DEVELOPMENT.

Timaru Herald, Volume CVIII, Issue 16799, 1 April 1919, Page 3

DEVELOPMENT.

ITS NEED IN SOUTH CANTERBURY * ADDRESS BY MR. G. T. DAWSON. * At the meeting of the Development [ League in Timaru on Friday night, Mr G. T. Dawson delivered an address ; on the need for more population in, and the development of South Canter- ' bury. The following is a precis of the address : ' Mr Dawson said that in view of the 5 change brought about by thj war it " was imperative that something should , be done to meet the new conditions. . We must produce more; we must foster industries already in ex'stence, and , promote new ones, in order to induce , more population (in South Canterbury the population was less than 40,0001, " and in order to pay off the great war debt. In order to do this we must organise, agitate, and educate until , something was done The South Canterbury Development League had set out to do .this, and it should hs sup- , ported. > Could we say that we were at pre'- ' T sent getting the best possib'e result'-: , from tf-e land, from our railways, our Industrie", or from the "treat asset— ; labour He maintained t'.iat we were . not. The solution of the pvcblom must "i come from land settlement, as ajl industries were more or less depend- „ ent upon the land: and if thay- directed Their attention to handling to better advantage the natural resources of th>> fountry they would find that other in- 3 .■'nstrifs woci-J follow in due coursc-i *■ The n=eds'wereylarie. and the remedy * "iust h> in proportion tn - the needs- s S'-Mith Canterbury had little in the wav F of nvnerals or.timber to consdp-, and 1 'o he would deal with grazing :t pd I fai'minrr a s they affected pcn-Mation, ] r/rrductioo, and Industrie*}. i harbours; and cost of living conti»MPiit upon -the three mam point* We - wxnteel more r-opulat'on in South 1 Cpn+orh-rv, and **.-?. wp.ro going to g°t 1 more. . Butwe need not concern our- ( selves at the r<-,6me?>t so much with th° r/uesHnn as to where. jbhe increa««wl population, was coming from a? with •the auev.tibu as to how to -absorb *o the "lest." advantage thr>. a.!- 1 ready on our- lands nnil. "omitifj ti> A'ir ■] shores every week in shiploads. This ' was -to-day's pr»s'ng question, and - it niust.be answered now. if unrest among I ♦be men was going' to be prevented. We could ,i see what .other r countries weYe coining through in the after- : math of waiV ; Let us not rest in a ' feed's paradise.; The time to"grappls ' with- the-problem ~wfi.B now, and not. when we were hampered by a, stats' of unrest/and -'industrial strife; in the country. <The ; only ,;-.< Jway "they could absorb* the population was by land settlement. And 'if-■ we settled the people more closely on the land v/e would automatically ,:settle th<>: question of prodiiction, create payable .railways and harbours, -foster industries of the t«domini : pn,- deal wit'i the" cost •of; ; liyi rig problem and " also vwith the of industrial unrest;. - ;The land>iriight be divided into two dosses—pastoral .and agricultural. The former did not lend itself to intense .cultivation or, iricreais'sd..production "to th?; extent : that agricultural land d'd. The size of holdings was dependent mainly .on two factors—quality of the land, and its configuiation, and its proximity to a railway or,, a centre. Assuming that a block'of 100,000'acifa-s of pastoral land was subdivided into ten Mocks,* thereby providing homes for nine additonal men, they couidnpt ook for much. increase <yf * production .eeanseya.tbough attention could ■be jpven. to the sheap in winten- to •flvord isnow;losses, ,t!ife;ear.rying capacitv 'cbnld' i n6t r ' r ' be : materially increased. This applied to high country, far back, and without, a prqoortion of lower land that could be'cultivated to produce winter ••■feed.:* This was the most'difficult class of country to. be dealt with, and unless occupied by men of experience with such country* we" could hot lock for any good its sub-division. If they took a block of say acres of grazing and .agricultural land and cut it into ten-blocks the same number of men would- be settled as in the case just dealt with, but production would be increased enormously—the grazing land by burning and sufface sowing, but particularly by the' better cultivation of the agricultural portion of each block. From this class of land increased grain production could not 'be looked lor to any great extent, aa it would be too far from the railway. The sub-division of such country voiild not be properly carried oat 'i>y marking it off on a map in an office, and measuring out equal portions or blocks. It should b? done by & committee of experienced men. Dealing next with land of such quality that 300 acres would support a man and his family, ~Mr Dawson, said that if ten men were placed on every 3000 acrea instead of one, the problem of absorbing the population would soon be largely settled, and the production of the country would be very material- , ly increased. Then there -were the richer lands close to dairy factor es and railways—lands on which a familv could get a living from 100, 50, and in some cases 25 acres. It was to this class of land that they must look for the clcspst sub-division. It might be sad that 25 acres of even the best land would not support a family: but there were plenty of men who lui-1 only intermittent work, and such holdings would enable them to live cheaply, and to increase the production of the country. But land could also be dealt with in still smaller blocks, say in ->-acre lots. A man could do a" great deal with five acres if .'t were close to a town or some industry, or works. In Timaru many working men. were atpresent paying rent in the town, for a quarter acre section and housa. In many cases their work was intermittent, and would they not welcome the chanco of getting on a 5-acre allotment on the outskirts of the town ■' He would not only become a producer »nt he would also reduce the cost "of Ibving for his family, and would make | their surroundings much healtheir and happier than they r.-ould 'oe in the town. Such land would require to be within a radius of one or two miles of the town. Supposing only 200 workmen of Timaru took up 5 acres each, it would mean the close settlement of 1000 acres on the outsk'rts of the town, and the owners of the allotments I would do good for themselves and the Dominion. What could be produced from such a small area? Allowing ► half an acre for the house and garden it would be possible to fjrow potatoes, • frait and vegetables for the house, and j, keep one or two cows, a pig, be<?s., a nd I poultry, and there should be a, margin , ' of produce which would go to swell his . cash earnings from the three or four . days' work per week which tbo man » would do. Any man who worked a. i 5-acre holding properly would have a, f very small b'll to pay to the grocer, • if he had anything at all to pay. To enable men to take upland in this way the Government sbotild come , to the rescue. The large holding-; throughout the country should be acquired at a fair valuation, and returned soldiers as well as working men who had not been called upon to go ) in the war should be given every assistjiiice to get o'n to the land. Doiling w'th tb" financial aspect of the 5-sicre blocks Mr Dawsnn s-iid that the land should cost say £2OO, and a - bouse .G6OO. £BOO nt 5 r>er cent., plus ', 2 per cent, sinkino; fund, would mean » n payment of £56 the first vear, and

Even if' no simis were paid off the capital account apart from 'tli■* yearly payment of the sinking fund, the debt would be exterminated in 25 years, and the man would be the owner ~'f his 5 acres and a house. In the meanf-me his payments of interest would not have amounted to more than he .would have paid by'iway of rent had he remained in a rented house in town. . Bv settling the land every industry in the country would r>e benefitted directlv or indirectly vor it would cause 'them all to g*ee increased employment. Our railways and harbours too', would pay belter, as there would be more produce to handle. : Mr Dawson also touched on t-ne bvdro-eceltric power scheme .as »nP] w sf to South Canterbury, and. said that it must play a large par in all work, both in town and country. If population and production were inseparable, co must labour and capital ne Ln« two must go band in hand if progress were to be made; and if they disagreed the result must be dislocation, stagnation, and loss. Capital was dependent o„ labour, and v:ce versa; aud by do-CT settlement of the land capital rthmneh the Government was providbii as«et, when was wi» <■ ~ landl ,ln conclusion Mr .«g young >-«« "j . ~ _.„ r wt} must I;? t promote closer settlement of the land.