RETURNED SOLDIERS.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 9 June 1923, Page 7

RETURNED SOLDIERS.

r-*- — DOMINION CONFERENCE. (BY TEUEGKAm —PRESS ASSOCIATION ) AUCKLAND, June «.' llie Dominion Conterence of the i\ew Zealand Returned boldiers' Association was continued to-day. It adopted a recommendation by the land committee that as a general principle in the farmb ing policy tne iouowing points be emr Piiasjsed: That soldier settlers have - undertaken obligations to the country j and are now asking concessions. We s therefore consider as a hrst and quid- - ing principle that every soldier settler - is morally bound to make an earnest - endeavour to carry out these obligations to the very best of his ability, so that the highest confidence may exist between the soldier settler and the > common landlord, the Crown; that by • so doing thejnterests of the State, and . therefore the general public, are being conserved a s tar as possible. We appreciate the fact that the Government . has now recognised the desirability of ; giving eifect to the recommendations of j the .Returned Soldiers' Association' but j would stress the necessity of expediting : and giving effect to the land revision* , committee's report. The conference then considered the remits. That advocating an increase in i the amount of advance to soldiers on I £7^' g2i^ or blackberry lands from , £/oO to £1000 was adopted. i The conference re-affirmed its request tor a revaluation of soldier settlers' land when this course is shown to be necessary by the Land Revision Board. j Ihe conference approved the suggestion that the number of members of land boards elected by Crown tenants be increased, from one to two, in view of the increase in the number of such tenants. It was decided to ask the Government to institute such legislation as may be advisable to protect returned soldiers fropi, hardship at the expiry of the moratorium in cases where properties have, been purchased without Government assistance. In view of the fact that there are a number of discharged soldiers still to be repatriated, and extensive schemes are likely to be mooted in the near future for the settlement of Imperial immigrants, the conference adopted a remit by the Canterbury Association to the effect that the Government be urged that where pastoral leases, etc become available through the expiration of leases, the land be thrown open for selection by discharged New Zealand soldiers under the Discharged Soldiers' Settlement Act. j A matter of considerable importance to returned soldiers, which has not received much public attention, was considered. This referred to the Lands Department's policy in some instance*! for loading houses Vacated by returned soldiers with "arrears of" interest and costs of the previous owners when offer, ing dwellings to other soldier applicants. A remit protesting against this policy, and expressing the opinion that a revaluation of such rwellings on preßent day values should lie made wns put forward. It was mentioned that it sometimes happened that a soldier found he could not keep un payments on the house, and surrendered it. The accumulated arrears of interest, with lep-al costs, were aflrled to the capital value, and this, added to the fact that in many cases the building had cost a great de?l more than would be the case were the dwelling erected to-day, made it too expensive for another solder to take over . Ove southern delegate mentioned that in his district th^re were four such, houses on the hands of the department, pncl t>e local a.«=o'"iotibn had been informer] that until these dwellings were applied for and taken over the association could not expect to receive further grant* for houses. The opinion was pptiev*llv expressed that the State bear the loss revealed by revaluation, writing off th*» accrued liabilities. The remit was adopted. j