DISILLUSIONED.

Taranaki Daily News, 13 March 1920, Page 9

DISILLUSIONED.

NEW ZEALAND SETTLERS'IN AMtfCA. Glowing accounts of the possibilities of British East Africa for land settlement have attracted many ex-soldiers from New Zealand to that quarter of the globe. Now those same soldiers are writing home gloomy accounts of their experiences and warnings to those who might be inclined to follow in their footsteps. The prospectus issued by the Government in connection with the .Soldiers' Settlement scheme was a particularly rosy document, as a Post reporter was able to see for himself a few months back. Fortunes, it seemed, were to be made in a year or so. There was every excuse for a soldier who, after weighing the possibilities of New Zealand and Africa, decided in favor of the latter. But all is not gold that glitters, and, as a Tule, no prospectus should -be swallowed without the proverbial grain of salt.

"ABSOLUTELY NEW." The experiences of one young New Zealander who forsook his native country and went to Africa are contained in a letter dater Nairobi, Bth December. He strikes a note of warning, and In addition gives some information of general interest. "The country between Mombassa and Nairoba," he writes, "is pretty good and very interesting. . . Nairobi is a great show, fairly big, with a population of about 15,000, but absolutely new. There are some fine stone buildings, but everyfiTW ia unfinished. Every place was fuiTnp, so we went to the Y.M.C.A. and ijjm to get in there. It's rough, ->„_. cheap. We have been here 48 n"ows| an(i w « havo been making inquiries a Il round- We haven't quite decided to go back to New Zealand, but the others (three New Zealanders) are feeling mighty like it." After referring to the experiences of other land seekers, the writer continues: "If anything, our case is a bit worse. It appears that applications for land under the Soldiers' Settlement scheme closed last June, so no notice was tak n of our applications, and on inquiry at the Land Office we were informed that nothing could be done for us.

THE EXCHANGE DIFFICULTY. "Then, again, that exchange is killing us. The price of silver has gone up so high that the rupee has risen from Is 4d to 2s fid, which, means that—well, take my case: I bring in £4OO from New Zealand, convert it into rupees, and get just over £2OO for.it. Cheery, isn't it? Endeavors are being made to have the English currency brought in here, but it will be 12 months at least before they succeed in doing so. Land which a year or two ago was worth five rupees per acre is now selling for 75. Even land back 100 miles from the railway is going at £l' an acre. Oxen, of which you need 10 to pull one* plough, are fetching £lO per head. Implements, firearms, clothing, food, everything is very dear. There is plenty of work about in the railways or with manufacturing firms at from £ls to £2O per month, but it takes all that to live, and more to live comfortably.

CAPITAL NECESSARY. "There is no question about it, if a man comes into this country with a clear £4ooo—that is in rupees* at 2s i>d —he will make his fortune in a few years; but, most emphatically, it is no place for a man with limited capital. Numbers of men have come out here, been disgusted, and gone home again. They are still coming out at the rate of 100 or so per week, and most of them are after jobs- We have been trying to get a position on a coffee or flax farm, but it 3eems impossible. The climate is undoubtedly glorious, and they say it is much better further up the line from Wairobi, I don't know if you have beard of anyone who intends coming out, but let them take my advice. If they haven't a few thousand pounds they should not think of it- Bv the way, if anybody wants to know uie cost of getting over here, tell them it is approximately £IOO. It cost me £llO. Try and dissuade anyone coming until the exchange rate drops. I will be only too glad to give any of them furth'er particulars. Mind you, it is a new country, and has great possibilities before it once the currency is fixed up, but until then it isn't worth bringing money into. No one has a ,gho9t of a chance of getting any land free from the Government. Land is sold by auction, and the prices are usually very high."

GROSS MISREPRESENTATION. The East African Standard recently published a letter from an ex-officer who settled in British East Africa, and who detailed his experiences to a friend in Glasgow. The writer issues a solemn warning to men without capital, and continues: "It is not a bright picture, hut I can see nothing else if the Government persists in its present policy of encouraging settlers to come out here without adequate capital, and in almost total ignorance of what is before them. I have seen it stated that the Government will give prospective settlers the fullest information before they come out. So they may in a general sense, but I hold that it is absolutely impossible for an official at Home to give away useful information as to the possibilities of any particular farm. Out of 200 odd farms which have already been allotted to ex-soldiers now in the country, quite a few have been grossly misrepresented in the official catalogue drawn up in connection with the scheme. I feel most strongly on the subject, and consider that the sooner the true facts are widely known the better. No one should be encouraged to come out to this country to farm without a minimum capital of £4OOO. Provided he has that, and does not get too far from the railway, he should do exceedingly welt If reasonable transportation facilities had been arranged before these new areas were thrown open, and a land bank instituted by the Government, the matter would have quite a different aspect."