RETURNED SOLDIERS.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume III, Issue 827, 4 October 1916, Page 8

RETURNED SOLDIERS.

LAND FOR SETTLEMENTS. WHAT IS WANTED. Press Association. WELLINGTON, October 3. The Government desires to acquire by purchase good land in all districts throughout the Dominion, and wherever possible, in blocks of considerable area, in order that soldiei settlements may be constituted. A number of offers of small areas of good land and a less number of offers of larger areas of inferior land have been received. All such offers have been considered, and in some cases the purchase has been completed, but the principal purpose which the Government has in view is not served by the method of desultory purchases of small properties divisible into a few holdings and separated by wide distances, nor is it possible by that method to insure the acquisition of sufficient land in all parts of New Zealand to afford returned soldiers an opportunity of settling in or near the districts from which thev enlisted.

The Government has, therefore, resolved to make a public and general request to all owners of estate of considerable area to set apart portions of their properties consisting of some of the best land in each properly for settlement by returned soldiers, and offer to the Government for purchase at fair prices for that purpose lands so set apart. Good land in fairly large areas divisible into a reasonable number of holdings can only be secured by the general consent of the owners of large estates throughout New Zealand to sell parts of their properties, and because such sales will enable the Government of New Zealand to provide land for our soldiers who return from service in the war, the Government trusts its request will meet with a hearty response from owners. The alternative of the compulsory acquisition of the whole of seve.al large properties would involve the expenditure of sums not perhaps in excess of the amount required l*or the purchase of parts of a much larger number of properties, but if UvA alternative were adopted, the areas provided for settlement would be limited to a few districts instead of being spread throughout the Dominion, and a quantity of land would, in most cases, be included which, though profitable when held in large areas, might not be suitable for close subdivision.