“STRATFORD EVENING POST” WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 1928. UNEMPLOYMENT.

Stratford Evening Post, Issue 84, 4 July 1928, Page 4

“STRATFORD EVENING POST” WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 1928. UNEMPLOYMENT.

UNEMPLOYMENT i s one of the problems which will have t« be faced by Parliament during the session. Of course it was to be expected that Mr Holland and the memoets of the Labour Party would attempt to use it as ai whip with which ty flay the Government, and this attitude condemned, and rightly condemned we think, by Mr G. W. Borbes, Lear er of the Nationalists. Unemployment is exercising the minds of those in authority in almost every country of the. Empire, to say nothing of other parts of the world, and is an economic problem. In New Zealand it must be looked at from a National and not a Party , standpoint, and all sections of the House must get behind the Government with a view to arriving at a solution. If, however,, the Government are not prepared to , face the situation in a statesmanlike yay, and accept the help of other sections of the House, then they have no one but themselves to blame if party capital is made their shortcomings. We have always held that in order to deal with the situation economically and permanently, consideration must be given to the further development of lane settlement. At the present time a great deal of land has been vacated by settlers. We have instances of this in o ur own district and in other parts of Taranaki, hut the same applies in the Ohura, .and various other localities in the North Island as well as in the South. These lands should be tabulated and selections made from the unemployed, of suitable men who would make satisfactory settlers. The men should be placed on the land and perform the necessary work such as fencing, clearing, etc., in order , to bring it back, being paid wages while so engaged. The work, of course, would have to be carried out under the supervision and control of, practical men. Then when the land is brought hack and the settlers are able to carry on on their own, the cost of wages, materials, etc., paid out should be capitalised and interest paid on the amount as » charge against the land. Assistance for settlers in this way provides the best means of bringing the land back to a state of production. Assistance on similar lines is given in Australia and other countries, and the system has proved successful. Of course, this would not solve the unemployment problem absolutely, but it won ( give work to a large number and would as far as it went, be permaneut. In addition, it would be the means of bringing unoccupied lands in again, with a consequent increase in production.