19^0.] 



Official Notices and Circulars. 



1029 



2. Lord Lcc desires nie to take this opportunity of expanding and 

 empliasising certain points to which he referred, as some members of 

 the Committees seem still not quite clear as to the Board's policy. 



3. Preference to ex-Service Men. — I am to lay fetress on the necessity 

 for giving an absolute preference to ex-Service men. The amount of 

 tA^enty millions provided in the Act for Great Britain will be no more 

 than adequate to provide holdings for cx-Service applicants, and, until 

 their claims are satisfied, it is imperative that none of it be spent on 

 settling civilians except in very special cases. 



So strongly does Lord Lee feel on this matter that Councils 

 arc asked to enter into no arrangements for letting a holding to a civilian 

 applicant unless they receive the written concurrence of the District 

 Commissioner. 



j\. Applicants cannot dictate Choice of Land. — Some Small Holdings 

 Committees seem to think that if applicants demand holdings near their 

 present homes or in some particular district, land must be specially 

 acquired to meet their wishes. 



This is wholly a mistaken view of the Government's pledge to cx- 

 Service men, which was simply to provide suitable holdings ; not to 

 acquire scattered pieces of land to suit individual tastes. 



The latter method, if pursued, will involve the Government in serious 

 and needless expenditure on compensation for se^'erance (by cutting 

 small holdings off existing farms) and extra cost in building isolated 

 cottages, and will saddle the Council with more difficult and costly 

 management in the future. 



Moreover, it is contrary to the declared policy of the Board, which 

 is to group small holdings together in large blocks, so that the settlers, 

 by co-operative purchase and marketing, ma}^ have the best chance 

 of securing a good livelihood. 



Exceptions to this general rule should be iew, but may include the 

 provision of land without equipment in small parcels for men who have 

 other occupations. 



5. Re7its of Council Holdings. — Several counties have pointed out 

 to the Board that in present conditions there is a danger of the rents 

 charged to ex-Service men being higher than those paid by pre-war 

 tenants of the Councils for similar holdings. The opinion has been 

 expressed that it would be grossly unfair if a man who had risked his 

 life in the service of his country were settled on a holding adjacent to 

 another man who had remained on the land throughout the War, and 

 "were required to pay a rent 50 per cent, or 60 per cent, higher than his 

 neighbour. 



The problem is admittedly a difficult one, and has been fully con- 

 sidered by the Cabinet. As a result the Government desire each Council 

 to reconsider forthwith the existing rents for pre-war holdings and to 

 make such additions thereto as will bring them into closer agreement 

 with the changed value of agricultural land. In determining the 

 amount of the new rent. Councils should not take into account improve- 

 ments effected by their tenants. Nor should they have regard to the 

 change in the rate of interest charged on loans raised now for the pur- 

 chase and equipment of land. The Government do not desire Councils 

 to rack-rent their tenants. They are satisfied, however, that in view 

 of the advance in the capital value of agricultural land, the rents of 

 County Council small holdings should, in most cases, be considerably 

 Increased and brought into relation with the rents charged by private 



