THE LAND POLICY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17167, 22 May 1919, Page 6

THE LAND POLICY.

No more satisfactory or satisfying summary of the Government's laud policy has been presented to the public than that given by Mr. Guthrie in opening the recent conference at Wellington of Crown Lands Commissioners. Mr. Guthrie indicated that he is fully alive to the value and the necessity of greater and closer settlement, and his classification of the various types of land of the Dominion shows that he is prepared to take a practical interest in every soil which is j capable of contributing to the j country's wealth. In itself this is a I great advance, because there can I be no doubt that settlement has I been retarded by the departmental prejudice against gum and pumice lands, which are capable of supporting tens of thousands of prosperous settlers. The only fault that can be found with Mr. Guthrie's classification is that he falls into the common official error of assuming that practically all the good land of New Zealand is exhausted. This j is far from being the case. There I is hardly any province that has not | a residuum of first-class land unoccupied owing to its inaccessibility, and in Auckland Province the area of good land not in use readies a very high figure. Surely Mr. Guthrie must have heard of the tracts of fertile land on the route of the East Coast railway, lie must know of that terra incognita, the rewera, with an appreciable proportion of land suitable for dairy - I ing, and of the rich belts that exist on the Xortli Auckland Peninsula. i It appears to be a peculiarity of the I official mind to assume that there, arc no fish in the sea as good as have been caught, but in this instance the inference is both misleading and mischievous. It may be ! true to say that there is no first- | class land immediately available | because of lack of railway and road | facilities, but there is an obvious ; remedy for such a state of affairs. j The remedy should be sought at the same time as Mr. Guthrie proceeds with the opening up of the lighter and more difficult soils to which he has referred. The pumice and gum lands have a brilliant future before them, and, though the Minister is right in saying that poor men selecting them must be helped with advice and money, it is to be presumed ■ the State can and will supply both. ; The low first cost of these lands j leaves a large margin for improvements, and the final cost is less than that of the private estates the Government has been purchasing so freely. The same consideration applies to the swamp land. The drainage of the Hauraki swamp has cost on an average £5 an acre, and the land is vastly more fertile and in every way more suitable for the

settlement of' soldiers than the private land the Government has acquired.' Mr. Guthrie is entitled to every crcdifc for the clarity of judgment he displays in placing the drainage of swamps in the front rank of settlement. The test of his capacity as a Minister will be the energy with which he prosecutes the various schemes he has outlined, and his success in securing to soldier settlers the roads, telephones, and other conveniences to which they are so fully entitled.