MR. MALLABY-DEELEY

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1974, 3 February 1914, Page 5

MR. MALLABY-DEELEY

LONDON'S NEW HERO. THE NEW OWNER OF COVENT GARDEN. Each year brings in London its hero in.finance. In 1912 it was Mr. Birch Crisp, who arranged the famous £6,000,000 loan for China. The year before the. honours wero with Mr. Speyer, the German who has made London his honio and Drought about tho combine of tho great city's traffic. Now has come Mr. Mallaby-Deeley,. the Tory M.P, for the Harrow division of Middlesex, who has paM th© Duke of Bedford £3,000,000 for 19 acres lying round about Covont Garden, and. embracing not only the historic markets, but also Covent Garden and Dhiry Lano' Theatres and a number of other buildings of scarcely less national interest. Mr. Mallaby-Deeley is a' highly interesting personality. Ho is very casual about his huge transactions.' He does not even claim to'bo a business "man. .Until six or seven years ago he seems to have lived quietly upon the proceeds of-his wealth, and not to havo ;troubled himself about speculative investments. 'He does it nmr, he says, more as a hobby than anything else.

A Paying Hobby. . But. Mr., Mallaby-Deeley sees to it that his hobby pays. Unless tho expert land valuers of London are very badly at fault, ho has secured a rare bargain irithis last and greatest of his deals inr the soil of London. When the transaction ' was announced ' the price was not , ..disclosed, and "naturally, there was' much speculation and careful estimate as to what the figure would be. Taking the'price of other land in .the immediate vicinity, including- that upon which the Commonwealth building is now being erected, ns a guide, the money paid to the Duke of Bedford was placed between £7,000,000 and £9,000.000. Tho announcement that it was only £3,000,000 has caused the greatest astonishment. Where the experts went/wrong wa* in assuming that the Duke as a voluntary seller got as much for 19 acres as tho London. Council was'compelled to pay_ for adjoining land when it was exercising compulsory resumption. Apparently the Duke, who has-the reputation of being orio of the most generous-minded of the world's millionaires, was not disposed to sell his land piece-meal.. He would realise that there were not, perhaps, three men in tho United Kingdom who would buy it at any price, especially 'during this season of scarco money. , So, finding a purchaser and a keen business man in Mr. MallabyDeeley, he came speedily to terms. The actual negotiation is said to havo taken less' than half an hour. , ; Mr. "MallabyDeeley made an offer very close to the final without even, inspecting 'the property.' After all, what is ■an extra million pounds to a millionaire duke who has infinitely more money than he can conceivably know what to do with? 'Mr. Mallaby-Deeley emphatically denies that We is acting; for a syndicate. Hβ is equally emphatic that he has no. definite,scheme about the future of .the area. Ho says he merely regards it.as a good investment for his money; with excellent speculative possibilities. The., risk is small—the pos 7 sible profits are immeasurable.

■....■ Financial Genius. ■".Mr. Mallaby-Deeley gave London a taste : of 'his financial Qualities when. he stepped in two':itf i fchrW- ! y'ojirs ;! ni»b''and , bought ' the '-TiccadiW Hotel 'for £500,000, The. hotel, which was almost brand new, had cost'two'or. three times that'-, money to build,' but owing to unfortunate circumstances, had .involved its promoters in. a Huge loss. Mr. Mal-laby-Deeley, turned it over to a company at. a. big. profit, and the "new owners are now paying from 35 to 50 per cent, interest upon the ordinary shareholders' capital. Since then ; Mr. Mal-laby-Deeley has ' bought St. James's Court, and also, cleaned that, up at a big profit. . Then he .acquired. St. Gebrge's Hospital, which stands on the wonderful site opposite to Hyde Park Gates, for £400,000; and. it is said to be-his intention to build a new hotel there at,a cost.of £600,000. Probably, however, the • hotel will be tho work of somebody else, and Mr- Mallaby-Deeley will again'take his profit and movo on. Tho tirms of the Covcnt Garden premises are not. disclosed. But it is denied that the money is to bo paid in relatively .small instalments over, an ex-, tended, period. Probably Mr. Mal-laby-Deeley is raising a mortgage for the bulk of the money at about 4{ per cent., and the 'Duke of Bedford is :e----ceiving cash.

Mr. Mallaby-Deoley, indicates the wealth of England.' A : man of his mottle would, if ho were,air American, hrve his name known throughout tho world. In London there are plenty of MallabyDeeloys, and one never-; hears of them until the.v die, or once in a way come into public notice by some '-.sensational' transaction. In tho House of : , Commons, Mr. Mallabj'-Deeloy'is a, nonentity. Ho is amqng Tory landlords, however, because, he expresses no sort of fear about the effect of Mr. Lloyd-George's proposed-land campaign. "Thft Chancellor's proposals," lie said in an interview.,,, "will not do any harm to the roan who.is determined to bo a good landlord to his tenants. I '■have no fear' that , any legislation will deteriorate tho value of property, either in the country or, in tho ..town, of a landlord who is prepared to deal sqtiare-' 'lv and generously his tenants. That is my position."

, The Famous Bussolls. The announcement- that the tenants of the estate wero to receive the same, and possibly even better, terms than those granted- by the Duke of._ Bedford ,: was received with: much, satisfaction. One hears less evil about the "Duko of Bedford! says one writer, than about any of. his titled-follows.' In, fact, you find thQ -Nonconformist. Press actuallyapplaiiditig the late'.owncr of Corc'nt Garden. '' Perhaps this is because, the Russells havo anyays stood , for reform. "It was a Riissellj" a.-writer, in tho "Daily News", 'reminds us, : "who expended his labour and his'wealth .. in draining tho vast-fen'lands known as the Bedford level; it was a Russell who laid down his life on'the- scaffold in Lincoln's Inn Fields in defence of English liberty; it was a Russell who was one of. .the foremost in ridding the nation of tho Stuart Kings';' it'wsvs a Russell who commanded our fleet in tho decisive vie-, tory of La Hogue. In more recent times, it was a. Russell who carried tho first Reform Bill, and throughout his long life was a staunch champion of i civil and religious liberty." In "The Story <>f a Great Agricultural Estate," published.by the present Duko himself, ho said! that his great property, Woburn, returns him a not revenue- of 2J per cent., while Thorney returns him only 1" per cent. The fslmuy has, of-course, mado huge profite by "unearned increment" on the Coven't Garden area and in the Bloomsbury district, and it is said to have been a definite policy of the present Diike and i'his father to mako concessions to their farming and market gardening tenants at the expense of their tenants in London. It is interesting to recall that Covent Garden (originally Convent Garden) was, when taken from tho monks, granted by King Edward VI to his uncle, tho Duko of-Somersot. Upon tho execution of Somerset, it returned to the Crown, nnd in 1552 it was bestowed upon John. Earl of Bedford. Its yearly value at-that timo was stated at £6 '6s. Bd., or,Jf allowance, is made for tho difference in the ''.value of-money, at from £60 to £80. , London has moved since those dajs- ■