THE MORATORIUM

Southland Times, Issue 19345, 10 September 1924, Page 5

THE MORATORIUM

EXTENSION RECOMMENDED COMMITTEE’S DECISION REPORT PRESENTED TO THE HOUSE. PRACTICALLY TWELVE MONTHS’ GRACE. (Per United Press Association.) WELLINGTON, September 9. In the House of Representatives to-day, Mr J. A. Nash, on behalf of the Public Accounts Committee, brought down the report on the Mortgages Final Extension Bill. PURPOSE OF THE RECOMMENDATION. Mr F. J. Rolleston (Timaru) explaining the amendments .made by the Committee, said that the date of the closing of the Moratorium had been extended from December 31 next to March 31, 1925. All applications for benefit under the Act must be lodged by that date, and the Court was given to July 31 to hear the motion, so that the Moratorium was virtually extended to July 31. By that time Parliament would have met again, and if there was any great measure of hardship being inflicted by the closing of the Moratorium, the matter could be considered by the House. At present there were no statistics that would assist them in arriving at any conclusion as to what amount of money was affected by the Moratorium, but when the House assembled next year this information would be available if the amendments made by the Committee were agreed to. Mr James McCombs pointed out that the Committee had made another important amendment, in that no party to any action in the Supreme Court should be ordered to pay the costs of any other party. SLIDING SCALE SUGGESTED. Mr J. A. Young thought it would be better if some arrangement could be made by which the mortgages could be made to fall due on some sort of sliding scale, instead of all on the one day. Mr G. W. Forbes thought that the amendment made by the Committee would greatly ease the position, compared with that set down in the Bill as introduced. THE PREMIER IN REPLY. Mr Massey agreed with this view, March being a more suitable date than December. He did not agree with the proposal to postpone the ending of the Moratorium until July, but in that he was in a minority. The continuance o£ the Moratorium was doing injury to the settlers, who required to borrow capital. People who were in a position to lend capital did not like what took place, as it looked like a breach of contract. He would like to dispel that idea, especially when arrangements had been made to provide £400,000 per month extra money for Advances to Settlers, which began on the first of this month. Continuing, Mr Massey said that it had been impossible to find more than a few persons who were affected by the Moratorium, but he feared if the matter ran into another session it would drag on indefinitely. If 200 or 300 people came demanding further extension, he could make a shrewd guess as to what Parliament would do. A LABOUR STATEMENT. Mr W. E. Parry said that he was pleased to find that the proposal submitted by the Labour Party had been taken up by the Premier. Mr Massey: What is that you say? (Laughter.) Mr W. E. Parry: In respect to £400,000 it is a consoling factor that as a result of the Labour Party’s suggestion, small farmers will derive a benefit. (Reform laughter.)

Mr Massey: Not a single word of it came from the Labour Party. Mr Parry: The amendments made in the Bill relieved the Government from an awkward position, for it was unable to put forward an intelligent suggestion. Mr Massey: We will not come to you for an intelligent suggestion.

THE MORTGAGE SYSTEM. Mr Holland approved of the amendment* made by the Committee, as they would enable the House to obtain information regarding the amount of money involved under the Moratorium. In the absence ol this information, the House had been working in the dark, and consequently, it had been very difficult to deal with the problem. When, however, the Moratorium was disposed of, there still remained the larger question of the mortgage system in the Dominion to be dealt with. The report was then adopted.