SOLDIER SETTLEMENTS

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 69, 15 December 1919, Page 12

SOLDIER SETTLEMENTS

j " TP.KOPANE ESTATE I AN UNQUALIFIED SUCCESS I .'By Telegraph—Special Correspondent. | Palmerston North, December 14. I ' In speaking on tho Discharged Soli diers' Settlements Loan B'dl in tho | Houso of Representatives tho Hon. G. j. W. Russell had the following to say on . 1 tho ICopano block in tho Palmerston !*.- North district: "This land, I think, conj ' Bists of -172 acres, and for that tho sum ' of .£3o j 9ila-,y;as i paid. The information ! I fliat' the land was bought by the Government at over .£IO,OOO _ more ! .than tlw value at which it stood in tho (iorernment Valuation Office." In speaking to tho Address-in-Repl.v !; . Mr J. A. Nash, M.P. for Palinerston j North, took the opportunity of replying I to 3fr. Russell, and said: "The state- ! inents made by Mr. Russell with rei.. gard to the ICopano estate should never, !have been made. I have been living ; iifar that estate and know something I alwut it.' and I want to tell the House j . that I consider that at tho price paid i; .for the-land the people who sold it to i the Government made a magnanimous f ! ift to the solders who are living there, he price paid for the Kopane estate tfras .fM ..per .acre, and the point, made ■ by tho'Hori. Mr Russell wns that thei'B was no unearned increment for the sol- ; dier. I say that that statement was i wrong, and I can prove it. A portion I of that estate was' sold to a private gentleman (some 500 acres). The other iay ' that gentleman sold 400 acres of it, part ! of tho ICopano estate without any imr proveiner.ts on it, at per acre. I ;. say tlmt evoiy soldier on that estate ! can go out to-day and can carry with l him an ujiearned. increment of over £2.5 :' per adfe'-pliVs" buildings and improveI , niwits. I mako that statement beoanse 1 I feel that it is due to me and to the House, that honourable members should j, know that tile Kopitno purchase ivas '. one o{..the>finest, that has.been made ; by th 6" GoVernment for the soldiers." | With these two opposite opinions , the ]. {reneral public who are interested in the i qvestion of returned soklier settlements -. have had to bo content in the meantime, j Howevor, a representative of Thk f I)n»iNtOK has> been inquiring into the i luatter with a view to ascertaining i whether the price paid for tho land was I too high, also as to the success or other- | ' wise of tho settlement. With this object in view he Spent this morning on j the estate 1 conversing with the majority i of ihe settlers and afterwards saw . a i number of people who have held land i in the vicinity for''some years.' One J had only to look over the fourteen lots ~ into which the property has hoen divided to sec at once that their owners <ire prosI , poring. Although- onlyi in possession : Rome fifteen months nearly all the setj tier? havo erected comfortable if not ; elaborate home* Good sheds have been l>iovid?d "foi',-cows, and milking plants u>stalle£i»Yihe settlers havo combined !■ nnl association so as to.'deal i with matters collectively. The result is that arrangements have been come to j for a.-factory-.to collect all the cream, from a.xieh.tral t depot on. the estate which eaves'the"individual settlers going- to I the factory. The dairying is done on i tho hpme .'separator, principle, and at- ! the present time only cream is disposed | of. but arrangements are being made fo' |. sell slrim milk for the manufacture of i casein and other by-products. There is_ a plethora "of feed in 6pito of tho number, carried, and paddocks shu# up for hay.' ' Tho position is certainly j better than in any other part of the, ! the settlers need hav& f i no fear of a shortage during the com-a Ins? winter. -'rtThe' settlers express thenP . / .selves ..a? ...perfectly satisfied with the r : conditions;,anil..point out that.any. which on ihirty-acre blocks'can eairy'; ; . 20 cows in addition to tho necessary 5 fawn stock while allowing sufficient to he shut up to provide hay for tJie' ; winter, .jnust be a good, proposition | the price charged.' They all stress ths; i point that a comfortable living can bo' I made-..out of ; the land without to.. ! the expense of-breaking uj) aild.oroppmg-, • nhils the introduction-of milking iwi- |. c'nincry and a factory undertaking the | conveyance of cream considerably rej duces the drudgery of dairying. They also point out that'the success of Ko- ! pane has proved that it is quite poswiWg...for..returned soldiers to settle i' down "iitto cilivil life after the unsettling ' tendency of life whilo on active service i if offered facilities, under congenial conI ditions. ' One and all declare, that lvoI pane is tho most successful of tho sol- ; dien settlements and a good object les- ; eon of what can bo done on high-priced | land r iii'-'sinall areas. The general-con-i Eeiisu?'"'6f "'opinion is that the Crops of !. hay taken off- last season averaged fully j three tons per acre, and by the look 1 of the fields shut up thi9 year's yield . will equarit'-- ■ It is satisfactory to-notoi that the !. Lords of dairy cows are mostly .composed ■ of good'sorte and compare more than i ' favourably with the private herds in the Manawatu, which shows that they have ' been carefully selected. • ) Half a dozen settlers who were got i together said that tho statement made j- by Mr. Nash as to the unearned itnerejustified, and expressed j 'the opinion that if allowed to p.ut their : holdings on the market they could get I from. :&100 to i£l2s per- acre. , With.these j facts to go on it seems quite safe to I . say that tho Government made no misj . take in paying £65 per acre for tho set- | thment, and if tho Government valua- | : tion was i£10;000'below tho price paid it | was a long way below value. Residents ' of long standing in the vicinity'expressi eil tho opinion that tho Land Purchase ; Boards-toad®-'' a very great blunder 'in . " turning down tho Kopano when it was [ first offered, and consider the GovernI jnent.has a good deal to thank the owner ! of the tiropftrty (Jlr. Goring Johnston) j' for cpntinunrig to hold it for soldiers j w-hile'bdinggoffered much higher'prices j frnm'mitsido.They consider that the I only'misfeko'mado was in not securing j a much larger block of tho land which i was obtainable, at the tiino but wiiich j was afterwards sold privately and resold | at i£9l) per acre. I The Kairanga settlement purchased i from Ifr. R. MHionzrb somo few months I ago was,, also visited. Noarly all tho j net tiers'- 1 hare'-'their properties fenced and i have".'started dairying. Most of them i . havo erected houses. Feed .is .plentiful ! and the dairy cows are looking well. ■ .the. ...Cloverlea Settlement, pur- ■. chased from the lato D. Buick's estate | recently, most of the settlers have got I their .holdings fenced, but no houses arc \ yet on' the property, although one or two ! havo started dairying. It will be some week l ! beforo this industry commences in [' earnest. '