FARM MORTGAGES.

Auckland Star, Volume LII, Issue 303, 21 December 1921, Page 7

FARM MORTGAGES.

(To the Editor.l Sir,—l read Mr. Grace c letter in your edition of the 13th inst. with much satisfaction. He has stated plaJnly and forcibly the case of the dairy farmer, and the raoft urgent attention should •be given to. the matter of adjusting Uie inortgT!!Tos or interest on any land sola since the war. in many cases at 100 per font above ils productive value to-day. Some mortgagees will, no doubt assist the present occupiers to >carry on, tout others 'will seize the opportunity to take everything, and a Government arbitrator 13 absolutely necessary. In cases where a purchaser has ipaid down several . thousands, and there is still a consideri alble amount of unpaid money left on mortgage at 0 Or 7 per cent, it is impossible to carry on, and should the purchaser have other property, the vendor can 'force all this from him if the interest be unpaid, and eventually sell the farm. After reading 'Mr. Grace's letter, I turned over the page and read the article under the headiug of "An Astounding Proposal," the writer i>f which does not state the farmers' diliiculty as- being an annual one. and not for.once only, as in the case of tlio merchant, or in fact any lousiness at all. The farmers have cut their losses on stock like all business men. and da not want refunding in this matter as the article suggests they might equally well do -. but it is the yearly interest on the inflated land that no judicious buying dr hard work will overcome, and which will eventually 'bring the farmer to 'bankruptcy if the interest i>; not reduced to a paying level, in cases where it .is not possible to reduce the amount of the mortgagee, the interest thereon for the rest of the term f-hould ibe reduced to the equivalent Of (5 por cent on the latest (Jovernment valuation of the property, and at the expiration i;f tlio mortgage a fresh valuation made and interest arranged by the Government arbitrator, thus enabling the mortgagee to benefit by the recovery in prices. If some such arrangement is not made immediately to ena/ble both shee/p and dairy farmen; to carry on on the highpriced land, as Mr. Grace says, there will ba very serious trouble in the country, and this will reflect in every branch of industry in Xew Zealand without a doubt. Any arrangement such as the above would not affect a. genuine mortgage where the valuation was made r oy an authorised valuer lor the purpose ol a loan, but where the mortgage \ 3 really unpaid purchase money left on by the vendor to entice tht> purchaser to buy on his own valuation and statements as to the profits taken off the farm.—l am, etc, v ._ TAEHER.