LAND FOR SOLDIERS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 86, Issue 94, 23 April 1942, Page 4

LAND FOR SOLDIERS

WANGANUI FARMERS' VIEWS WISE SELECTION ADVOCATED ■ “That, it be recommended to the Government that when land is being purchased for the rehabilitation 01 returned servicemen, a local committee oi farmers (with intimate knowledge of the locality where land is being purchased) be called on to advise before purchase is completed.’’ I This remit from the Westmere branch of the New Zealand Farmers’ Union was supported when it came before the Wanganui Provincial Executive at its monthly meeting yesterday. It will go forward for discussion at the inter-provincial conference in Palmerston North on May 26. Speaking to the remit, Mr. A. It. | Laird (Westmere i said it was most essential, in the interests of returned men, that suitable land should oe purchased. To ensure this, farmers with local knowledge should be on the proposed committee. A voice: I have been pressing that for years. “Mistakes were made after the last war. and might be made again, said Mr. W. Morrison (Maxwell). He added that many men who returned from the last war, some with no previous farming experience, had nobody to advise them when they took up land. Certain small farms, for example, had sufficient agricultural implements tor properly oi 500 acres. No small farm could *~>jort such expenditure. It might be advisable. Mr. Morrison suggested, for returned soldiers to form communities for purchasing farm implements between them. “But they need somebody to advise them, and to lake a fatherly interest in their problems," he said. Mr. D. Sutherland (Fordell): No returned soldier should be put on the land without experience. If he is a likely man. showing promise, he should go to a school, such as MasseyCollege, or do practical farm work, under supervision, for at least 12 I months. ’’Branches of the Farmers’ Union could do a great deal in this matter," commented the president, Mr. T. Currie (Brunswick). Mr. C. Smith (Brunswick): But. the branches can do nothing if the land is not suitable. He recalled that in certain parts of the Wanganui district small blocks of land were divided after the last war, but the only advice farmers could give returned soldiers was to get off the land. The property concerned was unsuitable. Some left immediately, but others who remained had to leave eventually and were wiser but poorer men. Mr. ,1. J. Lissette (Parikino) commented that it was no use putting returned soldiers on land that was full of standing bush.