AN INDUSTRIAL OPPORTUNITY. 5 



expenditure of ^3,700,000 within sixty or seventy years. Land 

 settlement is rightly subsidised by the State for the individual 

 who directly benefits. In agriculture horse, cattle, sheep and 

 other breeding schemes are all substantially subsidised by the 

 State, and we find that the Ministry of Agriculture have had a 

 sum of ;!^5o,ooo earmarked for the improvement of the cultiva- 

 tion of land. Tree planting is a process of cultivation. All 

 these schemes are sound, and although conceived and ad- 

 ministered for the individual good, they also benefit the nation 

 as a whole. Government aid has been given to flax-growers, 

 to cotton and sugar cultivators, so there is seemingly no want 

 of precedent. 



It is necessary, but not enough, for the State to possess 

 forests. No industry can be stable or prosperous if left to the 

 State alone. In Germany, France, Norway, Sweden, Switzer- 

 land and Austria, where State forest administration has 

 succeeded, the woodlands of the towns and communes and 

 of private owners far exceed those of the States concerned, 

 but these corporate and private woods have been formed, 

 maintained and enlarged by subventions and substantial 

 assistance from their Governments. 



There are other methods of rendering silviculture more 

 attractive to the planter. For example, the incidence of taxation, 

 both imperial and local, might be revised to show consideration 

 to the investor, who at the best makes no great profit, and 

 in any event has to exercise unusual patience for the return 

 upon his capital ; but the nature of the undertaking demands 

 confidence in future land legislation, a clear-cut programme 

 to be carried out undisturbed by changes for a lengthened 

 period, or just that tranquillity which all serious participators 

 in the last great battle of nations seem to desire. 



