GOVERNMEMT LAND VALLATIONS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2785, 31 July 1907, Page 41

GOVERNMEMT LAND VALLATIONS.

PROPOSED BASIS FOR COMPULSORY PURCHASE. A CONTENTIOUS CLAUSE. (Fitoir Ottb Owk Cobsxspondxnt.J WELLINGTON, July 29. One important feature of the new land proposals of the Government which seemed to have escaped the notice that it deserves is that contained in the clauses relating to the compulsory talcing of lands under the Land for Settlements Act. Section 66 of the Land Laws Amendment Bill provides that "when any land is taken compulsorily under the provisions of the principal act the T alue thereof for the purpose of assessing compensation shall be the capital value of that land as assessed in the valuation roll in force under the provisions of " The Government Valuation of Land Act, I£S6, at the time when the. requisition is gazetted for the taking of that land, provided that if ths owner proves that the value of the land so to be taken has increased since the date of the eaid valuation, the amount of such increase shall be added to the said valuation." The following sub-clause provides that there shall be payable by way of compensation, jn addition to the Goverament assessment, a sum ranging from <!£ per cent, to 10 per cent, of such valuation, the 10 per cent, being payable when the amount of the asesssmeat does not exceed £25,000. At present disputes as to the values of estates proposed to be taken under the Land for Settlements Act are settled by arbitration, and it will thus be seen that a very important departure the existing system is contemplated. The matter was referred to by Mr Lang in the course of his remarks on the Imprest Supply Bill. He referred to the clause Quoted above, and said that from that it seemed that the present unsatisfactory system of valuation was to be the basis of purchase subject, of course, to objection before the Assessment Court, as at present. The present tendency, he said, wae to make the valuations high, as that meant moro revenue to the Government, the assessmente at present "being only for taxation and rating purposes. The new proposal, however, contemplated that the assessment should be used for the purpose of the compulsory purchase of estates, and if the proposals were carried it was quite possible that the assessments, would be made low instead of high. The owners would be compelled to sell to the Governmnet at these low assessments plus the 2£ to 10 per cent, according to the value of the property. He claimed that such a proposal was "most unfair. As an instance of the unreliable nature of many of the Government valuations, he referred to a case that had come under his notice. The property, a leasehold one in the first place, was assessed at £3500 as the value of the lessees interest. The lessee objected, and stated that he was willing to part with his interest for £750. The valuation was then reduced to £2135. The lessee etill objected, and in the end the valuation was reduced to £1414. The 'essee subsequently sold his interest in the property for £375. When such mistakes as these were possible at present, what reason, asked Mr Lang, waa there to suppose tha* it would not be oossible for mistakes to be made the other W*v and for the assessments to be made ac low as they had been made high in thm case. At present there was no doubt that *he unimprowd values placed upon property were too high, and it was significant, he added, that the Valuation Department s valuations would not be accepted by the Advances to Settlers Department for lending purposes. Even if a valuation had been made only a week before an application for a loan was received, the Advances to Settlers Department insisted on having a fresh valuation made by ite own valuers. In the course of the same debate Mr Massey referred to a statement made by Mr Allen Bell at the Provincial Farmers' Union Conference at Auckland in May last. It was stated by Mr Bell that he had been informed by a Government valuer in the Auckland district that his (the valuer's) valuations had been returned to him from the Valuation Department with instruction to revise them by putting up the unimproved values. Since the statement wae made considerable correspondence on the subject had passed between Mr Bell and the Valuer- general, and the latter was asked by Mr Bell to afford him an opportunity of proving his statement before a xmvpeteiit tribunal. Mr Massey said that he would now repeat this challenge to the Minister in charge of the department. No reply was made by the Minister to Mr Massery'e remarks.