PDBCHASING LAND.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1888, 24 October 1913, Page 4

PDBCHASING LAND.

A BARGAIN REGRETTED. SELLER WANTS A BETTER PRICE. ' More than ah hour and a half was ■ spent in discussing tho report of thp Lands Committee upon tho petition of ' Mr. Matthew Henry, who asked that a revaluati&n should be made of a property of 1420 acres at Waitoa (near 'le Aroha), which ho had sold to tho ' Government, and that tho value fixed (by valuers appointed, one by tho Government and ono by Mr. Henry) should be tho purchase price instead of tho sum of £14,200 agreed upon and paid, The committee referred tho petition to tho Government for consideration. Mr. H. POLAND (Ohineinuri) said. 5that through tho unfortunate position of Mr. Henry,' brought about by tho Loan and Mercantile Company,' the State had obtained a property at far less than its real value. • Mr. Henry' . had written to tho Prime Minister oil tho subject, contending that, while failvalue should be received, fair vahio f should bo paid. The State had acquired ' the property for £14,200, and it was * being offered to selectors at £18,020. e Thus the State was making a profit of t £3820. i A membor: "What about roading? f Mr. Poland said that there was no J roading, The expenses incurred by tho ( State would be interest on the purchase- t price from the date of purchaso, tho i cost of the sub-divisional survey, and v the cost of poster plans and advortis- f ing. Thero wore 110 roads or drains to 1 be made.' t Mr.'Massey: Yos. t Mr. Pojand said that the only 6 drain being made on tho pro- c perty was being. mado by tho i Waitoa Land Drainage Board at its i own expenso. Tho average area of the 1: sections was 75 acres. Thero was no r doubt that tho settlers who were going i to take up this land were going to get 1: a cheap property in every case. It e would double its present value within e tho nest few years. He hoped that t the Go'vornmont would act upon the re- c port of the committee, and that Mr. j Henry would receiye the consideration p to which his years of work upon this o area entitled him. c Mr. D. 13UDDG (Kaiapoi) expressed i: the opinion that Mr. Henry had a n very strong claim to consideration. 1 Mr. Buddo estimated the net profit of t' the State to be £1700. a Mr. C. K. WILSON (Tnumarunui) t said that Tio thought that the price t that had been paid for the property was t not a reasonable one. It was a case in which a hardworking settler had been forced into the market by a powerful company. s e "Squeezing" Alleged. n Mr. G. WITTY (Riccarton) said that J on tho committee Mr. Anderson" had moved that no recommendation be J ma.de. This would have killed tho petition. He had moved that it be refer- 8 red to the Government for favourable J! consideration. Both his and Mr, Anderson's motion had been defeated. s Mr. Witty said that Mr. Henry had r written to the Prime Minister, asking ° that he be granted a loan to get out of ? tho clutches of the company. " Mr. Wilson: How could lie get a loan r ' ef £13,000? . » Mr. Witty: Never mind: ho had a right to try. He might have got somothing, and made other arrangements for tho rest. Mr. Pearce: Absurd. Mr. Witty said that the same com- ti pany as squeezed Mr. Henry had lent p the Government £50,000 at 3J per cent, p He maintained that tho Government si should not have taken that money, p Tho Commissioner of Crown Lands in s< Auckland had asked Mr. Ritchie, of s< the Land Purchase Board, to lot him d: offer £16,000 for the land, but permis- h: sion was refused. Ho contended that h the State should not exploit the indivi- di dual in this way. He continued that bi there were roads all round the pro- pi perty. sc Mr. Herries: Are they metalled? st Mr. Witty: Never mind whether they lii are metalled or not. (Laughter. - ) ai Where a local body had tha roads the h: Government Was not called upon to ro metal tlieni. He contended that Mr. pi Henry, under normal circumstances, at would have gone out with a handsome sc profit. re Sir. D. H. GUTHRIE (Oroua) said h: that the prayer of the petition was not, vs as Mr. Witty had inferred, that a sum of money should be given to tho late AI owner of this property. What was Bi asked was that a revaluation should be tli made, and that a bargain that had been th completed sliould bo broken. The mem- a ber for Kaiapoi had made the same mis- th take as Mr. Witty. The prayer of the petition was that valuers should be ap- en pointed by the Government and Mr. m< Henry, and that the value they agreed th upon "should be the price paid for the 0 (T property. There wm a difference of pr £3820 between A? amp,nut paid for

property and tho amount that would ue paid to the Government. As a fact, when nil expenses wore paid the Government would mako very littlo profit upon tho transaction. If tho petition had been for a, compassionate nllowanco tho position would iiavo been different. Mr. L. M. lsitt (Christclnirch North), Mr. G. J. Anderson (Alula lira), and Mr. J. Robertson (Otaki) continued tho discussion. Tho Prime Minister's Vlev/s. Tho PlllME MINISTER said that so far as some of tho speeches wero concerned it was a. great - pity that the issue of party polities had been introduced, and particularly by tho member for lliccarton. Mr. Witty hud referred to the fact that £200,000 had been lent by the Advances to Settlers Department to another Department. The statement tu a certain extent was correct. The Government borrowed for a period. , Tho Advances Department could not lend tho whole amount in ono month or it would have to go without for the rest of tho period. They could, not allow the money to lie idle, and, following tho practice'of previous Governments, tho money had been temporarily lout to another Department. It was an ordinary business transaction and was quite justified. Mr. Witty: And you borrowed another £50,000. Tho Prime Minister: Quito so. If the same opportunity offered, it would bo done again. Ho went on to state that when ho was approached by Mr. Henry, the latter suggested that the Stato might purchase tho property. Mr. Henry refused to entertain a proposal that the Stato should cut up and settle tho property and pay over to him the net proceeds, Mr. Massoy read the ftport- of tho clihirinau of tlie Land Purchase Board upon tho property. It was valued by Mr. John M'Call, u valuer of extensive ' experience, who was well acquainted with tho property, at £8 an acre. The Laud Purchase Board asked him (Mrj'Massey) for authority to offer £10' an acre, find eventually it was acquired at that price. It had been suggested that too much had been allowed for loading, but n considerable amount would bo required for roading. Theio wore aisu allowances for draining, surveying, advertising, administration, etc., as well as contingencies. He considered that when the land was purchased it Was a good thing both fof tho Stato and Mr. Henry. If claims were to bo made against the Government overy timo a property ivas purchased it would not bo possible for the Department to do any business at all. He did not wish to prejudice Mr. Henry's case, and, as a matter of fact, ho had a great deal of sympathy with him. Li'ks many r.?i ! other good settler he had got into financial difficulties, and he (Sir. Ma-ssey) was very sorry for him. He bolieved that tho Cabinet would do the right thing by Mr. Henry when the matter came before it. (Hear, hear.) i'n replying, said that Mr. Henry was a personal friend oi his, and he regretted that tho comiintteo Coulcl not seo its way to bring in a more favourable recommendation, "he matter had been fairly considered, apart from any question of party. The report was ordered to lie on the table, and to bo referred to the Government for consideration. THE TRAMWAYS BILL. At 5 p.m. tho Tramways Amendment Bill was road a third time and passed.