MORTGAGE PLAN

Evening Post, Issue 52, 2 March 1935, Page 10

MORTGAGE PLAN

BILL IN COMMITTEE

FURTHER PROGRESS

With thirty-two of the most contentious clauses of the Mortgage Corporation Bill disposed of, the House of Representatives has now adjourned until Tuesday afternoon., Sitting until 5.45 p.m. yesterday, the House in Committee adopted 20 clauses for the day'! deliberations, the sections passed comprising those dealing with the management of the Corporation and its principal business. Sixteen clauses and a ten-page schedule remain for consideration when the House resumes. The outstanding passages relate to the reserve fund, transfer of securities, rural intermediate credit, and financial and miscellaneous provisions. An otherwise colourless debate was enlivened by several sharp passages at arms arising out of insinuations that political influence had been brought to bear in the administration of the mortgagors' relief legislation. After the "Evening Post" went to press yesterday further consideration was given to an amendment moved by, the Leader of the Opposition (Mr. M. J. Savage) designed to ensure that all mortgagors had the right of receiving advances up to1 four-fifths of the value of the security and not confining the concession to farmer mortgagors. The proposal was ruled out on the ground that it involved an appropriation, and the clause in its original form was agreed to. An amendment by Mr. W. A. Veitch (Independent, Wanganui) to exclude the personal covenant from securities was lost on the voices. A similar fate was met by an amendment moved by Mr. H. G. R. Mason, (Labour, Auckland Suburbs) to limit the cost of administration Of the Corporation to £ per cent ! The Committee also negatived a suggestion by Mr. W. A. Wilkinson (Independent, Egmont) that mortgagors, should be allowed to repay loans in cash, but endorsed the Minister's amendment, previously published, deal- j ing with repayment in the securities of the Corporation. NOT UNDERSTOOD. There was some laughter wheni machinery amendments were beinit read into the clause providing ton priority of Corporation mortgages. "They are amendments of a mach-, inery nature drafted by the district land registrar, and I don't pretend to understand them a bit," the Minister confessed, when the Leader oX the Opposition sought an explanation ol the alterations. - : Mr. Savage: Neither do I. The Minister: I must accept them as being an improvement, on the clause as it stands. If you ask me what they, all mean, I must say I cannot tell you, Mr. D. G. Sullivan (Labour, Avon)! You are honest, anyway. The Committee let it go at that. An amendment by Mr. W. Nasli (Labour, Hutt) to ensure that the receipt as well as the charging of procuration fees was made illegal was accepted by the Minister, who, however, indicated that acceptance was subject to approval by the law draftsman., "If the law draftsman says '0.X.,' I! shall not object," the Minister said. ■