GROUP SETTLEMENT

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 96, 27 April 1929, Page 29

GROUP SETTLEMENT

WEST AUSTRALIAN 'SYSTEM

One of the matters in' which Mr. H. T. Armstrong, member -for Christehurch East, was greatly interested in during his visit to West Australia, from which ho has just returned, is'the group, settlement system.for small farms.'West Australia imported two-tliirds of 'its dairy produce, said Mr. Armstrong in an interview, but the ideal is to make the State self-contained by encouraging small dairy farmers in group settlements. The results of this experiment have been a subject of much controversy, and Mr. Armstrong, seeing it well under way, found that some settlers seemed to be doing remarkably well and declared the scheme was just the thing, while others were not doing so well. A good deal, he said, depends on the class pf settler, most.of. them being English, immigrants. A small settlement is likely to become an important political question in New Zealand at an early date, Mr. Arm-* strong described how West Australia is encouraging it. The Government > gives 100 acres of land suitable for" dairying purposes.' It is heavily timbered, but before placing settlers 25 acres are cleared thoroughly. The clearing method -.is to completely - root outmost trees and ringbark .the larger ones; this system enabling the land to Ibe farmed in a year. Clearing.goes on by the settler, who is paid 10s' per i day for the . work actually done, ■•;this being' added to the capital cost-'of tjhe land. One source of difficulty which Mr. Armstrong discovered is:that the Governmment has never had'; a;-real valuation made of this land;' so that the settlers, do not know;.their, "financial position. "And the Government finds it will not.be able to value •Kome of the areas even at the amount paid to.'.the land unless J there is., railway access, ed, -"so that'the unimproved value is ni1..'.',..-:'. ■ -?K+*' ■Asked if the group settlement presented any feature of value to"-New Zealand, Mr. Armstrong replied that it would be useful, but the Government should fix the valuation .before,it started. The West Australian scheme was started before the Labour Government came into office, and settlers • were paid 10s per day; irrespective of the work done, but the Labour Government; | only paid on the basis of work, and in' some cases was paying more than 10s a day. ' ': The New Zealand member found that West Australian 7 and Queensland people never think of, railway finance in terms of profit." "They would laugh at you, 1 declared Mr. Armstrong, "if you asked what profits their railways ca-rn, for their definite policy is to make the railways well ahead of settlement,' and not place people on the land unless theire is railway access. Under the gro"up settlempnt scheme nobody is more than el oven miles 'from a railway. • They cut freights and fares as low as possible, and do not intend to make tho users of the rail-' ways pay the,railway profit, otherwise they would be taxed oft'-the land. Australians prefer to make up the losses i from the Consolidated Fund, so that everyone pays." ' <