SOLDIERS’ SETTLEMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, 15 March 1928, Page 8

SOLDIERS’ SETTLEMENT.

There will be general relief throughout the Dominion at the statement of the Minister of Lands (Hon. A. D. McLeod) that the problem of soldier settlement is nearly cleared up. Mr. McLeod has made a reputation for plainspeaking and for freedom from undue optimism in regard to land settlement. When he says, therefore, “I feel that if we are given any reasonable stability in prices any problem in soldier settlement will soon be a thing of the past,” the public will be prepared to believe he is sure of the facie upon which he has based this opinion. The Minister, as a practical farmer, has known better than most the difficulties which have surrounded the settlement of ex-soldiers on the land, many of them, with little or no experience of farming, and some of them with physical strength impaired by the strain of war service. The cost of rectifying the mistakes made whe-n soldier settlements were inaugurated has been heavy. No less a sum than £5,000,000 has been written off, but as there was no chance of recovering it the policy of . cutting the Joss at once is probably justified. As Mr. McLeod says, the mistakes made were largely the outcome of the community's desire to do all that -was possible for those who had fought for their country, while at that time economic principles were less prominently in mind. They had Buffered an eclipse during the war-time period, and the necessity for their recognition has caused post-war difficulties in other respects than that of soldier settlements. It must also be remembered that, even at the cost of the money lost, if the returned men are successfully settled on the land, not only are they increasing the output of the Dominion, but they are also prevented from drifting into the towns, and thus add to the difficulties of finding them suitable employment.