THE VILLAGE SETTLEMENTS.

Timaru Herald, Volume L, Issue 4827, 25 April 1890, Page 3

THE VILLAGE SETTLEMENTS.

When tho Stout- Yogel Government claimed to have solved the mystery of the "inequality cl man" by the establishment of village settlement;!, we ventured to thick that only a fraction of those who were induced to leave the street corners m the cities would improve (heir condition by being put on the iand. " Iho land for the people and the people for the land," is a vary taking election cry, but it ib as hollow as any other political claptrap that ia employed to catoh the votes o f the unthinking. A moment's consideration will show that it is not everyone who is fitted by nature, or who has the inclination to break m the wilderness The conditions required to ensure tho success of a village settlement demand great care m tho selection of the settlers, m the choice of the land, and m tho area allotted to each, lho land should be of good quality, and m such a situation that the penniless settler can improve his moans by accepting employment for himself and needy family if need bo. These conditions, howover, wero not at oil limes observed m Mr Bslianca'a Bcheme for tho abolition of the unemployed difficulty, with thu natural result I hat many of the village settlements were failure;. Only a einall percentage of she original settlers are now to bo found m thojo settlements, but it was hoped that by the law of na'ural selection the initial trouble of their establishment had been overcome. Not to, howeror, as we learn from a northern exchange. This is tho melancholy story : -" Trouble is, we understand, likely to ensuo with the vilkgo settler*. Many of them are behind with their rent and interest to be paid by the 31st inst. but a largo number of them ure unablo to comply with this ordor. Thepoiplc have to livo out of what gum they can get, and it is as much as they can do to keep themselves m food. Tho circular makes a threat 'of forfeiture, and considering how hard the men have worked to improve their holdings, the threat is a cruel one, as ia Bomo cases thoir land is very poor and unfit for men to get a living from for the next seven years." — Napier Telegraph.