The New Zealand Times. THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 1913. CLOSER SETTLEMENT

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8412, 24 April 1913, Page 6

The New Zealand Times. THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 1913. CLOSER SETTLEMENT

It is a difficult and even an almost impossible matter to sufficiently interest the city man in the land question upon which the progress and eventual prosperity of the country and the welfare and happiness of its people so vitally depend. He is prepared to enter with enthusiasm into the details of municipal administration, which do not affect him so directly or so materially, but he turns with distaste and frequently indifference from the questions of closer settlement, re-aggregation, or land monopoly. And yet he occasionally wonders why the city does not grow more rapidly, why his business does not expand more vigorously, and why the population is little better than stationary. The answer to these problems that occasionally worry his mind is to. bo found in the fact that the city is making comparatively slow progress simply because there is not sufficient settlement going on in the country. To a considerable extent the expansion of Wellington as a city is dependent upon the closer settlement and agricultural development of the Wairarapa, the Manawatu, and other fertile and magnificent districts lying beyond them. If we were to convert the great areas held by our territorial magnates into small and industrious homesteads, the volume of trade in the city would begin to swell immediately, and the business of every enterprising shop and warehouse would double and quadruple. The tradesman, deploring the slackness of trade, is disposed to attribute what he calls the depression to the over-specula-tion in land some years ago. This may be a contributing factor, but nevertheless it is a small one, and the real cause must be sought for elsewhere. It is unquestionably to be found in the stagnation in land settlement within a fairly reasonable distance of Wellington itself. The most is not being got out of the land. It is held in too large areas. There is not sufficient, or practically no, closer settlement. On the contrary, a pernicious system is growing of buying up the smaller homesteads and adding them to already large estates. Mr Massey first denied the existence of this system, then he admitted it, and finally found refuge and excuse for inaction in the declaration that the re-aggregation had not happened since he came into power. It is immaterial to the issue which Government has tolerated or encouraged re-aggregation. Sufficient for the purpose that the abuse is going on, not only in the Wellington district, but all over the country. It is hampering our expansion, and must be stopped. Occasionally, visitors _ from Auckland relate gratifying stories of the marvellous growth and progress of the northern city. Why is Auckland making such steady advancement? Because the land for a hundred miles from the city, where it is not in the hands of the natives, is mostly cut up into small or moderate-sized farms. Auckland is, thanks partly to her immigration land grants of the sixties and her pensioner land grants, the home of small _ settlement. That is why the dairying industry has grown so remarkably in that provincial district, where the land is by no means the best, and why other branches of small farming are being so profitably carried on. Given the same system of moderate holdings through the Wairarapa and Manawatu districts, into .Rangitikei and over Hawke’s Bay. and Wellington would speedily double her present proportions, both in population and trade. That is why the business men of Wellington are dead to their own interests when they ignore the cause of closer settlement and withhold from it their enthusiastic endorsement and support. It affects them closely and directly. To the man who travels out of Wellington occasionally by rail, whether by one line or the other, it must be clearly evident that there are too few small holdings and far too many large and comparatively unreprodactive areas in the country. There is not sufficient change in the aspect of the farming districts. There are too few new cottages being built. If wo really want things to go ahead in Wellington—if we want the city to grow and our trade to increase—wo must be prepared to exert ourselves and shake up this question of land settlement. The time has come to rattle the dry bones of legislative inaction and stagnation. The occasion is one that demands drastic legislative action, and whether the change comes from “Reform” or from a progressive party that is more intent upon closer settlement than any other political consideration, it will be- welcomed by those who are not content with the Rip Van Winkle policy that wo have been pursuing. It is idle, in this connection, to deny that re-aggregation is going on in every farming district in New Zealand. The evidences of the evil are too apparent. If the recent Liberal Government were aware of the abuse, and tolerated it, they were culpable in the highest degree, because they were specially pledged to a policy of bursting up tho great estates and promoting closer settlement. But now that the existence of a system of re-aggregation has been fully established, and tho eyes of the present Government have been opened to the evil, it is the duty of the peoolo to insist upon tho reform that is so desirable and necessary from the party that is pledged to “Reform?” Will that party take action in the direction we have indicated? Tho prospect is not reassuring, in view of tho fact that Mr Massey has declared that ho does not mind if a man holds 5000 acres provided lie makes more blades of grass grow. Tho need for legislative action ,is urgent, however, >nd if “Reform” endeavours to grap■le with this problem, it will have the whole-souled support of the people.