SOLDIER SETTLEMENT

Otago Witness, Issue 3525, 4 October 1921, Page 13

SOLDIER SETTLEMENT

FINANCES OF SCHEME. WELLINGTON, September 27. | A comprehensive statement covering the I financial side of the process of settlement ! of returned soldiers on the land, and in ! dwelling-houses, was made in the House j of Representatives to-day 'ey the Minister ■ of Lands (Hon. D. IT. Guthrie). He read j a return cover ng operations up to August j 31 last, giving the totals of advances, j arrears, rebates, postponenv ids, transfers, and forfeitures. The matter arose through a question which Mr M. .1. Savage (Auckland West) | addressed to the Minister. Mr Savage drew the attention of the Minister to a statement made at the conference of the Dominion Executive of the R.S.A.. to the effect that numbers of soldiers were throwing up their holdings, and that their successors were being loaded with the arrears of rents and other charges which had accrued. lie asked that the Minister should make a statement, which would clear the m'i ter un. Mr Guthrie said that as there had been a great deal of misrepresentation in connection with this matter, he desired to put the facts before the House and the country. A few, but a very few, had thrown un their sections. Mr T. M. Wilford (Leader of the Opposition) : I have a petition here from 12, who say they cannot make a living. Mr Guthrie: i don’t care if you have a petition from 24, I am going to-give you the facts. I have here a written return. It is not a new one. I have had it made up all along. The totals are: ADVANCES. Current account £ 2,922,057 For farms 8.559,274 For dwellings 6.358,459 Total £17,839,970 REPAYMENTS. Current account £ 318,804 Farms account 264,359 Dwellings account 573,270 Total £1,156,433 ARREARS. Rent £113,024 Interest current account 55,446 Instalments on farms 172.527 Instalments on dwellings 17,273 Total £353,270 POSTPONEMENTS. Rent £ 90.431 Interest current account 1,272 Instalments on farms 17,620 Instalments on dwellings 226 Total £109,549 POSTPONETvIENTS REPAID. Rents £12,247 Interest current account 11l Instalments on farms 2,426 Instalments on dwelling 71 Total £14,855 Coining to the next division, the capitalisation of amounts owing, the Minister explained that the department had never encouraged this process in rents. The sum of £8246 had been capitalised, interest current account nil, and instalments on farms and dwellings £176; a total of £8422. A great deal was made, he proceeded - about people leaving their holdings. The number of leases forfeited was 266, out of a total of 9000 held by men with experience and without. The area affected was 50,136 acres, and the rent lost amounted to £15,237. Foreclosure had affected nine farms and ten dwellings, a total of 19. The loan losses through forfeiture and foreclosure were: current account, £2377; on farms, £316: on dwellings, nil:—a total of £2693. Which he thought the House would accept as being extraordinarily satisfactory. The interest losses under the same three headings for these two causes amounted to £1323. The transfers of titles, subject to mortgages, numbered 467 The value at the date of purchase was £513,205, the consideration on transfer £560,882, and the advances made £456.277. The question had been raised all over the country that tremendous losses were being incurred when these men went out, and that the country could not afford it. What was thought of a purchase price of £513,0C0 and a selling price of £560,0007 The rebates earned on farms and dwellings aggregated £45,358. As for remissions, with all fhe terrible history sketched of the soldier settlement scheme, Government had granted remissions totalling £10,202 in rent, £32 interest current account, £234 instalments oil farms, and £65 instalments on dwellings—or a grand total of £10,513. The Minister of Lands added that he had been receiving the figures regularly, and had his linger on the course of events. He would have liked to have been able to say that the Government had not lost any money in connection with the soldiers’ settlement scheme. He could not say that, because as a matter of fact the returns showed a loss of about £IO.OOO. But was that money really lost? What had the expenditure been worth to the people of New Zealand? What would the people be saying to-day if the Government had not given (ho soldiers their chances? The returned men had been given their chances, and even if a few of them had failed, for one reason or another, the fact remained that the dominion had done the right thing by them. The Government certainly had not been severe on the men who bad not been successful. Ho had boon asked what was done with reference to arrears in the cases of men who failed to make good. The rule was that if the land would carry the original valuation, together with loading representing assistance that had been given to the soldier tenant, then the incoming tenant had to pay the full value; but. if the land had not proved suitable, or equal to the valuation that had been placed upon it, then the Government did not ask the. incoming tenant to bear the burden. i lie incoming tenant paid ill it was reasonable for him to do so, but the cases were considered on their merits. The land boards had discretion in the matter.