R.S.A. LAND SCHEME.

Marlborough Express, Volume LIV, Issue 129, 3 June 1920, Page 7

R.S.A. LAND SCHEME.

, 4000 STILL LANDLESS

PARING DOWN OF BIG ESTATES I DEMANDED.

The problem of securing lard for ; Ireturned soldiers is dealt with at con- \ :»iderable lengt'i in the foui-th annual ; ■jieport of the.New Zealand Returned I 33o5dier3' Association. - The land sche-ne adopted by the last annual conference, was sub- > stitutod at tlie special conference- in ; 1919, by a scheme having aa 'dte foundation the compiulsory ac--iquisition of large estates. (This Scheme was unanimously adopted by ■ ' rt.he Dominion Farmois' Frovuicial . ' )Conference in July, 1917). \ At the January meeting.of-,t«eiD/©--: iniflidn Executive, this lanld -scheme ; ■was reaffirmed, and foHowigip; ~a Ifufther recommendation, alJarids com- i ♦traifctee was set up. All matters perstaining to land are reviewe'd'bythem, • .^ired their decisions plaee'd before tlie ; "executive standing committee. In uthis way, the committee' hopes to Uea.l qiHckly and effectively with the [ < tnumerous problems placejd before ;■< -.fthem. -

LANDLESS ROLL.

To give the committee an idea as jto> tlie extent of the demand for land throughout New Zealand by the re- • tturned soldiers, headquarters instiituted a Landless Roll, compiled upon furnished by the various local lassociations. The first returns were . -asked for. by March 31st, 1920, ■»t that date the replies to hand •-taJiDwed that 430 men desired land. •''JO^ly 16 out of the 57 affiliated associations replied as requested. On <iApril 30th, 643 men had been envi'olled as being desirous of obtaining ~rllaTid, and only 27 associations had re-; %-nJied. It is intended to . keep this " xroll up-to-date by adding to it months Ay the names sent in by the various ijftSSociations. i- -The/mam problems .to be solved by lands' committee vrere:—(l) Insufficiency of suitable land; (2) inißsjition of prices of suitable land,j (3) -wastage of capital of men in attending land ballots. ■ THE PARING DOWN PROCESS.

'» The solution arrived at was the Wadual paring down of large estates »i the value of £100,000 and over, 'the1 owners of which were to have :9and acq'iired compulsorily from them <runtil the valu^ was £70,000. If the .^demands for land were not satisfied "/then, a further paring down (to £50;----'C00) was to take place, and so on Tintil the demand was satisfied. If fthis paring down-croijess. were earned iont,. competition "in purchasing land \ -would be reduced, productivity would '"ber stimulated, and the appetite for Hand would be satisfied. Two further important points were ♦recommended by the committee: — <1) Tha.t the principal of Communal (Settlement (in the form of outside (activity) for T.B. and T.D. soldiers jfeo approved, and ,the Government be \ disked to extend the system at once. ' <2) That Colonel Mitchell's scheme for" settlement by fit men, of bush and native lands be put itipo opefattion at once. > In spite of the numbers on the landless roll, it is believed that about i4OOO men have yet to be settled, and xb behoves the Government to act «m£ckly and whole-heartedly in the scatter, so' that the ravenous desire tfbr land may be satisfied. The '.-wheels of the Land Department move .'slowly, _ and it is economically unspund to have so many men waiting) *fco attain their object. Doubtless a i • .thoroughly -systematised orgahikation 1 (of land settlement would attract unaaiy more men, and- the productiveness of a district would be increased 'jncany fold.