A MOVE IN SETTLEMENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19778, 27 October 1927, Page 10

A MOVE IN SETTLEMENT.

It is cheering news to hear from the commissioner of Crown lands for the North Auckland district that a new wave of settlement, with inquiry for both virgin land and for holdings previously abandoned, is showing itself. It is the best answer, indeed, the only conclusive answer, to that pessimism which sees no further development for New Zealand, only an unequal struggle to save the land already in occupation. It does not mean that' conditions will again equal those when plenty of first-class land, easy of access and certain to respond quickly to an elementary process of breaking in, was available for the would-be settler. The return flow of confidence should, however, result in some of the increased settlement which a brightening outlook warrants. A cognate event is the opening of the Riverhead block, in which approved settlers are being allotted holdings under the homestead system as enacted in 1919 and amended last year. Theirs will be no easy task. It would be absurd to suggest that the work of breaking in this gumland will not be arduous, nor call for skill, patience and industry. Yet there is accumulated evidence that, given the right treatment, it will respond and be fruitful. The terms on which it is offered could hardly be easier. The Riverhead block should allow the homestead system to be tested under very favourable conditions. Its proximity to Auckland and to the railway line means that transport costs for the necessary material and fertilisers, later on for produce, will not be the handicap suffered by settlers who go further afield in search of land. This is a very real factor, giving special interest to the Riverhead project. Of itself it ist worth watching, and as part of the expected forward move in settlement it comes at an appropriate time.