LAND GOES BEGGING

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 99, 21 January 1935, Page 10

LAND GOES BEGGING

In Our Beautiful Islands (To the Editor.) Sir, —Apropos of your leading article of this date entitled “Peopling the Dominion,” I enclose herewith a copy of an article taken from "My Magazine” of March, 1932, which I trust will be of .interest to those who think on this most important subject.— l am, etc., “OBSERVER.” Wellington, January 19. Tlie beautiful islands of New Zealand are interesting alike to their fortunate inhabitants and to millions of the Old World who desire to have new homes. „

The world needs the full use of all its land. It is not big enough to be able to afford to throw away millions ot acres anywhere on its surface. How remarkable it is that in Holland they should be spending enormous sums to turn the Zuyder Zee into cultivated land, while in the New World better land, Nature’s own land, goes begging. Or, to take another astonishing contrast: New Zealand has 103,000 square miles; Japau has 148,000 square miles; yet Japan-supports, roundly, 66 millions of people, while New Zealand has only one and a half million people! But that is not all. New Zealand is a better country than Japan. Yet some New Zealanders persuade themselves that their countryy is fully populated. Others, wiser men, say that they must use their country to better purpose. Among other natural resources New Zealand has magnificent natural water-power supplies which could, of course, become the centres of magnificent industries. But while the population is so small the power runs to waste because there are no people to supnort great industries. Thus also with railways. While the population consists of a few tiny groups widely scattered over a big area railways are .wasteful because there are so few passengers and so few goods to carry. A very great responsibility, there J fore attaches to the people of New Zealand. Fortunately many of them see the thing rightly and are determined that when the world recovers its- prosperity they will do everything they can to increase cultivation and to seek markets, while not forgetting their own home market They will refuse to crush farming by cruel taxation. New Zealand possesses the best of natural protective tariffs in the world, because she is so far off from the great manufacturing nations that her home producers have an obvious advantage. We need hardly add that we make criticisms in this matter with all submission to those who know the facts on the spot; we are confirmed in our own opinion by not a few of the most thoughtful of the fortunate people of what are almost the most fortunate islands in the world.

We ought to add that New Zealand is only one case of many. There are too many "new lauds” in tlie world not yet even marginally used, the development of which is absolutely necessary for the fuller prosperity of all people.

Tiie human race lias common interests. and these can only be served b.v each State and each people making tlie best of itself, so that it becomes a contributing factor to world prosperity and world happiness.