AGGREGATION OF LAND.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18513, 25 March 1922, Page 6

AGGREGATION OF LAND.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —I beg to bring under your notice the injustice which the Otago Land Board has inflicted on local returned soldiers in granting a renewal of the lease of a small grazing run in St. Bathans district of 8000 odd acres to Mr J. Beattie, who already possesses about 6000 acres of freehold. I say without fear of contradiction that the small grazing run to which I refer is on© of the safest and beitt runs in Central Otago and eminently suitable for cutting up. What is the position? Immediately the freehold tenure comes into operation—about six months hence—tlie present lessee will have the option of converting his lease into freehold, and! you may depend upon it that he will avail himself of the opportunity, thus bringing his holding up to about 14,000 acres freehold. Quite apart from the question of consideration for the returned men, will this be a fair deal for the local residents, many of whom hold very little land? —I am, etc., Vox Populi. March 22. [We are informed that the present lessee has an absolute right of renewal unless the run is subdivided, and the Classification Commissioners, having inspected the run, reported H as unsuitable for subdivision on the groundl that it has very little winter country, and is useless unless held by some person with winter country.— Ed. O.U.T.]

THE PRICE OF MILK,

TO THE EDITOR. Sm, —I should like to draw attention to the way in which the milk retailers are engaged in a price-cutting war among themselves. The order of the day seems to be “Collar the other fellow’s customers” —no matter how, but “collar them.” What is happening through their selfishness is that the milk producers are forced into taking a ruinous price for their milk. All around the farmers are losing £2O, £SO, even £4O a month. Not only that, but their crops are lying rotting in the paddocks, as thev cannot be got in because of the rain. Clubroot in the turnips is worse than it has ever been, and there are a number of dairy farmers with no turnips at all; and yet we find these retailers fighting! among . themselves, each man trying to see who can give his milk away for the least.; while the producer dare not open his mouth to say a word — ho must sell his milk at whatever price they like to give him or starve. Tlie new company was going to do marvellous things. It, was going to lift the dairymen out of the slough of despond. They were at least to get a fair square deal, but where are the dairymen now? Well, they are right down at the bottom with little or no hope of getting out. I think it is about time that the dairymen absolutely refused to give their milk away and demanded in a body a fair living price for it, for if they do not get a better price than they are receiving at the present time it, simply means they will be “down and ’out,”—especially those who have paid big prices for their holdings.—l am, etc., One op the Sufferers.