SOLDIER SETTLERS.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume V, Issue 1329, 17 May 1918, Page 5

SOLDIER SETTLERS.

I HAMPERED BY TENURE. GOVERNMENT CRITICISED. I [Special to The Sun.] ■i WELLINGTON, May IG. ■'] Vigorous criticism of the Govern- > | ment's scheme for the settlement of -! returned soldiers on the land was ■ \ heard at a meeting of the Returned -Soldiers' Association this evening. A -[man who had secured one of the Government sections stated that the 1: conditions and the tenure made suc- • cess very difficult to attain. The ,! tenure offered the soldier was a bad •jone, and the amount of financial I assistance given was inadequate.

j Ihe Soulier settler does not realise until he gets on the land how | awkward his position is," said tlii*j critic. "The Government will adjvance £SOO. They may advance £750, ' but in practice thev draw the line jat £4OO. Of this sum £350 is for stock, implements, etc. The Government protects itself by taking a bill j of sale, and this is an instrument ot | a very drastic kind. It makes it impossible for the soldier to get credit anywhere else. Since every beast and every implement lie puts on his place conies under the operation of i the bill of sale, ire can give no secuIrity to anybody else. The agency I firms will finance an ordinary set- | tier, but they will give no credit to the soldier, because the Government monopolises his security. "The Government should either finance the soldier, fully providing all the money needed for buildings, fences, stock. i\n(\ implements, or jelse ii should give him the ordinary 'leasehold tenure, and let him make his own arrangements, lie would [then have a margin of goodwill to | work upon in a couple of years, but Ihe has no margin under the present ! arrangement. lie is hampered at every turn by the bill of sale, and many of She men are finding it impossible io make any real progress on their holdings."