LAND FOR SOLDIERS

New Zealand Times, Volume XLII, Issue 9685, 13 June 1917, Page 7

LAND FOR SOLDIERS

HAWKE’S BAY DEPUTATION URGES THK ArotlfSTTrOX OF A WA IPAWA ESTATE. MINISTER STATES HIS VIEWS AT LENGTJI. A Hawke's Bay deputation, introduced by Mr George Hunter, M.P. For Waipawa, waited upon the Acting-Minister for Lands (Sir Francis Boll) yesterday morning to urge upon the Government the desirability of purchasing suitable block* of land 'for sold iter settlement near Waipawa. Air IX. M. Rathbone (chairman of the Waipawa Progressive Association) was the principal spokesman, and with him was Mr W. J. Limbrick (Mayor of Waipawa), and Mr C. 11. Critchley (a member of the Progressive Association ami proprietor of the “Waipawa Mail”). Mr Hunter, in introducing the deputation. said that it was backed up by a petition signed by someTOO residents of Waipawa, and their object was to urge the Government to purchase the whole or part of the Pourerere instate, or other suitable land in the neighbourhood, tor the purposes of soldier settlements. IMMEDIATE ACTION URGED.

Mr Hathbone, presenting tbe petition, stated that the movement for the petition was started at a meeting of the I'rogressivo Association, held on April 20th, hut at a further meeting held on May 23rd it was reported that the estate had been advertised in tho previous day’s papers as having been subdivided and to bo sold by auction on June 30th. ft was, therefore, resolved that a deputation wait without delay uiion the Minister and ask that immediate action be taken. Otherwise they could easily have got a thousand signatures to the petition. They .considered the estate exactly suitable for returned soldiers. It was a six thousand acre property and could settle 20 to 25 families. it was only 20 miles from Waipawa and Otanie, and had a continuous telephone service. The owner (Mr Charles J. Nairn) had been in England for some years, and consequently the countr.y had not been deriving the profit from the property that it ought, as the profits, ho supposed. had alt been sent away to England. That property and the Te Mnnuiri Estate, were to bo sold .in any case, so that it would be no hardship to the owner if tho Government took them over. There was no provision yet made for the settlement of, returned soldiers in the district. Mr Limbrick said that he had been asked by the Waipawa Borough Council and by many of the people of, Waipawa ~to join the deputation, and to urge also The desirability of acquiring the Tamilian property’of 7500 acres, a well-improv-ed property, of limestone formation, only six miles from Waipawa—u most suitable property for returned soldiers or other closer settlement. Then there were 21K10 acres on tho Eathbbno estate (some of tho family were absentees), the lease of which would expire in two and a half years, and Mr J. Holden’s property of about COOO acres at Tikikino. Some oi the land that, might be acquired was within the borough, and very suit utile for small holdings. The people of the district would be very grateful if something in the direction indicated was done. WAIPAWA SOLDIERS SETTLING ELSEWHERE. Mr Critchley said that the highest need was for acquiring laud adjacent to Waipawa, for returned sohliers. The -district hud done remarkably well in sending volunteers to the front, and so far any who had returned had not been able to get land within a reasonable distance of tho district. (July the other day a man who had enlisted in August, 1914, had secured a section in the Pahiatua district, and the AVaipawa Association had had from him an application for a loan, which they had entertained, as he was a desirable settler, and they would have been very glad to have kept him with them. In the Porangahau ballot tho other day two of their returned soldiers wore successful, but the Waipawa people thought that there should bo an opportunity for them to get land near Waipawa. The land suggested was some of the finest to be found in Hawke’s Bay. and they felt sure that tho Minister would be able to choose some suitable block out of those mentioned by Mr Limbrick. THE MINISTER’S REPLY.

Sir Francis Bell said that ho was very much obliged to the deputation for having put the matter before him in such a businesslike and torse fashipn. Ho, would like them to understand, first, that so far he had had no complaints from any returned soldier that there was no land available for him somewhere near where he enlisted. There might be cases, but he hud not heard of them. THE GREAT PROBLEM.

But the great problem that was before them all was' not the supply of land for the soldiers who had returned and were returning wounded and sick, but tne problem of having land available for the main body when they got back. It was the intention of tho Government, and that intention had' been carried out to far to the extent of what was immediately necessary, to acquire land and to set apart Grown lauds incidental to the acquisition throughout tho whole of New Zealand in various parts. It was impossible to admit that the acquisition of land at Porangahau and Takapau was not land in the district from which the men came. The Government could not create such minute districts as any suggestion to the contrary of that would involve. But. approximately, within an area of considerable size, the Government had acquired land, and the_ Government would also have to acquire as much as possible of the waste land in tho north now held bv the natives. With regard to the land referred to in the petition,. obviously the question of the land lying idle and being owned by on absentee disappeared from the present consideration, as the land was subdivided and to be sold by auction. COMPULSORY PURCHASE? When the Government had before it the question of compulsory purchase as against negotiation, the Government would not hesitate to apply compulsion if needed. But what he had said about tho supply being equal to the 'demand showed that so far by private negotiation and without compulsion they had been, able tosupply the demand. The Government, however, would not hesitate to apply the principle of compulsion for the purpose of providing land for soldiers. But, obviously, the principle of compulsion was only to bo applied—it never had been applied otherwise—after tho failure of private negotiations! and he knew of no case in which the principle of compulsion had been, applied where the owner had himself subdivided the land and offered it for sale. For the purpose of settlement and closer settlement, it was quite obvious that in such a cose it was not necessary nor desirable to apply the principle of compulsion, which was only applied for the purpose of compelling tho subdivision and settling of land. Tire only point, therefore, was whether the land referred to was so suitable above all other land for discharged soldiers that the settlement should be by discharged soldiers and not by ordinary settlers. He was by no means satisfied so far that the' land was so exactly suitable for discharged soldiers "in' comparison with other land that was not being subdivided that ho ought to acquire it by exercising compulsory power to take the I

land- He did not say that the matter was finally decided, because the final reports had not been fully considered. POINTS TO BE CONSIDERED.

They must remember, that in these questions of acquisition, and especially of acquisition of land foj* soldiers, the Government had to consider, not only the quality of the land, but its capacity for subdivision by roads which could be constructed so as to provide sufficiently small areas without undue cost; for in all cases the price was the cost of the land plus the cost of reading and making it available. That was one of the very important elements which the Land Purchase Department had to consider. "If we can get land/' he added. “and have in our view—it may be in your district —many properties which we can get at a certain pricy and which we can subdivide into suitably small areas and road without unduly increasing the cost to the soldiers, we prefer to do that. I have some personal knowledge of Pourerero bv reason of having owned the adjacent property, and I agree with you as to its quality; but the question is whether it can. be subdivided into smaller areas than are proposed bv the vendor and roadod at reasonable expense, and whether it is in such a position as regards its main road" access to a railway as to make it specially desirable for the Government to exercise their compulsory power to maka it be settled by soldiers in preference to other settlers.”

NO MONEY FOR OTHER SETTLERS. The Mayor of AA ? aipawa had talked about other land being suitable for other settlers, but he wished them to understand that he was satisfied that the money that could be got must be used for the acquisition of land for division amongst soldiers, and that the process of acquiring land for other'settlers must give way, and must give way to such an extent that practically there would be no money for acquiring land tor other settlors. So that when the Government had to acquire land, it tried to find a property upon which it could best spend for the time-being the money that it had. He was entirely sympathetic with the view taken by the AVaipawa people, but what ho had to consider was whether that land was better than other properties which ho had at his disposal for tho money in hand. It was not reluctance to exercise the compulsory power where necessary that influenced him, but want of satisfaction as to whether that laud was tho most suitable for returned soldiers. LAND NEAR TOAVNS AVANTEI), He was very glad to hear that there were properties which they, thought could be acquired by tile Government not only near AVaipawa but within the borough of AVaipawa, because there were two classes of returned or discharged soldier, and those who - had come back so far were mostly of the second class. The first-class was the best class of young New Zealander who would come back fit and well, and would not want any of their molly-coddling. They would not stand it from him now. “They won’t go to the State farms, they tvon’t go to the technical schools.” They were fit young men who wanted to make tiici r own way on unimproved land. The second-class wore more or less disabled by wounds and sickness; and lands within towns or near towns Lee 'Vaipawa would have to be provided throughout New Zealand, for those men, because they would want to be near doctors. Their disability prevented them gof n S but beyond; and so all the land that he could get of the class referred to he was only anxious to negotiate for, provided that it must be really good land, and therefore high-priced land. .It must bo land which could, be used in small areas-dairy land or fruit land. did not want to discourage them at all, Waipawa was a fertile neighbourhood. Just tho kind of place where he wanted get land, just as he had been making desperate efforts to get the Pukau Swamp land and land adjacent. “NOT GOING - COAV-SPANKING. But that was not the sort of land that thu young, hearty soldiei uanted. Some of them had told him, not going cow-spanking. Sir JJiancis. He would consider the areas mentioned, and have inquiries made about them. Mr Critchley could bo quite sure that tho Government had rather an envious eve on the district, not orily the coast, but the interior. They quite realised that there were properties there suitable for their purpose, and the end of it would be. if the land was found to be suitable, that the soldiers would be upon it. But it was utterly idle to say that they were going to threaten every land-owner that they were going to take his land and prevent him selling it. They would have to deal with the question, na doubt, with what might appear to be harshness, but they must deal with it with as much commonsense and reasonableness as they could. He would havo to deal with the case of the, land for sale before Mr Massey returned; but. ho would not deal with the other properties before he returned, as he did not wish to commit Mr Massey s finance. He had committed it enough already. He would, however, put the matter before Mr Massey, and they knew that Mr Massey would carry out every promise he made just as if he had made it himself.

But they must remember that he was responsible to the Treasury as well as to the country. Mr Rathbone, on behalf of the deputation, thnnked the Minister for his courtesy, and also thanked Mr Hunter for coming specially ail the way from Hawke’s Bay for the deputation.