LAND VALUES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 103, 3 May 1930, Page 19

LAND VALUES.

The country is still suffering from inflated land values, which is one of the legacies left us by the Reform Government. There were many examples of tlie soaring of land values on the Hauraki Plains. A farm there was originally bought for 12/6 an acre and ring-fenced early in the war. It was sold for £20 an acre though no improvements were done to warrant this higher price. It eventually changed hands several times, and while still only half cleared and half drained was sold for £40 an acre. A settler would take up this land with a big mortgage always to meet. This swallows up the best part of his profits which should be spent in further improvements. This state of affairs of enormous and fictitious prices being paid for land was made possible under the administration of the Reform Government. It would pay the country handsomely if those farms owned by the Government, which have reverted back to it, should be reballoted for, previous owners to have first preference, and suitable unemployed second with a seven years' lease free. At any rate we do see the United party making an effort to secure cheap land for the landless, as they have already acquired 58,000 acres for closer settlement. TRUE VALUES.