SOLDIER SETTLERS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22538, 1 October 1936, Page 13

SOLDIER SETTLERS

NEW ADMINISTRATION TRANSFER OF MORTGAGES MORE CORPORATION BUSINESS [flY TELEGRAPH—SPECIAL REPORTER] WELLINGTON, Wednesday An Order-in-Council has been issued authorising the transfer to the State Advances Corporation of the mortgages at present administered by the Lands and Survey Department under the provisions of the Discharged Soldiers' Settlement Act. An announcement on these lines was made to-night by the Minister of Finance, the Hon. W. Nash, who said this action was being taken as a further step in the co-ordination of State lending. Mr. Nash also reviewed other proposed changes in the business of the corporation. The Minister stated that to facilitate the transfer and to avoid inconvenience to mortgagors, it had been arranged that the soldier settlers' loans would be taken in the following sequence:— Wellington district, October 1, 1936; Canterbury district, November 1, 1930: Gisborne and Hawke's Bay, November 1, 1936; Taranaki, December 1, 1936; Auckland, February 1, 1937; Southland March 1, 1937; Otago, April 1, 1937; Marlborough, Nelson and Westland, May 1, 1937. Head Office Staff In* order to deal with the wider sphere of operations, alterations and additions to the personnel of the head office staff of the corporation had been arranged as follows: —Mr. F. F. Mitchell, previously secretary to the corporation has been appointed assistant manager; Mr. K. J. Caverhill, previously chief accountant, has been appointed secretary; Mr. It. Robertson, previously accountant, has been appointed chief accountant; Mj - . J. F. Quinn, who until recently held the position of Commissioner of Crown •Lands at Christchurch, has been appointed to act as supervisor of the discharged soldiers' settlement mortgages at the head office of the corporation. He has had wide experience o f the lending branch of the Lands and Survey Department and is himself a returned soldier.

Mr. V. E, Lough, who has been appointed chief property supervisor, lias had a long and varied experience in the Valuation Department in various parts of the Dominion. For some years ho held the position of district valuer at Christchurch. He will act as general supervisor of the new loan business in urban and suburban securities and will be responsible for the organisation and direction of valuers engaged in connection with town securities. Eight Branch Offices "As a preliminary step to the takrng over of the additional business," said the Minister, "the board of manage- j ment of the corporation lias arranged for the establishment of eight branch offices in the districts previously mentioned and the appointment of district field staffs to assist .in the administration of rural securities. The field staffs are required in the combined interests of the mortgagee and mortgagor. "It is the desire of the corporation that borrowers should where necessary have the assistance of experts in carrying on their farms, and tho officers appointed for that work are men _of experience, a number of them being taken over from the Lands and Survey Department. These officers' duties will involve tho promotion of business for the corporation, and they will constitute a necessary connecting link between the administration and its clients. Valuations will be comprehensive, with special regard to productive capacity, and advice to farmers will be tendered from the angle of the joint intciests of both parties. The ex-soldier mortgagors need have 110 fear that the change of control will react to their disadvantage." Future Extension The Minister said some mortgagors might consider that, owing to their liabilities being excessive, they were in danger of losing their properties, but the Mortgagors and Lessees Rehabilitation Bill now before Parliament would provide a meaijs of adjusting liabilities in cases where an arrangement acceptable to both parties could be agreed upon. Cases where even in the hands of an efficient farmer the property mortgaged woidd not provide a reasonable return would require special consideration. In addition to the transfer of the mortgage accounts from the Lands and Survey Department, the Minister added, it was proposed that at a later stage the State Advances Department should take control of the work at present under administration by the Rural Intermediate Credit Board. It was hoped that by the end of the present financial year some definite steps in that direction would be practicable. Concessions Available "As soon as the Discharged Soldiers Settlement mortgages have been transferred to the corporation," added Air. Nash, "they will be eligible for variation under the State Advances Corporation Act, which permits of the reduction of the rate of interest to the new lending rate of the corporation, which is at present 41s Sd per cent. 'Hie only condition attachable to this concession is that the borrower shall contribute 2 per cent to the general reserve fund of the corporation. "In suitable cases, an extension ot term will be offered to the borrowers. If a variation 011 those terms is not acceptable'to the borrower, there will be 110 change in„the conditions of lus loan, and the repayments will continue on the basis provided in the existing mortgage."