NEW ZEALAND LAND VALUES.

Te Puke Times, 9 May 1924, Page 3

NEW ZEALAND LAND VALUES.

A SOUi H AFRICAN'S VIEWS. *‘You are ahead of South Africa iu respects, but you are woefully behind in others I came over here intending to buy land but the " prices some people have asked me have absolutely taken my breath away." . . .. The above is the opinion of Mr P S, Beveridge, a visitor from South Africa, who has come to New Zealand with the intention of acquiring a small holding suitable for fruitgrowing or poultry raising ~ , S , •*I had been told that {and was dear in New Zealand," the South African confided to a Dominion reporter, "but the price:-* I have been asked have absolutely staggered me. Coming from the Transvaal and the Orange Free State. whe v e land can be had in close proximity to the railway for 17s 6d to £1 per acre, it is a ' shock to me to be asked from £7O : >V to £IOO an acre for land here.'' Mr Beveridge explained that -*>. he had first tried the iiutt Valley where he found that £IOO per acre wa3 demanded Not being able to see any margin of profit in such an investment, he then ■ :.ji tried further afield, but discover r.i’frv ed that exactly ihe same price was asked at Levin. He next prr.- - ceeded to Foxton, where he found that he could ha accomodated at from £3O to £7O an acre, but discovered that the low-priced land consisted of sand dunes. . The visitor stated that he had heard glowing reports of the Nelson district in South Africa, and had come over with the in-tention-of settling there. Upon making enquiries however, he discovered the cost of getting ? produce, upon the Wellington market from Nelson, what with freights, port charges, and handling at both ends, took ail the profit out of the business, "I am in a bit of a quandary,” JK admitted the visitor "ss to where to find your best climate. The South Island people tell me it is 'r* ' down there, but North Islanders v tell me I will be f rozen to death If I go-South I intend to risk it, however, and have a good look * around the Oamuru I have already been to Oamaru, and thought the town was one of the prettiest I had come across in my travels. The place has a prosperous appearance." Mr Beveridge said he had had Considerable difficulty in getting anything like reliable data concerning the cost of poultry raising in New Zealand. He found that a great many of those engaged in the industry did not trouble to * keep any records. They just fed the fowls and sold the eggs, and did not give a thought to tomorC row. Those who had kept records appeared disinclined to hand the information on. "Another thing which absolutely astounded me," proceeded Mr Beveridge, “was the ox’ent t) which mortgaging is being carried on in this country, On almost every property I endeavoured to buy I found that there was one, *• two, and sometimes three mortgages. You seem to go in largely for this system of finance v Almost every property appears to be mortgaged. Now, in Ulster where I originally hail from, and .in South Africa, the people do not like the idea of mortgages They struggle along somehow, '* but do not like the idea of having , - a upon their back. % The mortgage mania appears to have run riot, in New Zealand