MORTGAGES EXTENSION.

Northern Advocate, 27 August 1919, Page 1

MORTGAGES EXTENSION.

INTENTION OF GOVERNMENT,

DEPUTATION TO SIR FRANCIS BELL.

A deputation from the' Wellington Chamber of Commereeand"the Society of Accountants waited upon the Attorney-General, Sir Francis Bed. for the purpose of making certa'n suggestions with reference to the expiration of the Mortgages Extension Act. Mr Carr. the chief spokesman, referred to the Order-in-Council recently issued fixing August 31st next as. the date of expiry of the Act. He urged that great inconvenience was likely to result if all the mortgages expired on the same day, and said that, after mature consideration, the following resolution hxd .been passed by the Wellington Chamber of Commerce and the Society of Accountants:— That it be a recommendation to the Government that mortgages which were overdue on August 4th, 1914, be deemed to expire immediately, and that mortgages, which were entered into before August 4th, 1914.. and maturing between — August Ist. 1914, and December 31st, 1915, 'be deemed to mature on their respective dates in 1920; January Ist, 1916. and December 31st 1917. be deemed to mature on their respective dates in 1921; and January Ist, 1918, and August 31st, 1919, be deemed to mature on their respective dates in 1922. That where under mortgages or agreements for sale and purchase repayments of principal were required to be made, the first of such payments should bi? deemed to become payable on October Ist. 1919, and subsequent instalments should be deemed to become due at the intervals provided in the original mortgage or agreement for sale and purchase, but dating from October Ist, 1919; and that where there are leases of land including an option to peictiase, and the date of the exercising of such option has expired, September 30th, 1919, be deemed the dateupon which the right to exercise such option shall expire. That mortgagees have the right to "cESc'ge a" minimum rare of~iriWes£ bT 6 per cent on any mortgages, claiming protection under the above recommendation; and that mortgagees be given the further right to chargo penal rate of interest where interest is not paid on due date. THE MINISTER'S REPLY. ,In reply. Sir Francis Bell stated that before August 31st the Government proposed to pass the Expiring Laws Continuance Act continuing the Mortgages Extension Act for another year. Then, later in the session, of course, an Act would be passed to take the place of that measure. In the Mortgages Extension Act it was provided that the measure should expire within a certain time after the termination of the war. That period the Government had power to extend, and the Order-in-Council referred to had been issued simply so that there cpuld be no question as to the Mortgages Extension Act being in force on August 31st, 1919. "UNJUST AND TOO JUST." He said that the deputation proposed a sliding-scale similar in principle to that in the Victorian Act. Which, however, made all mortgage 3 expire in 1920. But he did not consider a sliding-scale either necessary or desirable. He thought that the present provision that mortgages could only be called up by reference to the Supreme Court met the case. It was. in his opinion, all nonsense to suggest that there was any difficulty in dealing with the Supreme Court in regard to such matters. He thought that the New Zealand Act did not now prohibit the penal rate of interest. It was not probable that all mortgages would fall out on the same day. Speaking generally, all mortgages in force in 1914 had expired and had been extended. The question of a sliding-scale had been very carefully considered by him, and he was of opinion that it would not operate justly. Personally, he thought there was no better method than that of continuing the mortgages unless the Supreme Court gave the mortgagees authority to exercise their powers to call up the amounts. As to fixing the rate of interest, that was a question which he was not prepared to answer at the moment. Generally speaking, it was true that money could be got at 6 per cent; hut. for the Government to say that the ruling rate was 0 per cent would be to define that as the rate for firstclass securities, and he viewed such a suggestion with grave apprehenjion. If the extension of mortgages was provided for by statute, then what was a fair rate of interest in each "Foresight is the Weapon of the Wise." Stanus. And in winter, what a most fortunate weapon it is. These cold, chilly days, when wet through from head to toe is more than a mere occasional occurrence, if foresight has induced you to have on your shelf a bottle of Baxter's Lung Preserver, you are pr of against the "bogeys 01 winter." A cold can't penetrate the system protected by "Baxter's." It is grand, unequalled, paramount, as a remedy. Order it to-day. 2/6 buys big bob '' tie at Chemist or Store.

case would be decided by the court, unless the parties could agree. In practically every instance so far the parties had agreed, because they knew there was authority behind them if they did not. That had been the position for the past four years. He was unable to agree that the system was unsatisfactory. The New Zealand Act had been copied in the Australian States and even at Home. He did not want them to arrive at the idea that the sliding-scale and fixing the rate of interest was a fair method of dealing with the matter. Such a method was very likely to be unjust to some and too just to others. The deputation seemed to want to abandon the Supreme Court system. He did not because he believed that the Supreme Court system was the fairest.