A WAY TO INCREASE PRODUCTION

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 70, 15 December 1917, Page 10

A WAY TO INCREASE PRODUCTION

Sir, —Ib is recognised as one of the foremost duties of every man to assist the Government in every way possible to develop the resources of his country, and I as a loyal subject of NewZealand have submitted n sclieme which has been favourably commented upon by members of the Ministry, and pronounced .thoroughly practical and workable The scheme is with the purpose of increasing tho number of producers by extending to soldiers and workers without means tho opportunity to take up essential industries. It is an indisputable fact that no opportunity exists for those who are willing to work and can prove themselves, who aro for tho time being without means and in consequence there are thousands being forced to exist as mere wage earners or compelled to follow non-essential pursuits, and are therefore lost to the country as producers, notwithstanding the fact that millions of acres of land aro lying idle, and only a paltry attempt so far has been made to settle it mill the small farmers who are tho backbone of any country, \\hilst re coffiiisine to a. certain extent the woilt of "the Lands Department, it is quite apparent that the Land Purchase Board as at present constituted is incapable of dealing with the problem. The methods are too slow to proviuo &ay opportunity for the present besides having become corroded by officialdom, that no matter how good a suggestion may be it is quietly sidetracked, unless its origin is from the first duty, of course, is to provide for the returned soldiers bv supplying them with land at the commercial price, ring-fenced and staked: but what of those other loyal subjects who have been prevented from going into the trenches by some sl.pt defect or other reason, and who willingly offer their services as producers if tne chance were given then,, and thereby increase the productiveness o the Dominion. Crown lands are to all intents and purposes freehold, id there is plenty of suchi ly nidc Hawke's Bay people want to know why Hie Land Purchase Board has abso lntely turned a deaf ear to the appeal of over 50 good and experienced men to have a block of 12,000 acres of land in Hawke's Bay, close to a motor road, cut up into about 500-acre blocks for selection by them. Tho land having been offered and refused by the board at 10s. per acre for the freehold the present winter carrying capacity heiug one sheep to two acres, and capable ot easy improvement to over a sheep per acre with little outlay, beside fencing. Tho owner was prepared to accept

debentures in payment, no caeli reunited for several years. The rent of tESa sectiona would not have exceeded per. acre, and 25 settlers would be <e tlio block, where there is now only one. Is this national development? If this Innd was not considered suitable for returned soldiers, all tho more reason why it should have been accepted as per Tha request of these 50 men for ordinary settlement,, and the opportunity given to the'landless of Hawke's Bay to acquire cheap land. May I anticipate and request an answer to the above, and if it is the intention of Parliament to debar settlement except to returned soldiers. —I am, etc., NAT. BEAMISH. Hastings, December 10, 1917.