THE LAND AND THE FUTURE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19459, 15 October 1926, Page 8

THE LAND AND THE FUTURE.

Bir, —Your correspondents have discussed the farmer and his land from various angles. It would be better to eliminate the cultivator from the argument and consider what effect the present condition of his acres is likely to have on the future of New Zealand. From the land comes about 95 pir cent, of the country's income and without its produce, securities in Queen Street would be valueless. I do not know the amount of land in use in the Dominion, hut 1 do know that the area cannot profitably be increased while the cost of improving second-class land is greater than its capital value. The shrinking acreage of used land has every year to carry heavier burdens. The increase in the national debt alone is appalling. Last year we borrowed £11,000,000. This year authority has been taken for another £7,000,000. Eighteen millions in this short time, and will its expenditure increase our' exports by a pound of butter or a bale of wool? * As things are, our productive assets, if not decreasing, are standing still, while our liabilities are increasing at an alarming rate, and unless some means can be devised whereby the prices of our produce can be raised, or our waste lands utilised, the debit balance must grow greater. Palliatives a-many from control boards to agricultural colleges are being offered, but the lot combined will do little good until the cause of the trouble is removed. It has been suggested that even a New Zealand Act of Parliament does not supersede economic laws, and if you eat your cake you cannot have it. Perhaps our progressive politicians make mistakes. Anyway the fact remains that, with useful land, sound farming and fair prices, the .Dominion seems to be approaching: a period of depression. S. H. Macdougall.