MORTGAGORS’ RELIEF

Southland Times, Issue 21850, 29 October 1932, Page 5

MORTGAGORS’ RELIEF

INEFFECTIVE MEASURE. “FARMERS HOPELESS AND HELPLESS.” (From Our Parliamentary Reporter.) Wellington, October 28. The ineffectiveness of the Mortgagors Relief Act was emphasized by Mr W. A. Bodkin (C., Central Otago) during his speech in the Budget debate to-day. Emphasizing that the farming industry in New Zealand could never be placed on a healthy foundation until land values were substantially reduced Mr Bodkin declared that many farmers to-day were reaching a state of hopelessness and helplessness. “The Mortgagors Relief Act, which I admit I voted for, is getting us nowhere at all,” he said. “In fact, in many cases it is preventing the solution of the difficulty because first class lands under mortgage could have been divided up had it not been for the operation of the Act. Undoubtedly many of the mortgagees are prepared to subdivide land and so enable us to make some little progress towards rehabilitation and general reconstruction. All we have succeeded in doing has been to freeze the capital that is invested in farm lands without granting a great measure of relief.” Mr Bodkin said it would have been infinitely better if they had dealt with the farmers’ income, if .hey had made the fanners’ income available to pay working charges and had divided the surplus pro rata among the mortgagees. With a simple amendment to the Statute of Limitations that any principal invested on mortgage that did not within a period of six years earn six per cent, interest would be auto-

matically statute barred. Then at least they would have been working to a definite plan and would have made some progress in the general rehabilitation of the farming community. “I submit that all the Government can be expected to do is to enable the solvent man to protect his assets,” said Mr Bodkin. “Any form of State interference that postpones the process of liquidation of an insolvent business is in the worst interests of this country and will certainly tend to hold back a general policy of reconstruction.”