LAWS RELATING TO PROPERTY RIGHTS
DUNEDIN, June 25. "The laws relating to property and property rights are in a constant state of change, and each year sees new laws or regulations plaeing further restrietions on owners of property," said Mr. G-. K. Ritchie, chairman of directors, addressing shareholders at the annual meeting of the Trustees, Executors and Agency Company. "Unfortunately not enough thought is given to the effect of many of these laws, and they end up by creating more abuses than they set out to cure. " Mr. Eitchie said that the Land Saies Act, which was desciibed in its preamble as "an Act to provide for the acquisition of land for the settlement of discharged servicemen," was in many cases defeating its own purposes by keeping off the market tarras aua houses which would otherWise be freely offered for sale because vendors were not prepared to accept the low valuaciou imposed by the Act.
No one wished to see uncontronca inflation in these markets, but legislation that was unjust to the vendor was bound to reduce saies to the absolute minimum. "Everyone is familiaT with the Testraint on the owner's right to possession of his own house, and there is undoubtedly justification for this in the present state of shortage," he said. Similar regulations were, however, recently applied to shops and oiiices, and the owner of sueh prfemises today could neither increase the rent without ofiicial approval, nor regain possession of his preinises exeept under certain stringent conditions. This was no doubt intended to protect tenants, _ but iu many cases tenants were exploiting the position by asking and getting exhorbitant goodwills for transfers of leases. This was a result that probably never entered the mind of the civil servant who framed the regulation. Most of these controls set ,-out to cure evils brought about by the unbalanced relationship of money and goods — in a word,'the evil of inflation. The imposition of one control after another was, however, not the sqlution— the only real cure was work and production. ■
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Chronicle (Levin), 27 June 1947, Page 3
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339LAWS RELATING TO PROPERTY RIGHTS Chronicle (Levin), 27 June 1947, Page 3
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