THWARTING SPECULATION

Evening Star, Issue 22326, 30 April 1936, Page 5

THWARTING SPECULATION

SCHEME LINKED WITH LAND CONTROL t SOME ASTONISHING FARM FIGURES How the Government’s guaranteed price policy is inevitably Jinked up with control over land speculation was vividly described by the Minister of Finance (Mr Nash) when moving the second reading of the Primary Products Marketing Bill. This, he explained, was one part of the policy, which included credit control, reciprocal agreements with Britain and other countries, mortgages existing and future, and land values. “ Inevitably,” said the Minister, “unless these all work out a balanced economy with other sections of the community, then the farmers themselves will not reach the goal we have been striving for so long.” Later, in an hour’s speech, Mr Nash returned to this subject. He had 1 a friend, a land agent in New Plymouth, who, when he resided in that town, told him the facts relating to a farm at Eltham over the period 1922 and 1923. in that two years the farm changed hands six times. Two of the purchasers never went on it. During the period of the lift from low to peak prices its value lifted from £32. to £94 per acre, and legal fees, advertising, and land agents’ commission amounted to £lB 2s 3d an acre for the six transactions. Nobody in Parliament wanted that. “ Linked up inevitably with the procedure ip this Bill,” continued the Minister, “ must be something providing that land values, if they improve as the result of the activities of the Government, then those activities, if associated with that work, must come to the people and .not to the speculators.” “ Hear, hear,” from Labour Benches. The Minister admitted that it would be pretty difficult to perform this task of securing to the community the values that belonged to it. “ but we propose to make the attempt anyhow.” Describing the great* variations in dairy prices during three periods of 10 years each, the Minister stated that in 1911-21 production increased threefold, and the prices lifted, seven and a-half times, the producers actually getting 11 millions at the end of the decade, compared to one and a-half millions at the beginning, and because of this increase of three times in volume, land values went np by 13 millions. In the next decade 1921-31, production more than doubled, but the actual cash received was in 1931 about half a 'million less for double the quantity. Was it possible, he asked, that the most competent manager of a- producing agency could secure a decent balanced economy when faced with fluctuations of that kind ? Subsequent to 1929, till 1934, the inevitable reaction came. Land values receded by 35 millions, compared with 1921, most amazing figures, declared Mr Nash. Actually, in 1921, they produced 900,OOOcwt of butter, and got for it £ll,170,000; but last year for 2,701.321 cwt they got £200,000 less. Was it possible, with such uncertainty, to maintain a decent standard of living. Land values in counties unimproved had declined, he said, between 1929 and 1934 by 28 millions. Then we started to help the farmer out of his difficulties, and the number of applications received by the Mortgage Adjustment Commission’s all involving, he believed, many human tragedies, totalled 19,501. To March 31, to his office within six weeks, there came associated entirely with the Mortgage Corporation 258 letters from people who, even with mortgage adjustment, were not able to get out of their difficulties. The adjustments revealed an ineptitude and lack of vision nnparallelled in the history of the Dominion. Unless we saw our way through from production to the necessary consumption available to the community they must fail miserably.