Servicemen Settlement

Wanganui Chronicle, 29 April 1949, Page 4

Servicemen Settlement

Sir, —I notice by Mr. Montgomerie’s; latest letter, that I was wrong in quoting him as saying there are 23,000 farms available for settlement if farmers were given ’4B values. There are only 15,000,! or in other words according to Mr. Montgomeries fig-

ures, one quarter oE the farmers in j N.Z.. What absolute nonsense! For four years I have been search-1 ing for a farm, and never yet have I i met a singl e farmer who has said hel would sell if he could get ’4B or any other value. Yet Mr. M.,.. .omei.t. would have us believe one '. evefour is willing to sell provided "the price for land was more generous.' There has been, and will continue to be, very few farms for sale, re- ■ gardless of the price of land. The; reason being, that to the majority of i farmers, farming is as much a way of i life as it is a means of making money. The love of the land is greater than of mere coin, which up to a point, is as it should be. However, thousands of acres of good land is not producing nearly as much as it should be, simply because the owners have too much. They could, in lots of cases produce as much as they are at present, were they to sell one or more units, and farmed the remainder properly. But because their love of the land is greater than their sense of responsibility to the country, they will not sell regardless of price. The big stations and holdings of thirty years or so ago, havfe largely gone, but in many cases “squatters” and gentlemen farmers are still with us. For the good of N.Z. and for the people at Home, not to mention the honouring of promises to returned men, this land should be acquired compulsorily at a fair price, for land settlement. What is wanted is a fair price, for land, more drive and vision on the part of the Government, but on the same lines as its present policy. Give us the land and we will produce the goods, instead of wasting our time talking, like many “tax happy” farmers are doing today.—l am, etc., “REALIST.”