance of £250. Another thing they wanted was a remission of rent till they were in a oosition to obtain a full return from their holdings. The Minister said he had not power to exceed the regulations, except with the approval of Cabinet. He would bring the matter before Cabinet. As to the request for remission of rente, that was a; matter that could oe dealt with only in accordance with the present policy of the Government, which was to postpone rents in necessitous cases, and reconsider the position at the end of the postponement period. This arrangement would give time for markets to stabilise, and enable Land Boards to work on a more satisfactory basis. In dealing with applications for assistance, where it wg3 found that settlers could not pay the postponed amount, the question of capitalisation or remission then could be considered. Tho Minister repeated that ho was delighted with what he had seen at the settlement, and added that it struck him as the most promising soldier settlement he had visited. The roading of the settlement and the drainage work were splendid.