SETTLING THE LAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17167, 22 May 1919, Page 7

SETTLING THE LAND.

PROBLEMS TO BE FACED,

MINISTER'S OBJECTIVES.

IDLE AREAS IN THE NORTH.

The land problem? facing lie Administration to-day were referred to in a comprehensive review made by the Minister for Lands. the Hon. D. 11. Outline, when ho opened a conference of Pommisfioner'f of frown Lands which sat at Wellington recently. The Minister convened the con ference in order to discuss with the commissioners problems of administration. ''The difficulties that arc to be met with at any time in regard to the land ad ministration of a country of quick do velopment such as New- Zealand," said Mr. Guthrie, ''necessarily require a great deal of tune and thought 011 the part of cver.vona concerned: but it is especially the case at th? present time, a? we ai" faced with dittiuilties that the land boards in the past did not |,a\e to meet. "Having said so much on those smaller matters, I would like to refer to whit 1 see is ahead of us. No matter who iyour Minister, the aim of all should Into view our land problems as they aff<M the development- and welfare of New Zealand. The land administration hiM had put upon it a responsibility of surli magnitude as it has never before had: the responsibility of increasing the pro duction of our country in oider to line', I the extremely heavy war taxation placet I upon it. It is only by in- reasinc «-ur ; production that we shall be able to . maintain our position and meet our obligations; and to do that I see many great problems ahead of us. One i:- 1 1 am almost ashamed to refer to it because of the way it is being continually thrown up at us) settlement, more settlement, and still more settlement. Much has , leen done, but still more has to be done. It is our duty to deal with this question, and it has to be done in a way that has never been forced on any Admini.-trat'i.ai before. We must persevere in our endeavours to promote the closer settleI ment of our lands on sound, sensible, and practical lines. We have to deal with ail classes of land, and with problems we have not known in the past, because they were not with us.

The Idle Lands,

" In the development of the country, naturally the best lands were settled first, with the result that to-day we find ourselves in the position of having ;iacticaiiv all the good lands of the country in occupation, while the poorer lands are f-til! unproductive. There is no country in the world that can afford to allow millions of seres of land to lie idle if there- is a possibility of doing anything with it. We have millions of acres of numice lands, millions of acres of gum lands, besides the dry lands of Central Utago. The question of cringing the.-- 1 so-called waste lands into use is-forced upon lie to-day. Take the swamp arc; s; A short time aero practically all of them were lying absolutely unproductive, wn'lo to-day, particularly in the interior of the Auckland Province, they have., teen brought in and represent some of the most productive land of the Dominion. Wherever we have rich swamp lands we are not justified in allowing them to lie idle. I visited the Kaitaia swamp recently, .'-nd I wonderful results were to he seen. 'I hat I land was worth £8 or £9 an acre a little j while ajo. but 1 do not know what money I would buy it (o-day. Von gentlemen • :>vo I done your part in bringing .".bout tl«ee drainage schemes, and as they have proved bnyona doubt to be gcod proposition* I trust you will follow up the policy and I not allow any block of rich swamp b:;d : in your districts to lie neglected for any : length of time.

Gum and Pumice Arsas. "So far as the possibilities of- the numice lands are rcr.ccrncd. much ::as been said and written. Hut I inspected them as comprehensively a- ! pa-si! could, and from what I saw I am i absolutely confident, that with tlv exI prnditure of a reasons!-!; amount per ! acre, there is an assured future ur tl'.'m. i It was evident to me tint Muse pi::-,-.- ' lands would give a return for any ji'.-tifi-I able amount sensibly expended .'ii t >•: m. With the commissioner I vis-ted Mr. Rollett's land, and Mr. Hugh awpbeii s more recently developed pumice land, and while they will never be rich, fertile land, and fatten well (they are land? that will always have to be farmed) I am convinced that they will pay. " Then' there are the gum lands. Some of you have no doubt had 110 experience of gum lands, but thcee of you who have had an intimate acquaintance with them, and are thus capable of expressing an opinion regarding them, fill, I feel perfectly sure, agree with me as to their future. If you have seen what- cap be done on the ptwr sum lands by, say, Mr. Knight, of Albany, you will be assured that with work, perseverance, and pluck thefo lands can be brought in. Neither pumice lands nor gum lands, however, pre to my mind lands we could expect poor men to select, unless we help them both with advice and money. If we can brng in these lands we will solve to a very I large extent the problem of extra taxation by the resultant increased production.

The Great Aims.

" The great questions before us. then, are: (1) Close settlement; (2) dealing with the dry lands of the country by irri--1 pat ion or by other means; (3) dealing with , the swamp lands; and (I emphasise it very I strongly, as I think it one of the most imi portant features of the land question to- ! day) (4) dealing with pumice and gum lands. " I do not say there is going to ba a SToat future for ihese last-named classes of ! land, but there will be a satisfactory 1 future. A good deal has been said about J hHi country, and all 1 will say if that it is my earnest desire, if possible, to l'.av.' ' something done that will help us to ad j minister these high lands with a degree of satisfaction to all concerned. There is one other question that I must refer to, and that is roading. This is going to be of vast importance in the future. In the past 1 think we have made a mistake in not providing main where they should have been provided. Some of 'the best settlements I know I are settlements that have been raided before the settlers went on to the land. In those cases the settlers never looked back from the time they commenced operations. It thev had iiure in mthoi t having road.-, 1 do not know th.it the. would have been any letter t- 1 day than the surrounding settlement?. Roading Soldiers' Lands. "Without roads—and we should iemember production does not go on it should, and the settlers become di< I heartened. 1 would therefore like you to • take this question into serous considera- : Hon. We 'have determine.! with reject I to the .settlement of returned soldier--I that wherever possible we •■•'ill road tV land before tliey take no their ?»vti..np. I know that 'the past our hands haybeen forcer! in connection with tno matter, and I know thev will be in the futuie. as the men insist on cettmc on to the land without deiav. The difficulty ' will reallv be acceutuated in the near I future, a- the men are coming back from i the war so ranidlv that we shall not be ! able to ad all the land. Howeve-. that i is the policy we ought to adopt, wherever practicable. " There is .also another policy we ouffht to adopt in connection with back settlements. and that is the provision of telephonic communication. That has been ! recognised bv Cabinet alreadv. You will be quite justified in ascertaining from the Post- and Telecranh Department what the extra cost will be in loadinc it on to the land. It would give (Treat satisfaction to the settlers, I know, and would be very advantageous to them. We shall not have to bear the whole of the cost as the Pest and TelegrapD Department will attend to the erection of the lines and the installation of the telephones. I have authorised it ip one ease, and think it will be very.beneficial | indeed."