The Wanganui Chronicle THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1929. LAND SETTLEMENT

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 72, Issue 51, 28 February 1929, Page 6

The Wanganui Chronicle THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1929. LAND SETTLEMENT

J AND SETTLEMENT is the immediate need o£ the Dominion. The migration of capital and population to the towns has upset the balance between town and country. Office and factory accommodation are in excess of the normal demand, and machinery and equipment are capable of producing much more than is required of them at the present time. Secondary industries have outgrown their economic strength, and despite praiseworthy efforts on the part of the local manufacturers to popularise their products, consumption does not come up to the capacity to supply. What now is required in an increase in the number of consumers, who do not in turn confine their efforts to supplying the local market. Those who fill this requirement are to be found only upon the land, for our primary producers are the only manufacturers making products capable of being sold at a profit on the world’s markets. The increase of the country population, therefore, is a prime necessity, an’d this can only be achieved by further land settlement. Land settlement can be accomplished in two ways: One, by cutting up large estates; and two, by developing lower grade lauds. But it must be remembered that neither course is free from difficulties. The purchase of large estates, surveying them, roading the subdivisions to give recess to the various holdings, involves the expenditure of large sums of money. Money toAlay is at a premium, with the possibility of a'decline. To finance a proposition with dear money on a long term basis is to create difficulties in the future. The man who takes up land on to-day’s prices, paying current interest rates, will either have to discount the value of his property in a few years time or re-arrange his finances;-or else he will have to so improve the producing capacity of his farm to offset the defleetion in prices due to an era of cheaper money. The margin of improvement possible upon poor country is generally much narrower than the possible margin of improvement on land of better quality. This fact should, therefore, indicate to the Government the line of action to be followed. The first step in a land settlement policy should be in the direction of close settlement on good land. Evidently the Minister of Lands, the Hon. Mr Forbes, hold this view, if the purchase of the Levin Estate, in the Feilding district, is to be regarded as an indication. Sueh a policy w-ill find favour in the Wanganui district, where the possibilities for closer settlement are so great and so obvious. No one who knows farming can gainsay the fact the Wanganui district is pre-eminently suited for the purpose of putting into action the land policy best suited to present economic conditions. Farmed in smaller areas, the land would produce more than its present return. This Increased productivity would permit of fair prices being paid to the present owners on purchase, and the cutting-up costs being added thereto, without making a burden too heavy for the settler to carry. Further, the possibilities for improvement, in the main, are such that the added value which the settler would create would oifset any decline in prices for produce, or any changes in financial conditions. The members of Parliament representing constituencies adjacent to Wanganui should avail themselves of every opportunity to emphasise to the Government the outstanding potentialities of the district for the successful application of its closer settlement policy.