Settlement Scheme Research Articles

Divisions within the Irish Government Over Land-Distribution Policy, 1940–70

DIVISIONS WITHIN THE IRISH GOVERNMENT OVER LANDDISTRIBUTION POLICY, 1940–70 DAVID SETH JONES I. INTRODUCTION: THE PROGRAM OF LAND DISTRIBUTION a key challenge that the new government of the Irish Free State faced at the time of independence in 1922 was the pressing need to overcome land hunger, unemployment, and poverty in rural areas. At the heart of the problem were the numerous “uneconomic” or “congested” holdings. These were farms so small or with such infertile land as to be unable to support a family at a minimum standard of living. The problem of congestion , as it was termed, was found throughout Ireland, but it was especially prevalent in the so-called “congested districts” in the western counties . Added to this were the claims of landless persons, mainly laborers and farmers’ sons who could not inherit the family farm. Such needs became more clearly identified after the land-purchase acts, especially the acts of 1903 and 1909, which enabled the tenant farmers, many of whom occupied meager holdings, to become owners of their land. When they became owners, there was a widespread realization that their farms were too small or infertile. The demand for land focused hostile attention upon the graziers, who reared cattle and sheep commercially on extensive pastoral holdings. They occupied their holdings as owners or tenants but often did not reside upon them. Nor did they provide much employment for the local population. The hostility to the graziers led to two major outbreaks of land agitation against them, viz., the so-called “ranch war” of 1906–12 and the land seizures during the struggle for independence and the ensuing civil war from 1919 to 1923.1 Even after independence intense antipathy to the graziers continued for many years. LAND-DISTRIBUTION POLICY, 1940–70 83 1 D. S. Jones, Graziers, Land Reform, and Political Conflict in Ireland (Washington, D.C., 1995), 184–208; M. A. G. Ó Tuathaigh, “The Land Question, Politics, and Irish Society,” In response the first Irish government under the Cumann na nGaedheal party (later to become, with other parties, Fine Gael) introduced the 1923 land act, which provided for an ambitious program of land distribution , to be implemented by the Irish Land Commission. (This was a radical expansion of a limited program of distribution initiated by the British government, especially under the 1909 land-purchase act.) In the years to follow, successive governments, both Fianna Fáil and the rival interparty coalitions led by Fine Gael, continued and intensified the policy of land distribution under the powers vested in the Land Commission by a series of land acts extending the distributive provisions of the 1923 act. Under the program of land distribution three types of land were appropriated by the Land Commission, by compulsory means if necessary, for the purpose of distribution. The main type were untenanted farms still in the direct possession of the old landowning class, comprising in total over one million acres. Such land was used mainly for commercial cattle and sheep grazing, often being rented under short-term letting by a grazier. Increasingly, however, the Land Commission acquired large holdings of tenants or tenant-purchasers (those who had been tenants but had acquired ownership under the land-purchase acts). The chances of a tenant or a tenant -purchaser losing his or her land increased significantly if the land was not resided on, was used for commercial cattle and sheep grazing (rather than tillage or dairying), and provided little in the way of employment.2 In other words, the tenants or tenant-purchasers most likely to be dispossessed were those who were graziers. The land, having been acquired, was then divided under a settlement scheme, principally among “congests,” some of whom had been transferred from other areas, but in some cases also among landless persons and evicted tenants. All who were allocated land were referred to as allottees. The process of land distribution extended over the better part of a century , and by the time that the Land Commission drew up its last report in 1987, over 1.5 million acres had been acquired under the land acts from LAND-DISTRIBUTION POLICY, 1940–70 84 in Ireland: Land, Politics, and People, ed...

Optimizing Liquidity Usage and Settlement Speed in Payment Systems

The operating speed of a payment system depends on the stage of technology of the system's communication and information processing environment. Frequent intraday processing cycles and real-time processing have introduced new means of speeding up the processing and settlement of payments. In a real-time environment banks face new challenges in liquidity management. They need to plan for intraday as well as interday fluctuations in liquidity. By employing various types of hybrid settlement structures, banks may be able to even out intraday fluctuations in liquidity demand. The aim of this study is to develop a framework for analysing fluctuations in liquidity demand and assessing the efficiency of different settlement systems in terms of speed and liquidity needs. In this study we quantify the relationship between liquidity usage and settlement delay in net settlement systems, real-time gross settlement systems and hybrid systems, as well as the combined costs of liquidity and delay in these systems. We analyse ways of reducing costs via optimization features such as netting of queues, offsetting of payments and splitting of payments. We employ a payment system simulator developed at the Bank of Finland, which enables us to evaluate the impact of changes in system parameters and thus to compare the effects of alternative settlement schemes with given payment flows. The data used covers 100 days of actual payments processed in the Finnish BoF-RTGS system. Our major findings relate to risk reduction via real-time settlement, effects of optimization routines in hybrid systems, and the effects of liquidity costs on banks' choice of settlement speed. A system where settlement takes place continuously in real-time and with queuing features is more efficient from the perspective of liquidity and risks than a net settlement system with batch processing. Real-time processing enables a reduction in payment delay and risks without necessarily increasing liquidity needs. Participants will operate under immediate payment/settlement if liquidity costs are low enough relative to delay costs and if the liquidity arrangements are sufficiently flexible. The central bank can therefore support risk reduction and payment speed objectives by providing low cost intraday liquidity as well as more flexible ways for participants to add or withdraw liquidity from the system. Optimizing and gridlock solving features were found to be effective at very low levels of liquidity. The efficiency of the different optimization methods for settlement systems are affected by the actual flow of payments processed. Gains from netting schemes with multiple daily netting cycles were found to be somewhat more limited.

Economic Development in the Siki Settlement Scheme, West New Britain

Post development theorists argue that western development discourse, in the post Second World War period, colonized the minds of people living in the third world. This process of colonization, it is argued, has blinded third world people to the poverty of development discourse and ensured third world subjection to western economic and political ideas. In this article I analyse this proposition in relation to the people living on the Siki Settlement Scheme in West New Britain, Papua New Guinea. I argue that the notion of discursive colonization implies a docility on the part of Siki residents. It is a conceptualization which infers settlers have been fooled by development rhetoric. In contrast to post development theory’s notion of colonization I argue Siki settlers actively and thoughtfully participate in the development process.

Refugee Camp Mapping Using Very High Spatial Resolution Satellite Sensor Images

Abstract Short time‐intervals for complex response in unfamiliar areas cause refugee‐relief organisations to have a strong need for timely and up‐to‐date geographic information of the environment during humanitarian operations. The objective of this study is to provide an overview of relief organisations' need for detailed geographic information, and to assess the potential of the upcoming very high spatial resolution (VHSR) satellite sensors to provide this geographic information by mapping refugee camps and their environment on an operational basis. To demonstrate the use of VHSR satellite technology in relief operations, a pilot proof‐of‐concept study using a 1992 Russian KVR‐lOOO 2 m resolution panchromatic image of the six refugee camps in the Qala en Nahal settlement scheme in the Sudan was performed. The VHSR satellite sensor image was found to be useful for mapping refugee camp environmental parameters, such as land use, roads, rivers, and water sources, as well as camp infrastructure, including geographic positioning of camps, housing, and street network. The image also allowed for detailed camp area estimates. In addition, a statistically significant relationship between camp area and population was revealed for refugee camps included in this study. In operational use of VHSR satellite sensor data, relief agencies should be aware of the limitations of optical satellite images, in particular their reduced applicability during cloudy conditions.

Refugee Camp Mapping Using Very High Spatial Resolution Satellite Sensor Images

Short time‐intervals for complex response in unfamiliar areas cause refugee‐relief organisations to have a strong need for timely and up‐to‐date geographic information of the environment during humanitarian operations. The objective of this study is to provide an overview of relief organisations' need for detailed geographic information, and to assess the potential of the upcoming very high spatial resolution (VHSR) satellite sensors to provide this geographic information by mapping refugee camps and their environment on an operational basis. To demonstrate the use of VHSR satellite technology in relief operations, a pilot proof‐of‐concept study using a 1992 Russian KVR‐lOOO 2 m resolution panchromatic image of the six refugee camps in the Qala en Nahal settlement scheme in the Sudan was performed. The VHSR satellite sensor image was found to be useful for mapping refugee camp environmental parameters, such as land use, roads, rivers, and water sources, as well as camp infrastructure, including geographic positioning of camps, housing, and street network. The image also allowed for detailed camp area estimates. In addition, a statistically significant relationship between camp area and population was revealed for refugee camps included in this study. In operational use of VHSR satellite sensor data, relief agencies should be aware of the limitations of optical satellite images, in particular their reduced applicability during cloudy conditions.

Oiling the Palms: Restructuring of Settlement Schemes in Malaysia and the New International Trade Regulations

The FELDA resettlement program in Malaysia is internationally recognized as a success story in terms of cultivated area, number of settlers, and scope of vertical integration in the Malaysian palm oil industry. Since the mid-1980s, however, a series of reorganizations of work and property rights in the settlement schemes have taken place. It is argued here that the recent adjustments of FELDA are in accordance with the new rules for international regulation of agricultural production and trade in the WTO. International trade regulations increasingly influence the direction of socioeconomic and institutional struggles over rural reform programs in developing countries.

Acclimatizing the world: a history of the paradigmatic colonial science.

This paper examines the institutions, personages, and the theories that informed acclimatization activities in nineteenth-century France, England, and the two colonies of Algeria and Australia. Treating acclimatization as a scientific concept and activity the essay begins with the conditions of its emergence in Enlightenment France. Subsequent sections trace the growth of the acclimatization movement and its translation to the British context, and consider reasons for its decline in the last third of the nineteenth century. Efforts are made to show why many perceived acclimatization to be the paradigmatic colonial science with applications as diverse as agriculture, settlement schemes, field sports, and human health. Emphasis falls on the French and British cultural spheres, as these were the dual epicenters of both modern colonialism and organized acclimatization activity.

Payment System Settlement and Bank Incentives

In this article, we consider the relative merits of net versus gross settlement of interbank payments. Net settlement economizes on the costs of holding non-interest-bearing reserves, but increases moral hazard problems. The “put option” value of default under net settlement can also distort banks' investment incentives. Absent these distortions, net settlement dominates gross, although the optimal net settlement scheme may involve a positive probability of default.

Tropical forest fragmentation and greenhouse gas emissions

Rainforest fragments in central Amazonia have been found to experience a marked loss of above-ground biomass caused by sharply increased rates of tree mortality and damage near fragment margins. These findings suggest that fragmentation of tropical forests is likely to increase emissions of CO 2 and other greenhouse gases above and beyond that caused by deforestation per se. We estimated committed carbon emissions from deforestation and fragmentation in Amazonia, using three simulated models of landscape change: a `Rondônia scenario,' which mimicked settlement schemes of small farmers in the southern Amazon; a `Pará scenario,' which imitated large cattle ranches in the eastern Amazon; and a `random scenario,' in which forest tracts were cleared randomly. Estimates of carbon emissions for specific landscapes were from 0.3 to 42% too low, depending on the amount and spatial pattern of clearing, when based solely on deforestation. Because they created irregular habitat edges or many forest perforations which increased tree mortality, the Rondônia and random-clearing scenarios produced 2–5 times more fragmentation-induced carbon emissions than did the Pará scenario, for any given level of clearing. Using current estimates of forest conversion, our simulations suggest that committed carbon emissions from forest fragmentation alone will range from 3.0 to 15.6 million t/year in the Brazilian Amazon, and from 22 to 149 million t/year for tropical forests globally.

Playing chicken on the Nile? The implications of microdam development in the Ethiopian highlands and Egypt's New Valley Project

How Egypt and Ethiopia will defend or promote their interests in the Nile basin has recently become clearer. Egypt will again seek to create ‘facts on the ground’, this time a large new land reclamation and settlement scheme called the New Valley Project. Ethiopia too will create facts by proceeding with water resources development in the Blue Nile basin, including the construction of low‐cost microdams. If Egypt and Ethiopia pursue these two unilateral initiatives, they may find themselves on a collision course that both may have difficulty changing. The challenge facing the Nile riparian countries is to find a balance between the upstream countries' support for the principle of ‘equitable use’, and Egypt's and Sudan's support for the principle of ‘no appreciable harm’. Of all the riparian states, Egypt has the most to gain from the establishment of a basin‐wide framework for water resources development. It can ill afford a future in which upstream riparians take unilateral action with respect to water development projects. If Egypt would reduce its existing water use by 5 billion m3 and scale back or abandon the plans for the New Valley Project, there would be enough water available to strike a deal that would bring Ethiopia and other upstream riparians into the framework of a comprehensive Nile Waters Agreement.

The Welsh Patagonian Connection: A Neglected Chapter in Australian Immigration History

This article is an account of the history of Welsh migrants to Patagonia from 1865 to 1914, their motivations for emigrating, their experiences in Argentina, and the subsequent relocation of several hundred to the British dominions in the early twentieth century.The focus in the first part of the article is on the nature of those who went from Patagonia to Australia between 1910 and 1915 and the migration of a group of Australians to Paraguay in the 1890s. The second half of the article examines the experiences of the Welsh Patagonians in Australia, their relationships with federal and state governments in the light of the intense rivalry to procure them as settlers, and their involvement in two New South Wales Royal Commissions concerning the operations of the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area.The article concludes with a discussion on the degree to which a Welsh cultural heritage and identity has been preserved by these settlers in an assimilationist post‐Federation Australia. Not only is this a unique double migration experience, but it calls into question immigration encouragement policies and official advertising material during this period, a history which parallels other land settlement schemes of both the pre‐ and post‐war eras in Australia.

From Soldier to Peasant? The Land Settlement Scheme in East Sussex, 1919—1939

The English rural myth suggested that being close to the rhythms of nature, as opposed to being immersed in the irritations and pollution of city life, would create a settled, healthy, content, and loyal population. By the inter-war period the rural myth depicted an appealing image of self-sufficient, independent peasants living an uncomplicated lifestyle based on agricultural pursuits. In the aftermath of the First World War this picture of a golden countryside was popular and admired by social reformers, members of the government, and the general public. The coalition government incorporated this myth into its post-war social legislation and created in 1919 a land settlement scheme for newly demobilized soldiers aimed at establishing a new base of smallholding agricultural workers to populate the countryside. The myth may have been appealing, but it turned out to be economically not self-sustaining and politically it got little more than lip service. A myth cannot be attained through mere legislation. This article examines the land settlement scheme in East Sussex during the inter-war period and argues that even in an area seemingly well-suited to such a program, the scheme was neither practical nor successful in its attempt to put the myth into practice.

From Soldier to Peasant? The Land Settlement Scheme in East Sussex, 1919—1939

The English rural myth suggested that being close to the rhythms of nature, as opposed to being immersed in the irritations and pollution of city life, would create a settled, healthy, content, and loyal population. By the inter-war period the rural myth depicted an appealing image of self-sufficient, independent peasants living an uncomplicated lifestyle based on agricultural pursuits. In the aftermath of the First World War this picture of a golden countryside was popular and admired by social reformers, members of the government, and the general public. The coalition government incorporated this myth into its post-war social legislation and created in 1919 a land settlement scheme for newly demobilized soldiers aimed at establishing a new base of smallholding agricultural workers to populate the countryside. The myth may have been appealing, but it turned out to be economically not self-sustaining and politically it got little more than lip service. A myth cannot be attained through mere legislation. This article examines the land settlement scheme in East Sussex during the inter-war period and argues that even in an area seemingly well-suited to such a program, the scheme was neither practical nor successful in its attempt to put the myth into practice.

Queensland, the State of Development

The general consensus of historians is that Queensland was economically dependent on primary production, and that, compared to the southern states, its manufacturing sector was relatively underdeveloped and unsophisticated. Generally speaking, however, the discipline of economic history has not paid sufficient attention to Queensland history, nor has economic analysis in the general body of Queensland historiography been as rigorous and encompassing as it could be. Some of the main themes on economic development considered in Queensland historiography are the patterns of expansion and dominance of the pastoral industry, the growth in agricultural activity associated with closer settlement schemes, and from after the First World War, the institutionalised responses intended to give primary producers control over marketing their own commodities. This reflects the obvious rural bias that infused the political economy of the period. However, close empirical analysis of the economic processes and sectoral composition of Queensland's industrial base demonstrates that the economic significance of the secondary industry sector has been somewhat understated historiographically. Furthermore, the impact of internal and external political, financial and ideological forces that effectively marginalised early Labor government plans to encourage the development of secondary industries have not been adequately researched. To illustrate the context of this, an examination of the dominant patterns of government sponsored developmental policy needs first to be undertaken.

Spontaneous rural migration in southern Sri Lanka – the migrants and the determinants of out–migration

Sri Lanka is mainly a rural society with only 21.5% of its population living in urban areas. In contrast to the situation in most developing countries, the internal migration in Sri Lanka is predominantly intra-rural from the wet zone to the dry zone. The dry zone of Sri Lanka covers two-thirds of the country's area but contains only 43% of the total population (Department of Census & Statistics 1986). Since before independence in 1948 the government of Sri Lanka has implemented a policy of redistributing people from the wet zone to the dry zone. Thus, most of the rural migration is induced by the government. Migrants are granted land and certain implements to start cultivation in new settlement and irrigation schemes. These new settlements also attract a number of spontaneous migrants who encroach upon state land and often go into petty trading (Abeysekera 1984). However, in certain areas outside these schemes there is also considerable spontaneous in-migration by encroachers who cultivate chena (shifting cultivation). This may be regarded as a spontaneous frontier migration since they open up new land without any government assistance. On the contrary, some of these chena cultivators are fined because of their burning of primary forest. Very few studies have focused on this type of spontaneous rural migration, since most studies of migration in Sri Lanka tend to concentrate on general patterns of internal migration and migration-related policies (e.g. Abeysekera 1981, Gunawardena 1982a, Indraratna et al. 1983, Kearney & Miller 1984, Gunawardena 1985).

Emigration of Polish Jews to South Africa during the second Polish republic (1919–1939)

The term “the wandering Jew” could be properly referred to the situation of Polish Jews during the Second Polish Republic. Polish Jews constituted the largest separate ethnic group within overseas emigration from Poland during the years 1918–1939. They left Poland mainly for economic, and later for political reasons. The settlement schemes were supported and sponsored by Polish governmental agencies and Jewish societies in Poland and abroad. During the years 1918–1939 about several thousand Polish Jews emigrated to South Africa. A new immigration law implemented after 1930 had seriously reduced the influx of Polish Jews. That emigration had a very permanent character and included mainly members of the lower middle class. From the great variety of social, cultural, religious and professional activity of Polish Jews who settled in South Africa a pro-Polish attitude and activity was only evident in a tiny proportion of immigrants. The pro-Polish activity of Polish Jews was focused in Johannesburg (e.g. The Polish-Hebrew Benevolent Association) and in Cape Town (e.g. The Federation of Polish Jews in the Cape). An integrating role in that activity was played by Polish consular posts.

The resettlement of ex‐Indian army personnel in Canada, 1919–39

Prior to the First World War, a small but uncertain number of ex‐Indian Army personnel migrated and settled in Canada. These men, largely ex‐officers with private means, were part of a peaceful army of well‐educated ‘gentlemen emigrants’ who landed on Canadian shores between 1815 and 1914. When the Great War ended, the imperial and dominion governments launched a number of state‐assisted empire migration and soldier settlement schemes. Once again, British officials encouraged Indian Army personnel to participate in these arrangements. The Canadian government, despite enthusiastic support from junior ranking officers and some of its own officials, were uninterested. Indian Army personnel were just another example of the dreaded remittance man; and, it was therefore claimed, unsuited to the rigours of land settlement and pioneering. This article examines, within a brief comparative framework, the reasons why Indian Army migration to Canada between 1919 and 1939 was not only insignificant, but actively disco...

The Social and Financial Implications of Agricultural Farm Settlements in Nigeria

This paper reviews the potential role of agriculture in the Nigerian economy and also evaluates the agricultural sector's performance in order to put the subject in perspective and emphasize the need for reforms. The paper concludes that efforts made by successive governments in Nigeria to boost agriculture were futile. The authors explore the reasons for the failure of an agricultural settlement scheme in the defunct Western Region of Nigeria. Finally, a proposal is offered to renew with modifications the farm settlement scheme on a national scale to encourage agricultural production as well as arrest unemployment and the rural-urban migration in Nigeria.

The Social and Financial Implications of Agricultural Farm Settlements in Nigeria

AbstractThis paper reviews the potential role of agriculture in the Nigerian economy and also evaluates the agricultural sector's performance in order to put the subject in perspective and emphasize the need for reforms. The paper concludes that efforts made by successive governments in Nigeria to boost agriculture were futile. The authors explore the reasons for the failure of an agricultural settlement scheme in the defunct Western Region of Nigeria. Finally, a proposal is offered to renew with modifications the farm settlement scheme on a national scale to encourage agricultural production as well as arrest unemployment and the rural-urban migration in Nigeria.

Centralization, resource depletion, and coercive conservation among the Tyua of the Northeastern Kalahari

The colonial and post-colonial govemments of Botswana and Zimbabwe pursued policies toward their indigenous minority populations which included the establishment of settlement schemes, removals of people from national parks and game reserves, and the imposition of restrictions on hunting by local people. These polices had the effect of dispossessing indigenous groups and reducing their access to resources crucial to their adaptive success. The impacts of these polices are examined using data on Tyua Bushmen in the Nata river region of northem Botswana and western Zimbabwe. It demonstrates that the kinds of conservation and development programs employed resulted in greater resource depletion, increased poverty, and social stratification. There is evidence that resource conservation programs can sometimes do more hann than good.