The Dominion THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1928. THE PROBLEM OF LAND SETTLEMENT

Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 301, 20 September 1928, Page 10

The Dominion THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1928. THE PROBLEM OF LAND SETTLEMENT

The usefulness of the discussion in the House of Representatives on Tuesday last on the subject of soldier settlement on the land was marred by the obvious desire of Opposition members to make nartv capital out of the difficulties of the situation. It is well known and admitted that in meeting tie urgency the demand for land for returned soldiers at the close of ie w , ‘X “andard of land vataes was created. Popu ar «n te properly insisted that every possible assistance should be given to returned soldiers to acquire land, and those whose memories wll carry back to that period following on the cessation of hostilities will recall how urgent the demand was The Government pressed to strain to the utmost to assist the men who had risked lives in the service of their country. . . The complaints that are now advanced by critics of the Government based on the ground that many soldier-settlers have been unable to make a success of their farming ventures, are on the whole most unjust Whenever the Government of that bygone day advised caution it was shouted down and assailed as shirking its obligations to the returned soldiers. And the chief complainants were the members of the Opposition in Parliament. Admitting that in the rush to meet the requirements of wouldbe soldier-settlers bad bargains were at times made; it must also be recognised that in a large percentage of cases the and so put chased was selected by the men themselves. The officers of the Government, in many cases, did not choose the land at all, but merely reportedl on and often reluctantly approved the financial commitments involved This now is ancient history, but it is necessary to recall the circumstances which governed the position at the time the pui chases were made, because of the unfair criticism which too often is indulged in to-day. No Government could have resisted the pressure exerted at the time, and as a matter of public policy it is doubtful if it would have been wise to affront popular sentiment by any appearance oi disregarding the services rendered by our citizen soldiers. The extent to which the State has since met the needs of the situation in relieving soldier-settlers whose ventures havei proved unsuccessful does not appear to leave any room for hostile ciiticis . Complete and independent investigations have been made into all known cases of hardship, and as a result very large sums have been written off by the State—sums running into millions of pounds to assist the men to retrieve their position and make good on their holdings. It can be taken for granted, however, that whatever the Government had done in this respect, its critics would still have been clamouring that it had fallen short of requirements. It is election year and any Government is fair game for its opponents when votes are being wooed.