CLOSER SETTLEMENT

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 7978, 8 December 1911, Page 2

CLOSER SETTLEMENT

A BILL AND ITS BEOBABDE EFFECTS. OPINION AT HOME. FBOH OUP. SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT. LONDON, October 26. Commenting on the dci-erxuiuixuou of the New Zealand. Cj-overniu'oiit to (untroUacp a siK-ciai -bill into Parliament clcaugiica to iaciiuato uic acquisition oi tviuitovof areas may be requireq ior the purposes ol c-i-oocx sciAlemoiU, the London “i'iaiancxal Times' 1 remark} that assuming that the outcome of this decision will bo approximately the same as in Australia, several English com* panics repieadming over oi capital, will bo faced with the possibility ol compulsory expropriation by the Government of a portion of their property on terms to bo arranged either by mutual agreement or by arbitration. According to the ‘’Financial Times’' the representatives in London of New Zealand interests do not fear tho verdict of an impartial tribunal regarding the’ fairness of tho prices they are asking for land, and states that tin impartial do-, cision as to the value of land in variousparts of the Dominion will bo of, conbiderablo service to tho companies owning this close of security, for some of them are by no means certain regarding the figure at which their estates might be legitimately entered in the books. “As a rule,” says tho “Financial Times/'■ “directors have preferred to under-estimate property rather than tho other way, and it is possible that when the new Bill comes into operation surprises will await not a few shareholders. It is true that occasionally a tendency has been evinced to plaooVtho highest possible value upon land assets, but such instances are not only uncommon, but arc well known to those who make a study of tho market. ITu. prospect of expropriation will, of course, not be very much appreciated by shareholders as a whole. In view of ♦he record of recent events in Australia it. has, however, been a foregone conclusion for some time ■ past that a similar policy would sooner or later be adopted in New Zealand. The net result will bo to drive the pastoralists into fresh districts, while the areas over which their sheep and cattle have hitherto roamed will bo brought into cu’tivatkm. with the prospect hereafter of towns and cities springing up where a* present are few signs of cultivation. For immediate purposes, however, it is more to tho point to remember that.the connmlsorv purchase of land in New Zealand will mean the repayment of a considerable amount of capital, which will have lo 1c reinvested cbiewhcre. Some there are who regard South African land as likelv to prove a popular substitute for real estate at the Antipodes, and to a lisvtcd extent mav po*B;hlv be true, though there is a considerable difference between the two propositions.”