Rule Will Be Enforced

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 52, 4 June 1948, Page 5

Rule Will Be Enforced

REHAB. LAND MUST BE WELL-FARMED The “good husbandry” covenant in rehabilitation farm-loan mortgages will be enforced where it is considered necessary. This was decided at the monthly meeting of the Rehabilitation Board. .

“We should give our views on this the fullest publicity,” said the Minister of Rehabilitation, Mr Skinner. “When we place a man on the land, we do not want to find ourselves with another settlement job later on. We must also insist that the security is maintained. Deterioration in the productivity of land can certainly not be ignored.” Evidence of what could happen when “good husbandry” clauses in mortgages were not enforced was available in many districts throughout New Zealand where production worth millions of pounds had been lost and valuable assets, both private and Crown, had as a result been wasted. This had been brought about by many causes, including inefficient farming and over-capi-talisation. Such a situation must never be allowed with properties on which ex-servicemen had been established.

“The more I move about New Zealand, the more convinced I am that the farmers of this country must ensure that, no matter what the, tenure, whether leasehold or freehold, whether mortgaged or unencumbered, the land should be properly farmed,” said Mr Skinner. “The stage is being reached where public opinion, and that of the farming community in particular, will compel us to take action where ‘good husbandry’ is not being observed—and the sooner this happens the better.”