UNEMPLOYED MEN GIVEN A CHANCE

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 254, 24 July 1935, Page 11

UNEMPLOYED MEN GIVEN A CHANCE

Waikato Land Scheme

FOUNDER TELLS STORY OF NOBLE WORK

Faith of Mr. D. V. Bryant

The story of a great recovery effort which is being made in the Waikato as the result of the efforts of many public-spirited men to do something in the direction of getting the unemployed back into harness under decent conditions was told to members of the Wellington Rotary Club yesterday by Mr. Daniel Victor Bryant, of Hamilton, the head and founder of the Waikato Land Settlement Society. In introducing the speaker Sir Alfred Ransom, the acting-Vrime Minister, referred to the great work Mr. Bryant was doing in the Waikato. He had already set up and endowed a children’s convalescent home at Raglan which must have cost him about £60,000, 'When he visited the home, with Lady Ransom, they had spent one of the most delightful evenings possible among the children, one and all of whom regarded Mr. Bryant as their godfather, or “Uncle Dan.” But it was not sufficient for this man to give of his means. He had been successful in business, and now not only was he giving his means but be was giving his life with it. He regarded wealth as a responsibility, a means of doing good to others. Mr. Bryant said he would first tell them how the Waikato Land Settlement Society originated: When things went to pieces so suddenly and he had seen unemployment so rife, with all the attendant conditions mentally and otherwise, he was convinced that it was “up to” everyone with time and money to do something to relieve the situation. He realised that the Government had a duty, but he also had realised that the individual had a definite duty to do something in the matter. He could think of nothing better than the settlement of the land, to get the men, their families out on the land and away from the towns where they could only depend on the Unemployment Board and private charity, in an environment fatal to children, who, it had to be remembered, were the next generation. So three years ago he had set out to raise £20,0Q0, deciding that unless that sum was forthcoming a start could not be made. That might never have been / had not Mr. Smallwood, the chairman of the Auckland Savings Bank, offered £lO,OOO, providing the public would subscribe a like amount. ■ Sympathy of Ministers. At that time the slump was nt its deepest. Many had promised to give by the end of March, and as it grew near that date it looked as though they would lose after all, but by March 31 they had not only secured the £20.000, but £21,000 bad come forward. What had bellied was the assistance given by Sir Alfred Ransom and the Hon. Mr. A. Hamilton, then Minister of Employment, each of whom had made a grant of £5OO from their departments. Sir Alfred Ransom bad been keen on the scheme from its inception. So the society was formed and directors were appointed, and here he wished to say that each of those gentlemen had acted in an honorary capacity, and not one of them had even charged for cathire. They regarded the money subscribed as so sacred that they would not ask for personal expenses, though their cars had travelled between 20.000 and 30,000 miles on the society’s busiDess. z

The first act of the directors was to purchase a property ten miles from Cambridge; then they acquired another property eleven miles from Hamilton—--3500 acres in all. At si later date they bought 1500 acres at Te Awamutu for which £4500 was paid. It might interest those present still more to learn that this £4500 was an anonymous gift to the society, and not even his co-directors knew where it came from. It was the donor’s wish that the scheme should/be extended, but the name was never to be divulged. He felt It was almost necessary to have those gifts in order to build a solid foundation for the scheme. Until they could build their homes the unemployed first camped out on these lands. The Unemployment Board paid their wages—men with two children and under 25/a week, men with three children or more 30/- a week. The men lived on that for a year, no extra help being necessary save in two or three cases. At a later stage the Unemployment Board agreed to put the men on the same wages as those paid on the Government land development scheme, which were 32/- to 43/- per week. In twelve months they hoped to wean 32 men from the Unemployment Board and put them on their own feet, so they would not be a burden on the State but would make room for 32 others indirectly. A Firm Foundation. Mr. Bryant told how they had found the land weed infested, but by adopting the proper methods they had cleaned it up until last season the grass was the finest he had ever seen on some of the lots, and the holdings were now running 8000 sheep and 1000 head of cattle. At present the society had overdrafts at the Bank of New South Wales and the Bank of New Zealand, but if they were to sell all tlie .sheep and cattle at current rates to-day they would clear off all their liabilities, and still have 6000 acres of good land. 34 homesteads and 12 cottages, besides £3OOO wortli of plant and horses.

In his concluding remarks Mr. Bryant acknowledged the great help given him by Mr. Harry Valder, at one time district governor of Rotary. "If I had got nothing out of it except the friendship of Harry Valder,” said Mr. Bryant feelingly, “I feel that the time would not have been wasted.”

Mr. Bryant spoke of one person who dropped in with a cheque for £lOO, another who gave them three ffouses (to be shifted out on to the farms) at least worth £250 each, and of a widow who handed him 5/- as her mite. “I appeal to those who have surplus wealth to use it well,” said Mr. Bryant. ‘‘l am not a philanthropist. I hate the word. I am 53 years of age. At 42 I made au endowment. I found it was not enough. I had to give myself—to act forever afterward in an honorary capacity. If I had not given over accumulating wealth according to custom I would have buried my soul. It has made all the difference to my life; as it is I am happy in the work and my mind is at rest. Really all one needs wealth for is the protection of one's own family, but custom takes us past that mark, and we become its slaves. We are living in critical times. I believe that with each slump the wealth of the world drifts into fewer hands.

I pity the man with millions. The real thing to-day is to reach the hearts of the men and women, and to do one’s best to cure their complaints. I do appeal to the Wellington Rotary Club, and would lie only too pleased to provide any information about the scheme. As for the unemployed themselves, theirs is a difficult lot, but since the depression we have found them a credit to New Zealand, a credit to the world. . . . They have changed with a different environment. Some of them have nine and ten children. The coming generation mind you! What would their condition be in a city living on your cast-off clothing and mine? As the land is developed we can take on more unemployed still—there is more work than icr those we can settle on the land; and, in time, we will help them to permanent jobs. I’ve got. tremendous faith in humanity!”