PROPERTY

Dominion, Volume 19, Issue 296, 10 September 1926, Page 5

PROPERTY

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"The past year has seen, progress towards the completibn of, CT* duties imposed upon the Public Trwtee under th© War Regulations. Treaty of Peace Order, 1920. and it* amendments, and the Treaty of (Austria and Hungary) Order, 193% states the Public Trustee (Mr. J. VRMacdonald) in his annual report to Parliament. ll i- - “I have previously drawn attention, ■ he states, the fact that the dntfe* fall principally under the following headings- (1) The settlement under the Clearing Office procedure established in term* of Article 296 of the Treaty of Versailles of pre-war debts between British nationals resident in New Zealand and German nationals resident in Germany. To this should be added the settlement of a small number of claims by New Zealand nationals against the German Government in respect of their property in Germany subjected during the war to exceptional war measures. (2) The control and liquidation of the in New Zealand of .nationals of all the ■ ex-enemy Powers with the exception of Turkey. “With regard to the duties, comprised under the latter heading, it is interesting to note that the net proceeds of the ex-enemy property retained and liquidated in New Zealand by the Public Trustee as Custodian of Enemy Property, disregarding certain claims by New Zealand nationals chargeable thereon, amounted on March 31 last to .£238.250. Further, up to that date the amounts collected in pursuance of the War Regulations and of the Treaty of Peace Orders previously mentioned which I have been authorised and directed to release to persons whose property is not liable to retention under the relative peace treaties, or to ex-enemy persons in necessitous circumstances by way of compassionate release, or to other persons for sufficient reasons, totalled £llB,llO, this total not including property handed over in kind. "The progress made towards completion of the work is indicated by the fact that the cash funds nd property remaining to be disposed of amount only to £24,646 and £28,137 (approximately). In each of the cases comprised under these headings the finalisation of the ’individual matters depends upon circumstances beyond the Public Trustee’s control. “With regard to the settlement of claims falling within the Clearing Office procedure or arising otherwise out of the provisions of the relative peace treaties, I referred in my last report to the absence of any compulsory procedure for securing the final disposal of claims of the former category, but stated that a proposal was then under consideration to confer upon ■ Clearing Offices the right finally to reject claims lodged by the opposing Clearing Office, making it necessary for a claimant to prosecute the claim so rejected before the Anglo-German Mixed. Arbitral Tribunal within a limited time, or in default to forgo it. These proposals were duly adopted and took effect es from May 1, 1925. The period allowed after final rejection for referring a claim to tbe„ Mixed Arbitral Tribunal was fixed at nine months, and consequently the operation of these provisions is not reflected to any marked extent in the statistics for the past year given hereunder. It is anticipated, however, that as a result of the procedure so made available the bulk of the outstanding claims will be finalised during the current year. "Some idea of the progress made to date in regard to claims dealt with by the New Zealand Clearing Office may be gained when it is stated that 216 claims, totalling .£53,034, were lodged bv British nationals resident in New Zealand against German nationals under the provisions of Article 296 of the Treaty of Versailles, and of these claims only fourteen, totalling .£BO3l. still remain unsettled. Of the outstanding claims, six. totalling ,£3024. have been rejected by the German Clearing Office under the procedure referred to previously. Tinder the same article of the treaty, the German Clearing Office has forwarded to the New Zealand Clearing Office for investigation and settlement 1474 claims, totalling £210.975, lodged by German nationals against British nationals resident in New Zealand: but only 283 claims, totalling £16.762, were still outstanding on March 31 last. Furthermore, of these outstanding claims, 240, totalling £7944. had been finally rejected, by this office. As a result, only 43 claims of .this description, totalling £BBl7, are still under active consideration. "The only other class of claim dealt with by the New Zealand. Clearing Office comprises claims by British nationals resident in New Zealand against the German Government under the provisions of Article 297 of the Treaty of Versailles, relating chiefly to claims in respect of property in Germany owned by British subjects resident in New Zealand and subjected by the German authorities during the war to exceptional war measures. Thirteen claims of this description, totalling £52.7.31, were lodged for settlement, and of them only two claims amounting to £2161. remained unsettled on March 31. Tn the case of one claim, an offer of settlement made by the German authorities has been acceptor] bv the claimant, and the claim will be finally settled when a. formal award bv the Anglo-German Mixed Arbitral Tribunal is secured giving effect to the settlement agreed upon. Tn regard to the other claim, an offer, of settlement hns been accepted provisionally." ... , ~ As in previous years, a separate report covering the work done during the rear ended March 31. 1926, will he presented to Parliament bv the AttornevGeneral, under whose direction the Fob- ! He Trustee acts in these matters.