PLACING MEN ON FARMS

Taranaki Daily News, 11 June 1932, Page 7

PLACING MEN ON FARMS

TALK. OF MODIFIED SCHEME

WHTION OF TARANAKI FARMERS.

SUITING SMALL LANDHOLDERS.

DISCUSSION 1 WITH THE

Modifications, of the small farm inent scheme for. placing unemployed married men on farms' were discussed by Mr. A. H. Cockayne, As§i§taqt : Birecof Agriculture, with the North Taranaki' executive of the Farmers? Union at New Plymouth yesterday. The modifications had bggil'gpggestgd to meet the needs of farmers in glossy settled dairying guch as Tftra? naki, sajd Mr. Cockayne, where the farmers’ could not. afford to glY® acrgs from their faring but could afforfl to keep an unemployed man and his family by giving him' labour, if the Goy? •foment was prepared to erect the neces? sary accommodation for the man. He rngfie it clear that' tlie would have to be approved by the Min? ister 'of Employment before they were brought into effect. > . At the close of Mr. Cockayne's address the executive decided that it would bepvery beneficial if tije government instituted this additional scheme to ppg? vide accommodation for' unemployed married men "and their ■ and. added that it felt there wag scope in Taranaki for the ggheme. • The objective of the Government, said Mr. Cockayne, was to convert men at present wholly unemployed into a gtafe of 'at least partial" independence by means of the.■ small farm settlement scheme. Up to the present no ypry gon? striictive schgme hgd been pijt forward jn’ that direction,' but the iGpfernment was 'firmly convinced that h? tfc? Of®!?' .ing up of its small farm scheme gome of thg unemployed might be placed on a, footing of partial independence. , MUST HAVE' ELASTICITY. -. .. The scheme, if' it was going to fie guoegssful, njust have a certain'ftnigunt of elasticity. The authorities, realised ■ that what might suit one district might not suit another. They wejg anxious tq know if there were any vapifttipije pr mpdificationg pf-the gehgme .aiiist in putting the schgmg into opera,? ft they equid sgttlB--on the land un? employed married families at ‘ a,. ggnsid? eribly less epst th the Statg than thgy were already costing, that would fee 841 to'the good. If they pould ggt<sofiQ gr 6000 families scfttfergd throughout New Zefland-.it w:quld sftyg the TJnemplqy? merit Board £250,0§0 a year and would mgh® the ds- is further. ' • ■ V • in certain parts 'of New Zealand the scheme was developing-very well. Offers of suitable land were being made to the Government ftt reasonable rates, and thp establishment of a considerable num? her of holdings in many parts of New Zealand-was assured. However, one.point that had arisen from the inception of thi? scheme was that-modifications that worked admirably in one part of New Zealand did not seem to work well in another, and it was extremely important that in those districts where the scheme wag not goipg ahead, as well as wgs wished some modifications to the exist? ing scheme should be devised. It did seem that in the Taranaki district they could have some modification.They would have to secure the approval of the Minister of Employment to any such l modification before it could be brought into force. There had been a large number e*f suggestions by farmers in Taranaki that if the Government would be'prepared to provide the acCpmniodation they would be willing to take unemployed married men and their fapiilies for specific work, such as share? milking, "§n tfeeir farms;' and would b? prepared to pay a small rental for the building.' ! It appeared that a great many offers had been made,, and he wished to know, if such a modification of the scheme were made, whether it would receive the -support of the farmers. In introducing any such modification they would have to be sure that the expenditure of the board would be safe? guarded, that there would be no abuse of the modification, and that -the intention of- the board that the funds should he used to increase production would be Safeguarded.

FEW COULD SPARE LAND. The president; of the executive, Mr. H. E. Blyde, said "it was very fitting that Mr. Cockayne should come . forward to dUouss the matter with the union. There had been much criticism of the scheme, especially, in Taranaki, where, the land much more closely settled than m qther districts. In Taranaki few farmers could spare five or ten acres 'from their small'farms.. X ' When the scheme was first brought, down he suggested that it might be helpful in Taranaki to provide accommodation for married unemployed men on ’farms. If that accommodation were given the farmers would be able to help by giving the men work on their farms. There was wide scope, he considered, in ' the district for-the absorption of labour by unemployed married- men <?n dairy , farms if the Government could provide 1 accommodation. The farmer would have to pay a small rental for .the dwelling, said Mr. Cotkayne, and after a number of years he might be able to buy it at a .valuation, but the main, provision, if the modiSestina were adopted, would bg that ho must keep the house full. He would have power ta dismiss the m&B .if h® un-suitable,-but would be expected to replace him with another man. Besides giving the man work, said Mr, Blyde, the farmer-would be able to let him have firewood, meat and vegetables at * mgeh cheaper rate than he; would have to pay, in'town. In Taranaki he beljevaid they were more short of accommodation for farm workers than was. the case in any other districtIf their view was that it would be well worth'' while for the small farm committees to comb the Taranaki dis-

trlet,-said Mr. Cockayne, he would instruct the committees to go ahead and would place the scheme before the Minister of Employment immediately and seek his approval. He paid a tribute to the type, of farmer who had accepted office oji the small farm committees. Mr. Blyde suggested that the scheme should be pushed forward so ( that it could be put in operation this winter He was sure the farmers would support the scheme because it had been put forward spontaneously by farmers in the district. ' One member pointed out that the Government had spent £134,000 on work at the Galatea Estate and had not settled any men there- What guarantee, had the farmer that the small farm scheme would not also be a failure? One assumed that ’in the ease of the Galatea Estate the Government had not sufficient funds at the moment to go ahead with the work of settlement, said Mr. Cockayne, whereas it did have the funds to carry out the small farm scheme. . other members, Speaking for their re-, gpeetive districts, said that the holdings were, generally speaking, too small

to permit cutting off ten acres, but’they f elf the modified scheme suggested would b Vn by Mr.’ W. Ricketts at, Elthsim as to how many «ect>ons had been offered in Taranaki, Mr. Cockayne said the response had been very 1 o Farmers were inclined to say that there was no room for development along those lines in tlje province. However, I would rather answer that question when we get going,” said Mr. Cockayne.