USE OF WASTE LANDS

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 174, 19 April 1929, Page 10

USE OF WASTE LANDS

NEED FOR DEVELOPMENT BENEFITS TO DOMINION Dominion Special Service. Martinborough, April 18. When speaking to a gathering at Martinborough to-night, the Hon. G. W. Forbes (Minister of Agriculture) dealt with the Government’s policy with regard to unemployment and closer settlement questions. It was a matter of great concern to the Government, he said, that there was a large number of men throughout the country who could not obtain employment, despite the fact that there had been a prosperous season so far as the agricultural and pastoral industries were concerned. Those industries were the foundation of the country’s prosperity, and if they were extended and increased, employment would be found for all.

It was agreed that returns from land were at a high level, but they were not sufficient to keep pace with the demand of the population in the matter of employment A steady increase in land settlement was the solution to the problem. He believed that the fact that land settlement had not increased during the past few years accounted for the present unemployment. There were two or three methods by which land settlement could be increased, and it was the intention of the Government to put them into effect. As a matter of first importance he was dealing with the development of waste lands of the Dominion, and he was satisfied that its development, through the increased knowledge of artificial manures, would result in a benefit to the Dominion. The only practical way of doing so, however, was to provide financial assistance to those willing to take up sections, and it was his intention to bring down next session legislation providing sufficient money to give effect to such a policy. The Minister dealt at length with the question of closer settlement, and with particular reference to the Wairarapa, stated that though he had only seen a small portion of that district, he was already convinced that there were large areas of good land capable of supporting many more families than was at present the case.