Manawatu Evening Standard. FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 1929. THE LAND SETTLEMENT PROPOSALS. PERMANENT SETTLEMENT THE TRUE TEST.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIX, Issue 78, 1 March 1929, Page 6

Manawatu Evening Standard. FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 1929. THE LAND SETTLEMENT PROPOSALS.

PERMANENT SETTLEMENT THE TRUE TEST.

The remarks made by tbe Minister of Public Works at Rotorua the other day suggest that the new Government’s proposals in regard to land settlement run very much on the same lines as those advocated by the “Standard” on more than one occasion of recent years—that is that, before new land is thrown open for settlement, men should be employed to break it in so that it should be fit for occupation on productive lines. This is not only necessary in the case of Crown lands that are open for settlement, and that have to be broken in, but also in respect of settlement lands acquired by purchase from their former owners and sub-divided for closer settlement, for the new beginner is probably heavily burdened from the. start in'having to pay interest on his purchase money and local rating, which lattery has taken on something in the nature of a rental charge. Providing the new settler has a good start on land that becomes immediately productive, the probabilities of success are all in his favom', always assuming that the cost of the land is not too great. But, if he is left to clear, drain, fence and prepare his land, before he can stock it or bring it into profit under tillage, and to meet labour costs and local body rating, etc., he is set a task that, in nine cases cut of ten, inevitably leads to failure. The history of land settlement in New Zealand shows that, where settlers make, or have made good, they have done so in the first instance by sheer hard work and by enduring hardships which present day settlers are not called upon lo undergo, and -which by far the greater number would not care to face; and, again, because they obtained their lands at a much cheaper rate than that now ruling, and also escaped the heavy taxation and rating that obtains to-day. At the same time we cannot regard land settlement alone as the solution, of the unemployed problem, and Ministers are in danger of placing too much reliance upon public works and land settlement as affording the best means of settling the trouble that confronts the country where unemployment' is concerned. The Minister is right in saying that “land settlement has always been a question of paramount importance ‘in New Zealapd,” but practically all first class land and most of the second class Crown

lands have been disposed of, while so much of the remainder has been set aside for national endowment purposes on unattractive tenures that there has been no great inducement offered to prospective settlers to risk taking them up. The purchase of estates already profitably held by their owners and their sub-divi-sion, again, has led to land speculation in the past, and has helped to boom up values and will do so again. If once the Government starts buying out the larger estates, land values will rise in sympathy with the purchases, and there will be a big danger of the disastrous land boom associated with soldier settlement repeating itself.

While it was only to be expected that losses would arise out of the settlement of our soldiers on the land, no one thought that the country would have to pay as dearly as it has done for the business. Yet New Zealand in its soldier settlement scheme has done better than any of the Australian States, in all of which. the losses have been much greater and more areas have been abandoned. Failures here arose because, in the majority of cases, the soldier settlers had no aptitude for the business or were unable to stand the monotony of rural life. No attempt to settle the unemployed on tiie lands of the Dominion can possibly succeed unless the men chosen as settiers have their hearts in the business and hav r e the determination to make good. Break in land by all means, if by so doing real settlement can be effected, but the actual test of its effectiveness will be found in the permanency of such settlement. The lease m perpetuity system was introduced to effect permanent. settlement and to hold the settlers to the land. But how many of the original holders of those leases, or members of their families, are to be found remaining on the leaseholds they took up in Mr Seddon’s day. In the case of the Matamata estate only one of the original settlers was in occupation of his holding fourteen or "fifteen years ago. The others had all sold the “goodwill” of their leases, at wnat were practically freehold values. They had thus helped to boom up the “unimproved” values, the continuous rise in which has been anything but beneficial to permanent settlement. Care must be exercised in the purchase of estates to see that the mistakes of former years are not repeated, and it is at least satisfactory to read that, so far as Air Ransom is concerned, the “talk about bursting up of big estates by the graduated land tax . . . has never appealed to him, as in many cases it had been found that those estates would not be profitably farmed in less than 20U0 acre lots.” The hon. gentleman has been candid enough to admit that “in some cases wdiere it had been tried it had cost the Government £12,000 to settle a man”—a truly expensive business surely, and one for which no possible justification can be found. But, on this question of land settlement, we prefer to await what Air Forbes, the Alinister of Lands, has to say on the subject. It is scarcely in good taste for his colleague, the Minister of Public Works, to usurp the Alinister’s prerogative in the matter.

Last night’s Limited express to Auckland was a full train, every seat being occupied. A large number joined the train at Palmerston North. The residence in Itanfurly Street recently gutted by fire and now being demolished is, according to residents, over 40 years old. The scantling, weather boards and framing, which are of matai, rimu and totara, respectively, are as sound to-day as when the house was erected. Two handsome silver cups have been donated by Mr H. B. Tucker to the Central and Terrace End Schools for competition amongst the pupils taking an mterest in swimming. Afr Tucker’s gifts are in commemoration of the anniversary of his entering into business in Palmerston North 29 years ago. The dry spell experienced in parts of the Waikato has caused an outbreak of fire in the peat lands, though not on such an extensive scale as last summer when the eountiyside was mostly hidden by smoke and the acrid smell was most objectionable. Travellers the afternoon train from Rotorua to Frankton the other evening witnessed the unusual sight of fire sweeping through a small plantation close to a wayside station. Visitors to Rotorua often comment upon the lack of drinking fountains in the Sanatorium grounds. There is only one fountain—at the entrance to the Bowling Club pavilion near the roadway—and this is required to serve tennis and Croquet players, who are some distance away. The provision of further drinking fountains would be appreciated by the many hundreds who weekly use the croquet and tennis courts during the busy season of the year. Incidentally, it may be mentioned that the water obtainable in Rotorua is not equalled in quality anywhere in New Zealand. Exceptionally fine weather has been experienced in Rotorua during recent weeks, the days being hot with often a nice breeze to temper the rays of the sun. To southerners the sunshine is far from oppressive and. daily, tennis, croquet and bowiing are indulged in by the many visitors who frequent this popular resort. Though the countryside along the Rotorua line is generally showing the effects of the dry weather, there are many farms on which there is a very fair amount of leed, especially on land which has been judiciously top-dressed. A great deal of cultivation has been proceeding steadily around Rotorua in recent years and the change in the countryside is commented upon by visitors who have not been to this resort for some .time past,

Tlie Aorangi arrived in Sydney early this morning from Auckland. Traffic has been for some clays exceptionally heavy at the local railway station, the yard accommodation being severely taxed with goods consigned to Hawke’s Bay, Wanganui and Main Trunk districts. Special trains are being run continuously to reduce the congestion and members of the department are engaged both day and night. Mary Winter, aged 11, was struck bv a passing tramcar on Ferry Road, Christchurch, yesterday afternoon, the wheels passing over one foot and almost severing it. She was removed at once to the hospital, where it was found necessary to amputate her leg. Her other injuries aro not serious, and her condition is reported to be improving. An amusing story was told by Mr W. Henry at a meeting of the Central Power Board (says the Waikato Times). Mr Henry said a Waikato schoolboy, in an essay on farming, wrote: “The farmers had a bad season last year, the year before, and the year before that. But when ruin stares the farmer in the face he stares back and buys a motor car.’’ At Morrinsvillo a fine of £2O was imposed on H. D. W. Tanner, of Waihi, on a charge of negligent driving at an excessive speed, states a Hamilton Press Association telegram. The evidence showed that Tanner had three previous convictions, and his license had been cancelled for two years when he met with the accident out of which the present proceedings arose. The inspiration of Sir John Millais’ famous picture, “Bubbles,” is Mr E. H. Maas, of Sydney, who was a passenger by the Maunganui to Auckland this week. When a child, Mr Maas lived in London, and when he was acting as a page boy at a wedding, Sir John took a fancy to him, and obtained the permission of Ins parents for sittings. The result was the little golden-haired boy in the velvet suit, whose likeness is known throughout the world. Although the Westfield deviation at Auckland will not be open for goods traffic until about May 1 this new 10mile section of railway has boasted a regular railway time-table of its own for nearly six months. It was September 3 last that a schedule of times was prepared for the Public Works trains carrying ballast for the construction of the railway and waterfront road embankments. It provided for the running of eight trains daily between Sylvia Park station and Hobson Bay. At present 13 locomotives are engaged in the deviation, of which nine are the small “puffing billies,” familiar wherever the Public Works Department wields its pioneering spade. The surprising statement that ho had lived for a year on £7 and had also sent his daughter to a boarding school and had her taught music was made in the Wanganui Magistrate’s Court by a Maori who was summoned for debt. Defendant said that he and his brother-in-law had arranged for the girl to go to school. Under crossexamination he admitted that he had hoped his relative might foot the whole bill. Further discussion was rendered usole<s, however, when in response to the question, “Have you seen your brother-in-law lately?” the native calmly remarked, “Oh, no, he is doad.” “That ends it,” said Mr J. H. Salmond, S.M. “A very hopeless sort of case. No order.” In the course of a leading article which appeared in the “Standard” on February 20th, attention was directed to a return issued by the New South Wales Department of Education showing the vocational history of boys leaving the Government primary and super-primary schools. The opinion was expressed that a similar report would be interesting if issued in New Zealand. In this connection the Department of Labour informs us that the report of the Minister of Education for the year ending December 31, 1927, contains the information referred to. Pages nino and ten give details of the pupils who left the primary schools, together with the number who passed Standard VI., the number who proceeded to post-primary schools, and those who took up farming or various trades. The information contained in the report will be read with interest. The “Standard’s” Foxton correspondent writes: —Striking evidence as to the extent to which land accretion or betterment takes place as the result of depositing of silt over the land by periodical floods has been brought to light on Mr T. Saunders’s property at Glen Oroua. Workmen engaged in excavating spoil for the purpose of constructing a large reservoir came across “nigger heads,” raupo, etc., in a layer of clay nine feet below the surface of the ground. The spot where the find was made is about a mile and a half from the Oroua River and the property was, for many years prior to being taken over by its present owner, subjected to serious inundation on frequent occasions by the Oroua River. It is not an uncommon thing for the river to unearth fencing posts along its banks at this locality and which liaVe for years been buried beneath several feet of silt. Some interesting reminiscences of early Auckland wore related at the large gathering of friendly society members this week to celebrate the opening of the Fountain of Friendship Hall in Newton Road. Mr John McLeod, representative of the Manchester Unity, said that the late Mr H. J. Syms, one of the veterans of the order, once told him there was a time when ho was offered a cottage and allotment in Queen Street for only £9. “But,” added Mr Syms, “that was at a period of depression when people were running away from Auckland to the California diggings, the property was not at the time worth the money, and I did not buy the house.” Mr E. Leydon mentioned that when the present site of the Regent Theatre in Queen Street was bought by Hon. Patrick Dignan—really on behalf of the Oddfellows—in “the 50’s,” the price paid was £36, and it was considered by the trustees of the lodge that it was too high. The old Oddfellows’ Hall built on the site was the first of its kind erected in the southern seas. On Wednesday evening members of the Foxton Beach Committee and local residents' assembled to farewell Captain Charles Larsen, the Harbourmaster, who is shortly retiring after some years’ service. On behalf of the committee and residents, Mr C. H., Whitehead presented Captain Larsen with a cheque and case of pipes, making reference to the line qualities of the recipient and wishing him many happy years ahead. Mrs Apirama, on behalf of the native residents, presented Captain Larsen with a beautiful Maori mat, similar to that accepted from Mrs Apirama by the Prince. of Wales. Dearth of shipping to the port had compelled the Harbour Board to consider the matter of a full time pilot as there was not sufficient revenue from this source to meet his salary. The Foxton members were authorised to make an enquiry as to the services of an acting-pilot. The matter was further considered and the pilot (Captain Larsen) was subsequently asked and consented to continue in the meantime, as the appointment of an acting-pilot may prejudice any shipping olfering.