LAND TOR THE LANDLESS

NZ Truth, Issue 571, 27 May 1916, Page 3

LAND TOR THE LANDLESS

Parliamentarian Aastey's

Allegations

How to Settle the Soldiers on the Soil

The Prime Minister Side-steps the Matter

A Nasty Knock for the "Square Deal"

Taking tho so-called Stalwarts by ; and largo, one has to admit that there are a number of Radical members, who, despite their economic heresies on occasions, and the spasmodic hankering, on the part of one or two, particularly, after the flesh-pots of Egypt, seldom play second fiddlo to the recognised Labor group, m its demands for Justic© to the -workers and equality of opportunity for all citizens of the Dominion. Among these Mr. J. Anstey, the member for Woitaki, holds pride of place. He has experienced all the hardsnips of A PIONEER SETTLER'S LIFE, carried his swag for years and put m a few more harvesting and working at the various seasonable trades before "settling down." Now, and for some considerable time past he has been financially "out of the wood," and can say that after his years of toil he has gained what Burns called The glorious privilege of being independent But Anstey, M.P., has not forgotten either the past or its lessons. To-day, despite his balance at the bank and his other economic assets, his class is the working-class, and from his place In the House he is watchful ever of the interests of the proletarians, whether they toll In the fields, the factories or the mines of the Dominion. But it is as an advocate of land settlement and ever more land settlement that Anstey stands out prominent among his fellows. Ho is the most in--0 c f lt !? of tho land P°"cy of the JSSf" 1 ? 1 .^ovwnment; ■ which he declares Is the^bad heritage of -the Square Deal Administration that preceded. It During the debate on the Address-in-Iteply ho subjected the present methoua of Land administration to the %5£ Sm^**? 03 *"^ an exposure which considerably unsettled tho House and which the Prime Minister's reply later on failed to allay tn?^ ll^. Wlth . the Question of providing land for returned soldiers, Mr. Anmlnde ? **' »«*ythat there ■W Crown In the South Island Srn^ hOU i^ hav t been reserved for re'SS&fo?"* b * lnStead " had **» IN THE MOST WICKED WAY amongst speculators, land crabbers. .^eaiand — 100,000 acres very miitAhin utterly unsuitable for soldiers" M> and m his £T? ° Ver * h0 wnole statlon SW wTSlnVt?^^^ he declared that Mr. Mas^aTnoort ers had been moving i^a^an^Kh slbS Mhi!??? d disposed of « P°^ S2 - a * '*&* boya were away fißfatingr, and could not compete against tho and the aggregator. What had happened at Bonmore? Only ninesecUolL were bollotted for, oil the ?!&£!, SS tho Homestead section, having been nut U m G n*a a i CtlOn ' "*"** •S&SfS'by ™ L i nd , WOmon already were possessed of large areas of land, and several sections had gone to persona who Board "Surely, if the runs were fltfor ? d if t0 .£° and llvo on >" declared Mr* Anstey, "they wero flt for returned sou. fliers." Ono of tho ladioa whZa member of a very wealthy family wh ich held an enormous amount of Crown lands and educational reserves. It-was a beautiful little run at am low rent, and ho was Informed that tho land was sold within a fortnight Hero OKnln "Big" Bill was stung to retort. Tho Prime Minister declared "they couldn't set transfers.- but Anstoy squashed him with. ''Owlnc to your own bad bill of two years agS traxisfere don't count at all." AnouS f ec »on had gone to a man who already 500 acres; a third nearly 500; a fourth already had a good form; a fifth had made a fortuno In business. "Mr Mmsoy." declared tho member for WaJlakl. "would not allow anybody to reronln a member of n Land Board who would not carry out tho Square D«uU policy and that policy embodied a?' ftregntlon and absenteeism." Of the section. .balloted for, ono taJ i been , drawn by n^man who had leaao-in-per-of 300 acres. . Ho had drawn It for a •on nb«« n e- a^ tlia war, who may n?vo? back. hIH father already holds apart ma ramily. The holder of run 6°9 held « larjro number of properties. chKv putpU. but It was allowed by (he Land Mr. T. HiUI. ono of a family of

THREE SONS OP MIUTAHV ACE, none of whom had ofTerod tboir wry cos to thy Government and tho Empire Ho hnil vince tiurrendtrwl tho aceUon. Mr, Anstey declared that tho mnJndinlnljitrailun of thy land wu« uno of the greatest bnra to recruiting In tha .South Island. The enso ho had ment|on«d hnd around so much reeling V n » \ mad Z a vlnw «f noeeaslty and wHhdrvw from tho run. which waa now held by n returned soldier Ono man Kot H.OOO acres around tho honu-atwd without competition, land which should have boon divided into four runn for returned soldiers. But '.. «° vernrnon i tf've th« returned" sol(Her 800 aero,«» of inferior land that neither he nor anybody otao could maJ«3 a living off. Tho aoctions not nslde for the Moldlem wereoon tho Hat and lh«; unsafest land of the whole lot Any »hocp fnrmer who know anything about land whero *now lay for n cenjndornble portion of th« yeur would un•Jersiand this. He«klc». tho mnnaffft>n«nl had novor lambed owes on tho Hat land becauso. ot tho heavy fogw m lho flprlng. That waa tho land cut Into •M 0 acres, GOO ucrou and 1000 aero run* for tho men llKhtlnK for tholr country!

The good land was flung down to bo gambled for BY SPECULATORS AND AGGREGATORS I What made It ton thousand times worse was that tho land was being thus handed over m the absenoe of, those young fellows fighting for their country. Other land In the district waa beingtreated In exactly the same way; and ho called upon tho Prime Minister, if he wished to do his duty, to take steps to prevent It. The Rolleitby run, consulting of 5000 acres freehold and 200,000 Crown land, waa being cut up Into three runß. Tho owner of Rollesby was entitled to take one, leaving two inferior runs for soU diers, Yet the land could easily be cut up into five runs admirably suited tor returned soldiers. If tho freehold land were acquired it would cut up into even 771 oro holdings. Tho owner also held the Whalesback run of 18,000 acres, und tho adjoining land, which he had no legal right to do. Mr. Anstcy said that the Clayton run was going to bo cut up Into three ruus, whereas if tho freehold attached were purchased at least a dozen soldier settlers could be ncco-nmociatcd. Ono man, ho stated, lv\d alieady A QUARTER OF A MILLION ACRKS moro m art-a than tho Government could purchase if they spent In tho South Island, as he thought they ought to do, tho whole of tho half million sot tt.Mdo for land ncqulsltion! Yet this tnun had been allowed to apply ut Bonmoro for another run! A few days uftur Mr. Anetcy levelled his churges nt the head of the Government. Mr. Masnoy rosannd mado. what, by courtesy, wo may call n reply. Mo I tried to be huinuroud, nnd uuccotidod m ! bulng nn funny tuj an elephant attempting to waits. In fact, ho actually misconstrued Mr. Anstoy'a words *of con- | domnatiun of tho lints Into approval ' thereof, and ho said not a word m extenuation or oxcuso for the action of tho Government m allowing men — I and women — to apply for and obtain sections running into thousand* of acrws who already woro posuoAsed of Uirgo tracks of country, and had gone In for these additional section* or runs purely m the spirit of speculation, and not for reason of genuine settlement Altogether the Prime Minister's reply won as ovauivo and weak as Mr. Anutoy*B charguM wore direct and oonvlneInjf. "Truth 1 ' hopes to hear moro of the member for Waltaki as tbo days go by.