THE MORATORIUM

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LVI, 14 August 1924, Page 2

THE MORATORIUM

FINAL EXTENSION BILL

LABOUR AMENDMENT

(From our Parliamentary Coirespondent)

WELLINGTON, This Day

Mr Holland has given notice of the following amendment to the Mortgages Fin;d Extension Bill, that clatise sbo deleted and the following new claust lie substituted thol'efor (1) in uespect of any mortgage to which this Act applies where a discharge has not been effected or a renewal has not been agreed to as between the mortgagee and the mortgagor, a revaluation ol lands and securities will be made with >thc object of ascertaining the procluc five values of such lands and securities and the taking over of such mortgages by the State on a basis of real values. Valuations shall be conducted by tlie District Valuation Board, • each such board shall be constituted of one representative appointed by the mortgagees, one representative appointed by the* mortgagors in the Land District in which the land is situated and three representatives (including the chairman) appointed by the Government. (2) For the.purpose of financing transfers of mortgages from present holders to tlie State, the Minister for ‘Finance is hereby author-' ised to raise whatever amounts may be deemed to bo necessary, provided that not more than £6,000,000 shall be rais-. ctl in any one year. (3) The aggregate value of undischarged mortgages hot taken over by the-State shall he-ascer-tained in the manner hereinbefore provided and the .moratorium shall be extended for whatever period may be necessary to enable tlie State to take oyer, such mortgages at a rate not exceeding £6,000.000 per annum. (4) -Any inert. gagee being a practical fanner, may ap ■peal to a Land Court, which Court shall be empowered to grant- jhim possession provided that he shall satisfy the Court t hat he bona fide intends to occupy and work the land and also provided that the mortgagor is allowed equitable consideration on account of deposit andother payments (not including interest) ' made in respect of. the-mortgage .arid also for assessable ' improvements made during his occupancy. Such Land -Court ! shall consist of one representative nomj lnated by the mortgagees and one re- : j nominated by the. inortj gagors in the Land 'District in -which the j land is situated and a .Judge of the ,Su--1 preinc Court who shall be chairman. (5) | Wher> a mortgage remains undischarged, j and has not been renewed or transferred to the State, the mortgagor shall conI tinue in possession on payment- of a irate of interest not exceeding 6 per cent, on the value of the mortgage in reduced ratio to the capital value arrived, at by the district valuation, hoard, provided that the mortgagee may appeal to the Land Court for possession as provided for in sub-section 4 and further provided that- at any time the mortgage* may be taken over by the State.

• In moving me second reading of the Bill on Tuesday evening last the Prime Minister, Hon.‘W. F. Massey, said that the moratorium was agreed to in. 1914 as a means of preventing hardship to mortgagors. In the first instance it was an experiment, but subsequent amend-ments-were passed, until, in 1921 trouble occurred in regard to deposits. Some depositors became seriously uneasy, and the law was applied to deposits as well as mortgages. This was lifted in 1923, and now It was proposed to raise the moratorium, as relating to mortgages, as from the end of this year. . The only difficulty he anticipated might occur in cases where the mortgage was equal to

the value of tiie property. Then there was , the question of local bodies • competing with the farmer. There was a number of people who. for some reason or other —he thought it foolish on their part—were never tired of going up and down the country telling the people that thousands of farmers were walking off their farms. That statement was very grossly exaggerated. A Labour member: “There are quite a number of them.” Mr Massey said be bail been right through the country in tile last six months, and he had had every opportunity to see what was happening. There was every sign of prosperity in Southland. In Otago no farmers were walking off their holdings, and the same applied in Canterbury, where things were quite as gojd as usual. There was difficulty on itlie West Coast on account of the wretched water fern, which checked the growth of grass. Most of the instances that had occurred in Wellington affected returned soldiers, but he believed the majority of these would pull

through. .Many farmers in the Wellington province had experienced bad times, but the bulk of them were now doing quite well, especially the sheepfarmers. Things were also favourable in Hawces Bay. .... f At this stage interjections arose lrom tho Liberal and Labour benches, and Air Massey referred to remarks that bad been made by members as to the number of men leaving their farms. “I want to check these people, who are continually crying stinking fish, de-

clared the Prime Minister with emphasis. He appealed to members to make the best of >tlie circumstances, and to make a special effort so that relief .could be given to those who so much needed it. If that was done he was confident most of the farmers would puff through. Ho knew there was a .'great deal of difficulty in Taranaki, which province was still suffering as a result o 1 the boom. Land had been bought too deai.'lv, and the farmers were having difficulty in making ends meet. In the Waikato many pathetic cases of hardship. had occurred, , owing to far too 5 much, being paid for land, and f.rmers bad had millstones hung around tear necks.' But. the point was that iticre were.'pot thousands affected, as seme people made out, and it was very unfair to say so, and might do a great deal I of harm. . I If we -happened to have another sea- i son or two, such as the present, qr the J last season, most of the men would ! e I ■qll right. Money at present was scarce | in the Dominion, but it was very much g dearer in Australia. In proof of tins he head from a circular relating to the position in the Commonwealth. He agreed with one statement in the document that the trouble was largely due to excessive borrowing by local bodies.

Until the financial position improved in Australia he did not expect it would mi. prove "here, and the best .we could say was That we were not as badly off as Australia was. The prospects in the Commonwealth were encouraging. Mr Massey explained the proposal, whereby relief couid be given by a mortgagor appearing before a Judge of the Supreme Court. Tho main question was whether the -present law was to be extended to, some extent, or concluded at the end of the year. ... - The Leader of the Opposition (Mr 1. M. Wilford) reminded the Prime Minister of a suggestion the speaker had made when the last amending Hill .was before the House that a Royal Commission should bo set up to take ev.i- . deneo during the recess,' so as to get a

fair and unbiased perception of the real . state of things in' the farming community in regard to overdue mortgages aad. the. abiount of money required to meet the current-demands of the producers. Mr Massey had replied that he would have the matter watched very carefully, and' that, if necessary,' .a Commission would be appointed, though he realised there would do extreme difficulty in getting the information required. The Commission had not been set up, said Mr Wilford, with the result that the Prime Minister could not tell -the House the effect as at, 31st December next, and the amount of money involved. The Prime Minister hail encouraged the farmers by liis statement that the Advances Department would meet the state of |

things that existed last year, but the Department bad failed to meet the requirements of the people. Mr Wilfqrd referred'.to the proposal for appearance before the Supreme Court as silly, because of the expense involved in farmers travelling from outback districts to the nearest Supreme 'Court, while the mortgagees were already in the town. The proposals in the Bill would in no way; solve the trouble, ■ arid when the moratorium was lifted rates of interest for land would jump to 8,9, 10, 11, 12, ( and as much as IS per cent. livery financial institution would be let loose ,on the borrowers of the country. He had , had nothing hut requests to oppose the lifting of the moratorium until money became available from elsewhere. Every big financial institution would welcome the passing of the Bill. The, farmers would not he relieved by allowing the g expiration of the present • law as, proposed. It would result in tragedies that they did; not want to see-. He suggested

that; the ’Prime Minister should, bring down an amendment extending the operation of. the moratorium for eighteen months, and adding a clause to meet the point relating to the statute of limitations. As stated yesterday he .moved as an amendment that the Bill he postponed -for! eighteen months, and that the existing law should he extended for that period., * * ... ' ' The division on Mr Wilfoi'd s amendment was as follows: ■ Bor (25): Bartram, Corrigan, Forbes, Eraser, Holland, Jordan, Langstone, Lee, Lye, MTlvride, M‘Kay, M'Keen, Masters, Monteith, Munro, Murdoch, O’Brien, Parry, Poland, Hansonf, Savage', Sidey,''Smith,. Sullivan/Wilford. . Against (35): Anderson,-Atiiiore, Bell,’ Bitcfiener, Bollard, Coates, J. M‘C. Dickson, J.: S., Dickson, Eield, Girling,. Glenn, Outline, Hanan, Hums, Hockly, Hhdson/ Hunter,. Linklater. Lysnar, M'Leod, Macpiillan, Massey, Nash Nosworthy, Parr, Pomare, Potter, Sir R. H. Rhodes. J. C. Rolleston, Stewart, Sykes,

Uru, Young. For: Horn, Veitch, *Ngata, iMacphersoi./de la Perrelle, Buddo, Thomson, Edie. , „ Against: Luke, Hearken, Henare, \VilHams, Isitt, E. J. Rolleston, 1. . Rhodes, Wright.'