ABSTRACT
This chapter presents some macro-level data that chart the ebb and flow of the pastoral frontier between the wars before outlining the soldier settlement scheme and the land problem facing the government from 1917 into the 1920s. It deals with an assessment of soldier settlement on the bush frontier. By 1922, a sharp decline in primary export prices meant that many soldier settlers could not pay their rents or the interest owing on other government loans. At a regional level, soldier settlement and the bush frontier can be tracked statistically by examining the numbers and acreage of Ordinary Crown Land taken up under the Discharged Soldier Settlement Act. In terms of numbers of ex-soldier farmers and the areas involved, discharged soldier settlement contributed significantly to the final phase of the expansion of the pioneer farming frontier in New Zealand during the 1920s.
