LAND SETTLEMENT

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 78, 1 July 1943, Page 4

LAND SETTLEMENT

REHABILITATION MEASURE PLANS MUST BE WELL FOUNDED (From Our Parliamentary Reporter; Wellington, This Day. 1 "The Government has to guard i against complacency in saying that | there will be no mistakes made this time, because we realise it is one of the most difficult problems any Govern- , ment could tackle,” said Mr G. W. j Forbes <Nat., Hurunun in the Budget! Debate in the House of Representatives last evening, when referring to land settlement, as a rehabilitation measure. Mr Forbes said that mistakes made at the end of the last war were brought about largely by the fact that when soldiers came back there was such a clamour and such pressure on the Government from men wanting land, that the Government was stampeded and all arrangements made to bring about proper orderly settlement went by the board The Minister of Agriculture, Mr J. G. Barclay: Land owners got the spoils. Mr Forbes: The Minister of Agriculture seems to have a bias against land An Opposition member: The farmers’ friend. Mr Forbes urged that co-operation of land owners should be obtained and he was sure the result would be helpful. For the sake of men returning it was essential that co-operation of every section of the community should be secured. He was wondering whether, when thousands of men came back at once all wanting jobs, the machinery being set up would stand the strain. "We have got to do our best for our soldiers,” added Mr Forbes, "and the question of trying to get political ad- \ vantage and belittle your opponent and belittle land owners is not going to help. Knowing what happened last time my feeling is that the utmost must be done to get as much co-opera-tion and unity as possible, otherwise the soldiers will suffer.”