Evening Post. FRIDAY, MARCH 15, 1929. THE DOMINION'S PROBLEMS

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 61, 15 March 1929, Page 8

Evening Post. FRIDAY, MARCH 15, 1929. THE DOMINION'S PROBLEMS

A plea for suspension of judgment until the work of the Government can. be seen in true perspective was made by the Prime Minister yesterday. "We arc not finished by any means (he said) in what we believe it is necessary to do. ... At least wait until we are able to put before the public in full the general position of the country." This is a reasonable request which we are sure the electors will grant. , A Government cannot be expected to give effect to its whole policy in three months, or even to submit a complete plan of operations. At the same time, it is wise to declare the main principles as early as possible, so that separate items may not be judged as having no relation to general policy. Especially is this desirable as touching what we believe to be the great problem of the day—development and land settlement. If the principles to be applied are not declared a fair and reasoned judgment cannot be given. Local considerations may befog the issue. Particularly will this be so where the development policy is linked with railway construction. The Rotorua-Taupo line stoppage and the Soulh Island Main Trunk construction proposal arc both bound up closely with settlement.

It is necessary to take a long view of this' settlement problem. The Minister of Lands has not yet disclosed his plans fully, but he has declared that the Government is prepared to purchase for , subdivision estates which can be converted from sheep to dairy-farming. The success of this part of the policy must depend in the main upon the purchase price. Investigations made by the Agricultural Department's Farm Economist show that there is a good living to be made from a fifty-acre farm if the farmer has not paid too much for the land. We regret to see that some of the speakers at the Land Settlement Conference did not face this fact,. but tried to. side-track ,it with talk of Arbitration Court awards and land taxes as obstacles in the way of settlement. This is so much nonsense. Arbitration awards do not apply to farm labour, and the settlement to which the Minister of Lands has so far given his attention is of a class which calls for little or no hired labour. The land tax has been so whittled down by exemption for mortgages that it is but a minor factor. Even if it were abolished the benefit would not be lasting. Present owners of land would capitalise the freedom from taxation and add it to their price when selling. ■ ;■■•-■■■■/■ . ' ■' ..• ' ■■ ■ .'.

This first-cost factor applies also to the..unimproved. lands. There is a marked discrepancy in the estimates of area of such land. Mr. A. Leigh Hunt told the Land Settlement Conference that there were upwards of six million acres of second-class land, pumice land, etc., in the North Island awaiting development. Mr. M'Leod, ex-Minister of Lands, in an interview in the "Dominion," puts forward a much smaller estimate.

A great deal of unintelligent nonsense is spoken (he states) and .published regarding the supposed millions and millions of acres of unoccupied Crown lands awaiting development. Outside tho lands set aside under Act for special purposes, thore^now remain less than three million acres of Crown lauds capable by any stretch of imagination of economic settlement.

The difference may be accounted for by Mr. Hunt's reckoning as usable lands which Mr. M'Leod holds are not capable of economic settlement, or it may be that Mr. Hunt has taken account also of lands in private ownership. 'We do not see how private lands can-be brought into the scheme unless the owners are. prepared either to develop them themselves or to give others an opportunity of .doing so. Abolition of (the land tax will not achieve either purpose. It .'.will make it easier for a speculative owner to hold on and to blockade the land against the would-be user. But whatever may be the total area, the important point to be considered is: What will be the cost of making the land productive? We know very little on this heading, and neither the Minister of Lands nor the Land Settlement Conference has told us much more.

Development changes may take various forms:,.the' construction of a railway which will riot pay, but will make close settlement possible; breaking in at the State expense and sale or lease of the lands afterwards at less than the cost of preparation; direct and indirect subsidies, such as cheap fertilisers. In order to proceed with land settlement successfully and economically the State should be fully informed concerning the cost of different methods and should make the information available to the

public. „ Only when ,the facts are fully antl clearly set forth can the public judge the value of the van-, ous measures, and whether it will pay the country better to construct railways to bring lands into cultivation or to buy lands which can be more intensively farmed. It is regrettable that all the advocates of progress do not desire the full facts. Some of them are only too ready to accept only that which supports their preconceived opinions. As an example of this we need only quote the condemnation by a member of the Land Settlement Conference of the establishment of Massey College. Surely no one , with unprejudiced mind can deny in these days the enormous contribution of science to production. The Department of Agriculture, the Cawthron Institute, Lincoln College, and now Massey College afford most valuable assistance towards land settlement by helping the farmer to cheapen the cost of development and increase production. If improved methods make production cheaper or increase its volume, more land is brought into the paying area. A really progressive and enlightened policy must take all such facts into account.