TO HELP THE SETTLER.

Wairarapa Daily Times, 30 August 1924, Page 4

TO HELP THE SETTLER.

When the moratorium is lifted there will doubtless be many farmers in the Dominion in need of assistance to tide them over a period of financial stringency, and in order to provide for this, and also on account of the extraordinary demand by country settlers for money by way of mortgage on the security of their holdings, the Prime Minister lias arranged for an additional £400,000 per month to be made available for settlers from September Ist until the end of the financial year. The action of the Prime Minister is a step in the right direction, for as soon as the moratorium is lifted the farming community—or, at any rate, a large section of it—may experience something akin to a slump, until matters right themselves. Of course, the farmer who has managed his affairs as they should be, will have very little to fear, but we are afraid that there are numerous farmers with mortgages which they should never have taken upon their shoulders, as the returns from some farms will leave but little to pay the interest on their highpriced land. However, the Prime Minister has forseen the trouble ahead, and is making some provision for it. Even if a farmer has made a muddle of his affairs it is the duty of the Government, in the interests of the whole Dominion, to assist him to get upon his feet again.