The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. MONDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1928. NOT CONVINCING

Southland Times, Issue 20616, 15 October 1928, Page 4

The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. MONDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1928. NOT CONVINCING

The line opened by Mr W. E. Taylor in his address to the Wallace electors is extremely interesting for it discloses some of the difficulties of the United Party whose case he is presenting. Those delightful proposals for the manufacture of whisky and brandy in the Dominion make an ingratiating contribution to the plans for the solution of the liquor problem, but they are not dangerous because they are not practicable in this country. Too many years of Prohibition and Temperance effort stand as barriers to give the suggestion any hope of serious consideration. On questions like Land Settlement, Mr Taylor, however, is hardly any nearer to being practical. He declares that the Government can buy land for settlement at prices which will ensure a profitable return, and do this without confiscation. In a period in which the writers who support the party he is in declare values are too high, the working out of this idea may be difficult, but Mr Taylor has no doubts upon the subject, though experienced farmers are not quite so easy in their minds. Farmers who struggle under heavy loads, who say that the primary producer is unduly burdened will be hard to convince that Mr Taylor’s easy solution can be applied with success. Assistance for the subdivision of big stations by consent is a policy declared by the Government, but it is necessary to remember that these subdivisions have to be examined carefully to avoid the undue loading of the land. Much is made of the demand for land in these days, but the evidence of Jte existence is not forthcoming, and Mr McLeod, who is thoroughly acquainted with the economics of the land, is not so sure that land settlement is a profitable venture while land prices are at their present level. Any policy

which will win for profitable production bush land that has been cut out is to be supported, but again there are serious questions of finance and other problems to be solved before it can be safely said that these bush lands can be dealt with profitably. As we have said on other occasions, land settlement must become increasingly expensive as the age of the Dominion increases: the best land is taken up first and the less accessible areas remain for later development, while subdivisions, though inducing more intensive cultivation by the heavier burden they put on the occupiers, are also affected by the condition to which the land has been brought. Mr Taylor was much more easy in his efforts to play on inter-island jealousies when dealing with the Advances to Settlers and Rural Credits. The figures he quoted certainly can be made to support the complaint that Southland has not had as much money as Auckland, but it would be as easy to demonstrate that more money has been spent in railway construction in the North Island than in the South during the last two or three years, and the effect of the demonstration would be just as slight, because there must always be taken into account the accomplishments of the past and the needs of the present. Attempts to introduce inter-Island jealousies as an influence in politics are as much to be deplored as the naive suggestion that in Mr Taylor, Wallace can see a prospective Cabinet Minister. It will be agreed that the losses on the railways are serious, but a great deal of that deficiency is due to the influence of branch and developmental lines which this Government inherited. It is a fact’ however, that while motor competition is a serious menace, the Railway Department must undertake some extensions to secure improved working and greater facilities for securing trade for the lines now open. On the question of the Legislative Council, Mr Taylor was similarly hazy while using terms that have a good sound. He would deny that chamber the power of veto, anil yet make it a body strong enough to revise the hasty legislation “often carried in the Lower House.” Authority to revise and power to revise to be made realities must be backed by substance, in other words the revising chamber must “have teeth” if it is to be effective. It has always seemed

to us that the real weakness of the Upper House in this country has always been that it can be swamped by any resolute Government and, therefore, lacks the authority it should have to be effective. Mr Taylor’s address at Tihaka was by no means convincing. It was designed to be attractive, but never really touched the real problem of the moment with any illumination.