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Otago Daily Times, Issue 11934, 7 January 1901, Page 4

The latest development of the proceedings in connection with the compulsory acquisition by the Government of the Hatuma «estate, in Hawke's Bay, is cer- , tainly novel. Mr Purvis Russell, the owner of the property, is exceedingly loth to part with it. It is, for his purposes at any rate, a property of very considerable value. It consists of 26,966 acres. The Government, having decided to acquire it under the provisions of the"* Land for Settlements Act, offered £121,000 for it. Mr Russell placed, however, a very much higher valuation upon the property. His figure was £238,500— practically, double the Government's offer. The estimates of value were evidently calculated upon different bases, and this led virtually to a deadlock when the matter of fixing the amount which Mr Russell should receive for the estate came on for decision before the Compensation Court, consisting of Mr Justice Edwards and two assessors. A**special case was submitted to the Supreme Court, from which it was carried to the Court of Appeal, for a ruling on the question, and the judges in their decision laid it down as the principle which should be adopted in tlieso cases that' the owners of land that is compulsorily taken are entitled to be reimbursed their actual loss, which is to be liberally esti-, mated. The Compensation Court found a difficulty, even when a basis of valuation was prescribed for it, in settling the price of .the property. Twice, indeed, the court failed to arrive at a conclusion. A fresh court beiug constituted, the evidence of the witnesses for and against the Crown was giveii for the third time, and on this occasion the Chief Justice, who presided, was enabled to announce thai an award had been decided upon. Under itj terms Mr Russell was to be permitted td retain for his own use 585 acres of the best land in the estate, and he, was also to receive £300 towards the payment of his costs. For the remaining 26,391 acres the court granted the owner compensation at the rate of £5 7s 4d per acre, or £141,618 in all. Mr Russell is, however, dissatisfied with the award. The value to him of the property is, lie states, much greater than the amount the award represents, as lie would have a difficulty in getting an investment to return him the same income. It is very probable that this is the case. Sheep-farming on an extensive scale in Hawke's Bay is a profitable business, and even though the Government' might give him colonial securities in part payment for the property, as it (fid in the case of the purchase of the Waikakalri estate from Mr Allan M'Lean, bearing interest at the rate of 3J per cent., the return upon his investment would be unequal to that now received by him. A Government which is intent upon "bursting up" largo estates for the purposes of close settlement is unlikely, however, to be moved by this argument. Nor is there any great reason for supposing that it will be affected by Mr Russell's, contention that the estate is unsuitable for close settlement, and that, even at the price fixed by the court, the colony, ' if' it cuts up the property, ■will lose heavily. Competent authorities, other than the- owner of the property have said that the Hatuma estate is not of a character to be subdivided into small farms. 31 r Ormond, for example, speaking in the Upper House, declared that the estate was absolutely unsuitable for close settlement. "It was a beautiful sheep run," he said, "but it was only capable of being cut up into more sheep runs, perhaps eight or ten." And this note of warning has been frequently sounded in regard to the property, but the Government lias persistently disregarded it. Mr Russell has, however,' made a tempting offer. He has proposed to buy off the Government. If it will release him from the bargain he is prepared to pay over £60,000 to the •colony. And he suggests that other large landowners might, feel inclined to pay substantial sums to the State if they were guaranteed undisturbed possession of their property. The vista which the. proposal opens up is not an agreeable one. However helpful its adoption might be to the. revenue, the colony could not regard with satisfaction any step which miglu, become barely distinguishable from the blackmailing of landed proprietors.