HARDSHIPS AT KAIHERE

Taranaki Daily News, 9 July 1927, Page 13

HARDSHIPS AT KAIHERE

DIFFICULTIES OF THE MINISTER. EXPLANATION IN THE HOUSE. By Telegraph.—Press Assoc'atJon. Wellington, Last Night. Replying to Mr. T. AV. Rhodes (Thames), who asked, in the House of Representatives to-night, what steps the Government proposed to take to give relief to the Kaihere soldier settlers in the shape of additional areas, the Minister of Lands (Hon. A. D. M'cLeod) eaid the settlement referred to was another of the areas with which the Government was experiencing great difficulty. He had on more than one occasion met the settlers personally, had insp..eeted their holdings and arrived at two definite conclusions, (1) that the settlers are of first-class type and have done their best to farm the land; (2) that their failure arises in no single instance from inefficiency or neglect. The only method by which such difficulties as those which have arisen in Kaihere, Ngaroma and elsewhere could be rectified or removed in accordance with . the provisions of the Land ' Act, was by allocating additional areas, if there were any Crown lands in proximity to the settlers affected.

It had been suggested by the settlers and by members of the House that where no Crown lands are available in the immediate neighbourhood the difficulty could be overcome by the purchase of suitable land, bit reference to the land laws would show that the Minister is empowered to purchase land only in accordance with the provisions of the Land for Settlements Act. which clearly defines how such lands may be disposed of. In the case of the Kaihere settlers referred to, there was an area of Crown land in reasonable proximity to the holdings of. the settlers, but drainage officers who were controlling this area had reported on several occasions recently that the stop-banking works had not yet reached a stage to warrant them giving anything approaching a reasonable guarantee that the area will not be liable to submersion during flood periods, and they expressed the opinion that during such periods the grazing of cattle would prejudicially affect the proper consolidation of the pastures. They also reported that the immediate erection of bridges necessary to give access to the Crown area would seriously interfere with the handling of the dredges, which must make use of the waterways until the work was completed. The departmental officers had been instructed to look into the matter again, with a view of extending to the settiers as early as possible the most sympathetic consideration. In conclusion, he would point out that past Parliaments had decreed that in the allocation of Crown lands, the Minister must act only on the recommendation of the land beards, and although such requirement in many cases brought upon him and his department criticism for alleged unnecessary delays, he knew of no other system which would not expose a government to accusations of favouritism and even of corruption. Consequently he would require to obtain a recommendation from the board before he would be in a position to announce his final decision.