FREEHOLD PRINCIPLE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 76, 17 October 1941, Page 2

FREEHOLD PRINCIPLE

MINISTER’S VIEWS SETTLEMENT OF RETURNED SOLDIERS (From Our Parliamentary Reporter) Wellington, This Day. "W ill the Minister of Finance tell us arc his real views regarding the freehold?" asked Mr Poison (National. Stratford) when discussing the Rehabilitation Bill in the House of Representatives yesterday afternoon. He was referring to a reply by Mr Nash to an interjection, which had led Opposition members to congratulate the Government upon conceding the freehold principle in regard to lands which will be acquired for the settlement of returned servicemen. Mr Poison remarked that when he heard it. he could scarcely believe it. "Settlement.” said Mr Nash, "will be on the basis laid down in the Small Farms Act—no other." Opposition members: Oh! "That is not the freehold at all —not an atom.” declared Mr Poison. He agreed that the Minister was perfectly consistent from his own point of view, though the returned soldier would not agree with him. The success of New Zealand was based on the freehold, for in spite of all the talk about mortgages and debt, 90 per cent, of the farming of the Dominion had been successfully based on the freehold, on which men made their farms their banks, and made sacrifices to make a success of their business. If the right to the freehold was not granted, the servicemen would resent it. The Minister of Industries and Commerce (Mr Sullivan) : How much freehold do you think the men should have? Mr Poison: It should be adequate enough to enable them to tackle the job with some confidence. Mr Nash again explained that he never intended to give the answer suggested by the Leader of the Opposition, excepting that if the soldier wanted to buy land he could get a loan up to 100 per cent, and the land could be bought for him. Mr Holland : You did not contradict me when I referred to it. Mr Nash: I did not understand that I conveyed that impression.