SETTLEMENT NEEDED.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17665, 18 December 1917, Page 4

SETTLEMENT NEEDED.

We welcome the letter printed in another column from Mr George Forbes, M.P., on the subject ,of land settlement in Canterbury and heartily endorse his conclusion that the people of the province ought to " get a move on." It occurs to us that as there will be a representative gathering of heads of local bodies at the deputation concerning Port trains to-morrow an informal discussion might bo arranged —'as a separate item from the deputation, of course—as to the establishment of an organisation to promote Canterbury's progress. The Mayor of Christ-church might very usefully take the initiative. Mr Forbes makes the point that the province lose.? a seat in Parliament and the South Island loses threo seats through the movement of population revealed by the last census. That is not thojmost serious aspect of the subject, but it is of • considerable importance. Wo believo in fair representation and if the North Island gains population While the South remains stationary, then the preponderance of northern votes and influence must continue to increase. That will probably work out injuriously to this part of the Dominion. Already, for instance, the construction of the Otira tunnel is sharply, and wo may add absurdly, condemned in Auckland by people who do nob understand the position but whose political influence is a growing factor. The story of tho census, however, is a depressing one .of migration from South to North of the virile part of the community. ( As farmers' sons and other young men grow up they arocompolled to leave theso parts because they cannot get* access to tjia land. They take away not only themselves but their capital, and many of them obtain wives in the North and automatically swell the number of spinsters in the South. This is not good for Canterbury. Of course it is equally bad for Otago, where the conditions aro rather worse, but no doubt if we "get a move on" the example will be followed by our neighbours. The facts disclosed by the census are not sufficiently known or they surely would havo excited public activity. In five and a half years the increase of population in the South Island was 3642 and in tho North Island 87,339. But that statement, impressive as it is, only Ipartly shows tho position, for there was an actual decline in masculinity in this island. Even tho paltry increase of 3642 was made up in this way :

Females—lncrease , . 14,415 Males—Decroaso » . • 10,773 Net gain .... 3,612 Canterbury lost 472 males and gained 8898 females, so that for every husband or prospective husband who disappeared nineteen of the other sex arrived to swell! the army .of spinsters. Of course the war has taken men away, but that does not affect the disproportion as between tho islands and provinces. The total increase in the number of males for the Dominion, excluding men ,on active service abroad, was 19,865, made up thus:— North Inland—lncrcaso . . 30,638 South Island—Decrease . . 10,773 Net gain .... 10,865 Mr Forbes emphasises the important fact that together with an exodus of the young and vigorous elements in the population there has been a general movement from the 'rural districts to the towns. That is pathetically true. The counties of Eyre and Halswell lost population notwithstanding increases in the boroughs of Kaiapoi and Spreydon respectively. There were fewer souls last year than five years before in the Cheviot, Ashley, Akaroa, Mount Herbert, Malvern, Ellesmere, Tawera, Geraldine and Levels counties, and in practically every instance the masculinity of the community was reduced to a far greater extent than was the full population. It would bo an easy task, though a depressing one, to multiply evidence that an agitation for closer settlement of the land is urgently needed. For that is the remedy for the trouble that is retarding Canterbury.