CREATING EMPLOYMENT

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22404, 28 April 1936, Page 15

CREATING EMPLOYMENT

Sir, —Your correspondent "R." now stresses more markets for New Zealand's exports as a means of increasing employment. But exports on a big scale are only necessary because New Zealand's farming system is designed exclusively for export, and not for giving employment and subsistence for the people. By intensive working, the Indians and Chinese make each acre of land produce several hundred times as much produce as does the New Zealand farmer. Thus the average farm holding in New Zealand is 500 acres, England 70 acres, France 24 acres, Belgium 15 acres, japan 5 acres, China and India 1 or 2 acres. As long as 80 per cent of New Zealand's people are denied access to the land—the only source of security of tenure of employment, wealth, peace of mind and health of the people—just so long shall we have our present-day evils. How can the young generation of to-day marry, fulfil their destiny and build up a population in New Zealand in the future under such conditions? But we must populate or perish, for, as the Prime Minister says, "Population is our first line of defence." We must make "unemployment" impossible by giving people access to, possession of, employment on and subsistence from the land, and this can be done without interfering with the existing volume of export of produce from New Zealand. We must give each family not a huge unworkable farm, but a small subsistence allotment that can be intensively worked, and in return for, say, two hours' daily work, supply all the family needs as far as milk, butter, eggs and vegetables are concerned, leaving the family five or six hours daily available for working on neighbouring farms, or for other work for the community in primary and secondary or commercial pursuits. We must start building self-govern-ing, self-contained family group settlements close to very cheap power out in the country and work them co-operatively on "all electric" profitsharing principles, in conjunction with and supplementary to existing and projected primary and secondary industries. Thomas A. F. Stone.