ON THE LAND

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 32, 6 August 1927, Page 10

ON THE LAND

mmm settlers

msm&.GE posmon

Wffi SWE IS &OWG

'.'.,.. : lEhc emphatic, statement whs "..'Jjnade by the Minister of Lands .'•''" ,4sne Hon. A. D. M'Lood), replying ;.. 'xo a discussion on noldier settle- ' . ;ment in the House of Rcprescnta;;'t.ives yesterday, that the Govern- "■„' nient will refuse to compensate soldiers or anyone else who go off the land because they have not been -able to make a success of farming '- operations. Mr. M'Leod stated, ( _, however, that the Government was /wholly sympathetic with the sol- .<■ diers and* was prepared to extend the fullest consideration to every ._ case of hardship.

Of the soldiers who settled on the land, said the Minister, a total of about HjOOO, only about 5600 had applied for telief, and he thought that in view of I-oflation and other difficulties it couia ■lie claimed that this country had been Reasonably successful ia the settlement of soldiers. Comparative statistics showed that New Zealand had every reason to be satisfied with the success that had met the efforts made in this direction. There were still difficulties t<v face, and every endeavour would bo made to meet them.

DEMORALISING EFFECT.

Mr. M'Leod said that some men were not suited for the occupation of farming, and where assistance continued to ljfif. given to such men it had a demoral•isrng effect on the others. Men who

-were -working their farms successfully ' would ask why they had to pay rates ■wlieE these were being remitted to pothers. There was only one way to : flfal with the matter, and that was to ,*igß*cn up ha*d. That had been done Mgi* up to tho point of forfeit, but wen ft. came to putting the seal on the f&rfeitnre le hesitated a long time bevae he wonld pat a man out of a Home, rgpedelly at a time like this. But, he »t»W.ttiat sympathy carried to an exraenxe was causing a great deal of haim Mtfl was causing a spirit among settlers Vfeat was not going to be for the future benefit of this country. The moment ,3tt association was formed in a district ■feo bring about something that the v^ttlers thought they required, it could safely be said that tho settlement in . ffinesfion would end up in trouble. When settlers commenced to press in a body tbfjr did no useful service for themSsves in a general way, for it was roen the case that the fight was being ■&b up on behalf of two or three men gptp on Bbt *° have been out of the pe^Hement a long time before. SEr.W. J. Jordan (Manukau): "Does I*9* apply to farmers' unions?" ._ TOie Minister replied that he did not intend to widen the scope of the disfcjissaon, but it might. Where an individual settler placed his case before the Department it was thoroughly investigated, and he was bound to say that the leniency and sympathy extended to the men could not be questioned btf any member of the House. In sayoSk what he did about associations Mr. ■ ATLeod made it clear that he was not •■referring to the Eeturned Soldiers' Aswhich had been of very valuable seTviee to the Department, He •■gas under an obligation to practically the whole of the branches of tho B.S.A

WRITING OFF MORTGAGES. -jft had been suggested that in giving |eiief the first mortgage should be writtgtt off concurrently with the writing jar of the second mortgage, but how gas that going to be done? Where the grown, had advanced £2500 as a first mortgage, and there were secondhand TO«d mortgages, how were they going |p arrive at a fair basis of what to do? Someone had to decide, and the only thing was to call in a valuer. There Biust be some basis for valuations. If flrt value was there it must belong to php first mortgagee.

. T& c Hon. D. Bnddo (Kaiapoi): "That fo what the soldier settlers complain of .*M*e first mortgagee will do nothing" ;The Minister: "Why should the first taortgagee do anything if ho is fully JsoVered?" Mr. Bud-Jo: "He takes his pound of Hush; He has the chattel security and . ,S a-f iis first mortgage, so what is the ■-i*» 0f tlle ottler man tryinS to kelp at ' ,'_' Who is to be the/ judge of what Bgint it can be written down to?" ieJaied Mr. Miieod. .. Mr. Buado: "That policy will simply .. ttean that the soldiers will have to ' JPalk off—that is the end of it." .--.£.3*6 Minister: "I am bound to say -mat through no action of the Crown „,has a soldier had to walk off." The properties were valued time and again , and where the mortgage was greatfy in ,- f^cess of the valuation the mortgagee ' m: S not allowed t0 sell the soldier up. consent of the Attorney-General ■ r??*/ 0 t"e obtained before any soldier Mpd be sold up. On top of that, a w..,S|j>ona mortgagee who forced a soldier „...o« bm land had to refund the whole of ■ -W^ discharged soldier money to the , grown, immediately. There were very . .t?^ second mortgagees who could do that to-day. That side was being , ./watched very carefully. There were <.-,,™W soldiers on farms who had stock 0? loans up te as hiSlx as ■^rr^SOOO, whereas from £700 to £800 stock tho whole property. AVhere r 1 :?..-l*eie were second or third mortgages there was no possible chance of tho stocte.and station firms hoping to carry jgi that debt when it was obvious that tie mortgage registered as a chattel mortgage was so much above the value $ the chattels the man had on the **rm. Iho great bulk of the firms •...2g« »eetmg such cases. The Stata

COMPENSATION QUESTION,

Beeently the attitude had been taken Wf> by some that they would not shift t-.Dn to other sections until the Crown id compensation, for loss incurred on c sections they were then occupying am going to say, as Minister of o/iands," remarked Mr. M'Leod, "tliat , compensation will not be ma-dc I - '.fbhink that there is too much behind, the <;->hole principle to give way on that topint. There might be many reasons ■"Til nd had not been farmed success:..*PWi but someone had to decide.who ,^as at fault, and sooner or later the .Matter would become political. With housands of Crown tenants in the loontry there would be a risk of in- . i ustice being done to the general tax- - ; layer. The question of compensation • : louia net be considered. He did not •i. think tisftt it would be possible to carry ' tm the work of the Department if they Admitted that compensation had to be -■»aid in cases of failure to farm auccess;'fully. v He realised that the matter was mot " '©?* By cleaned up. There were a numppr of abandoned farms in the hands ■;.-« th« Bepartnicnt, but he was quite r Sure that when better times came and «-h«j outlook for farming improved, the •■• groat bulk of those farms would be oc- • cupied, and that would be for the bene- "^\ c f onnt^- He wanted to im- •'■' g l'Z °n a lower Ijasis thaa the ' S,r tl l(;. HoU6^ however, that the »'o»S»ido him, "He did 110 fc