THE CROWN AS MORTGAGEE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 201, 26 August 1930, Page 6

THE CROWN AS MORTGAGEE.

The judgment delivered by Mr. Justice Blair in favour of a local body proceeding against the Crown as mortgagee in respect to rates on a soldier's farm is of great importance. The facts are that the State lent money to a soldier fanner, that the mortgagor abandoned his property, that the Crown resumed the land, and that arrears of rates grew to £341. The local rating authority did not ask the Crown to pay the rates, but it sought authority to pursue the ordinary remedies permitted by the Rating Act. The Crown contended in effect that land mortgaged to the Crown was not liable for rates. Owing to failure of soldier settlers a similar position has unfortunately arisen in other parts of New Zealand, and in taking this test case the Inglewood Borough Council was doing a public duty on behalf of local bodies generally. Mr. .Justice Blair's decision, that in such circumstances a local body has the right to exercise powers of sale for recovery of unpaid rates, is the commonsense and just view. Why should the Crown as mortgagee have any privileges denied to the ordinary mortgagee? Even under this judgment the Crown is privileged, for while the land can be attached, the Crown, unlike the private mortgagee, is not personally liable. It would be most unjust if the State could, by lending money on land all over the country, restrict local bodies in the collecting of unpaid rates. Of recent years the State has extended its operations in many directions, but it still clings to the policy of special privilege under the law. Mr. Justice Blair's decision is a salutary check to this dangerous policy.