LIVE STOCK SLUMP

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVII, Issue 10868, 7 April 1921, Page 3

LIVE STOCK SLUMP

EFFECT ON LAND VALUES REDUCTION FORECASTED BY EXPERT. THE SOLDIER SETTLER. Some interesting information was yesterday obtained by a “New Zealand Times” reporter in respect to the sensational slump that has occurred in the price of live stock, the effect it is having on the Dominion’s export trade, and the possible effect it may have on land values in the future. A well-known land agent expressed the opinion that before many months were past there would be a substantial reduction in land values- This he con-

sidered would be to the benefit of the Dominion as a whole and “would facilitate rather than retard land settlement. PRICE OF LAND FORCED UP. “The position is this,” he explained. “For some considerable time, in fact ever since the Government adopted the very unwise policy of purchasing improved estates at what I consider to he extremely high values, the price of land has been forced up. "When the Large sums of loan money were voted for land settlement and to assist the returned man on the land, a land boom was created throughout the country and various estates -of which I need not give you details, were offered to the Government. The Land Purchase Board unfortunately approved of the deals and properties were taken over at prices which under present conditions must impose a veryhard task upon the unfortunate holders. “When cattle were selling at very high prices and aheep were bringing from £2 to £3 per head, with high prices for butter and all dairy produce,” he continued, “the position was quite satisfactory, but now the unexpected has happened; the bottom has fallen out of the Home market, and the prices of meat—beef and lamb particularly—have dropped enormously. Our produce at Home is gradually falling in value, while accumulated stocks cannot in any way relieve the position, because if they are pushed on to the market the price wfll still further drop. THE WOOL PROBLEM. “The same remark applies to wool. There has been a conservation of stocks for some time, with the result that large prices were realised in Hie market, and now that the inevitable slump bias come it would only be accentuated if the surplus stories were put on the market. It is to obviate this that important conferences are being held, at which _ I am glad to notice the Dominion is to be represented. “Then again,” he continued, “there has been in my opinion a purely fictitious value placed on wool. The prices realised during the war could not by any moms be ■ taken as indicative of : the true value of the wool products, and the withholding of a large pro portion of the supplies lifted the price up to a fictitious figure. The result was that the price for woollen materials soared and enabled the big manufacturers in England and America to reap huge profits. The bottom has fallen out of the wool market and as a corollary the price of materials must in time show a proportionate drop. We are in for a parlous time >in New Zealand, hut there is no 00, , casion to he pessimistic. The slump bad to come and this is but the pre- ; cursor of a general readjustment throughout the whole world.’’ THE SoTdTeR FARMER. A HOPEFUL VIEW. A returned soldier with whom the “Times” reporter chatted stated that his position was not an enviable one. I He had taken, up land under the Government repatriation and land for set- | tlement scheme and was doing all right while high prices ruled. His outlook for the winter, however, was by no means hopeful. “However,” he remarked, “we have the assurance of the Government- that they will not harrass us in any way, and that they are prepared to tide ua over the hard period of the year. Personally, I am perfectly satisfied with the area of land—about 500 acres —I am now occupying, _ and under ordinary conditions t think I would have come out well, though I have only been on the land for 2} years. But 1 do think that in many cases land is capitalised at too high a value, which places too heavy a burden upon a number of the hard working and deserving settlers who did not have the experience that the majority of settlers possessed. “If we could obtain some unimproved laud at a cheap rate, and if assistance were given to us in burning, stumping, and grassing, I believe that not only would valuable help be given to us, hut that a fairly large proportion of land would be brought into cultivation.”