THE LAND SPECULATOR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18354, 21 March 1923, Page 12

THE LAND SPECULATOR.

Sir.—A letter in last- . Saturday's | Herald, signed "Colonies," was a re- j freshing flash of common sense amid a ; mrss of mistaken thought and political | superstition regarding the land speculator. The man who buys wool or leather and manufactures them into : stockings or boots, thereby making a profit for himself, is not looked upon as | a curse to the country. .On the con- ' trary, he is encouraged by means of heavy protective tariffs, at the expense ; of the general community, to carry on j and extend his business. Why, there-; fore, should the man who is prepared to purchase raw land and spend large sums in turning it into farms suitable for the small settler be denied the reward of his enterprise? In this country there are huge areae of idle land which can only be made available for close settlement after the expenditure of capital in opening up, improving and subdividing them. Until this is done, that | land must necessarily remain unoccupied. Why should the man who undertakes such work be looked upon as a danger to the community ? As a matter of j tact he is the pioneer of all settlement, | and the most useful factor in the develop- | ment of any young country. Re is j frequently regarded as (responsible for j placing settlers on the land at inflated values. This is sheer nonsense. The goods -which he lias to sell have to be offered in the open market; it is therefore usually impossible for him to ask a price which compares unfavourably with similar goods offered by others. The laws of supply and demand must operate, controlled by the limit imposed by the productive value of the land. The more land opened up «tnd made avail- j able for settlement, the less severe will ! bo the competition for it and therefore the less danger of inflated values. In referring to the land speculator, I exclude the nuisance who buys land and locks it up without using it to profit by a rii;e in value; he should be heavily penalised. But the man, or group of men, who is prepared to take the risk of land djevnaqprnseiit (enterprise!, and whose work will result in placing hundreds of settlers on land which was previously unoccupied, should not only escape taxation while he is spending capital on development, but should even be subsidised by the State, At least thig would tend to cheapen the land to the ultimate settler and, at the same time, give an impetus to development. It is hard to understand whv it has been considered reasonable that "the State should subsidise the gold seeker in an industry which is of little or no value to the country, while those who realise that the real wealth of the country lies in the top six inches of the soil and seek to develop it should he looked at askance. Private effort and enterprise have been the moving force of the world's progress in the past, and, under reasonable safeguards, is likely to prove tjhe best, if not the only power for progress in the future. Optimist.