SAD SOLDIER SETTLERS

NZ Truth, 15 March 1924, Page 5

SAD SOLDIER SETTLERS

Profitless Poultry A Hullabaloo at Hel Hei. On paper, poultry farming is a paying proposition. A section of j land, a roll of wire netting, and about 20 fowls — and there you are. Each fowl lays eggs at the rate of about one a day, barring Sundays; and, if the fowls are at all enthu- ; siastic about their business, there's a chicken inside every egg. So that, based on the process of multiplication to ' be found m almost any text book on the subject, the , original flock of twenty "chooks" may have, at the end of a couple of years, increased to several millions. Then apparently, the poultry farmer sells out and buys a limousine. There are two sides to every argument, however, and about the gloomy side of poultry farming the ex-soldier settlers on the runs at Hornby, near Christchuroh, have quite a lot to say. The other day one of these settlers told "Truth" just how he and his fellow farmers were doing m the poultry business. It makes an interesting story and one whioh calls not only for sympathy with the soldier settlers m their almost Impossible fight to make a living, but also for a whole heap of condemnation of the Government, which, after painting a rosy picture and placing the men on the settlement, washes its hands of them and leaves them to fare as best they may. T.B. SOLDIERS. The Hornby, or Hei Hei settlement, as it is called, was opened by the Government as a means by which T.B. soldiers and their families might earn a living and cease to be a responsibility on the State. That the last-named object has been realised is beyond doubt, but, if it was over sincerely intended that the soldiers should make a decent living on the settlement, the Government's expectations m that direction must be said to have miserably crashed. In attempts to settle . returned soldiers on the land, the T.B. men always presented something of a difficulty because, unlike other soldiers, there were only certain forms of farm work that their physical condition allowed them to undertake; and, on discharge from the sanatorium, it was necessary that their proposed occupation should be approved by the medical officer. Therefore, with the object of providing an occupation that was certain to meet with the approval of the medical officer, the Government acquired land at Hornby and opened up the Hei Hel poultry farming settlement. The land, although conceded as being suitable for fowl-runs, is light and stringy and quite useless for any other purpose. Glowing stories about egg production, and the profits to be made out of poultry, were told by the emissaries of the Government, with the result that most of the sections were eagerly taken up by T.B. men. That was about two years ago; and the men have realised long since the utter futility of making even a living under the conditions they are expected to abide by. AN INDIVIDUAL CASE. One of the settlers explained to "Truth" that, m the first place, the Government granted him £750 for' erecting a dwelling and fowlhouses and supplying his run with stock. He had m addition to this £300 of his own, which he used as working capital. The land is under a Government rental at £7 per year, and there are other charges such as rates and interest on the borrowed money. There are about 900 fowls on this particular run, which is considered to be the most prosperous m the settlement. Yet its owner declares that he ls actually losing money and that if he walked out as things now are, he would be about £600 to the bad. As an indication of what it costs to run his business, ha stated that his expenditure last month for fowl feed alone was £40, and, In addition to this, there were rent and his own living expenses. The credit side of his ledger shows, that for the same month his total income amounted to £28. The Government valued his birds at 10/- per pair on sale. He is m such a position now that he cannot pay his rent and interest, and would, as a matter of fact, be quite destitute but for his disablement pension ot 80/- per Week. There are other settlers also who tell the same story, and all through the settlement no man 1b able to pay his rent or interest because, In spite of his struggle and endeavor, he has been unable to make any money. PRICE OF FOWL FEED. Tho big handicap against success is said to be the high price of fowl feed, which the settlers, through lack of capital, are unable to buy m bulk, the result being that ln most cases the cost of feed ls considerably higher than the price realised by the sale of the eggs. But, ln the opinion of many of these war-broken soldiers, there's another nnd Just as serious a matter that detracts from their almost Impossible effort to make ends meet. It is the lack of encouragement given them by the Government. In the first place, aa soon as a T.B. man takes a section on the settlement, the Government credits him with being m receipt of a mythical income and cuts down his pension ac. cordingly. Then there are instances at Hei Hei where soldiers m receipt of tho full pension have had the pension for wife and dependents stopped altogether, because of the soldier's desire and effort to make a living on the settlement. In vain have the settlers applied for the benefit of the economic pension, which would at least onsure a fair living wage. In all cases they hay» been refused on the grounds of their being m business as poultry farmers. In face of all their troubles, however, the men at Hel Hei are still keen on the work they have undertaken anci are quite content to carry on if they are given the Government encouragement and assistance which Is essential to the original object of the settlement being achieved. The R.S.A. are taking the matter up and Mr. Wilford has also signified his Intention of bringing the stato of affairs under the notice of the Prime Minister. So that If the nadiy disappointed men at Hel Hel aro iurced to leave their holdings and re-claim the pensions to which they aro Justly entltlod. It will not bo because the Government were unaware of the reasons behind tho Hel Hel failure.