DAIRY LAND VALUES.

Hokitika Guardian, 22 February 1923, Page 4

DAIRY LAND VALUES.

SIR liAROI.D BE A UCHAMP'S VIEWS. ADVANCES ON LAND. WEL LINO TON. IN!). IS. Sir Harold Beauchamp, a director ol tin- Rank ol New Zealand, and deputyi hnirmaii of tho Australian .Mutual Provident Society, in an interview with the Christchurch “Press” correspondent. made some interesting statements regarding the discussion that has arisen over the remarks of Major Belcher, of the Empire* Exhibition Commission and especially the remarks of Mr Edward Allen, a land valuer : at Cambridge. Auckland, in regard to the value of New Zealand dairy lands. Sir Harold said that apparently the remark to which Mr Allen most strongly took exception was the statement of his belief that dairying land capable, of carrying, say. one cow to two acres, should not he valued at more than £-10 per acre. Since that statement of his was published there was held a conference of land valuers, whose opinion on the subject might he regarded as representative, ami whose bias, it they had one, was not likely to he in the direction of depressing valuations. Those gi Jil lomen. when considering the , (piesijou of lirsl-ehisx dairy land earry- ' ing one cow to two acres fully equip- ! ped as a dairy (arm. considered that £|S lo £SO an Her; was a fair valuation. lie understood that in arriving at thL figure the basis of their calculation was an annual yield per cow of 2-lOlb of Imltor-fat. .Mr Allen would ' agree with him that the average output of cows milked lor lactory purposes to-day in Non Zealand was nothing like 2 lHlb. hut that liulb to I B{)| 1 1 would lie nearer the mark. AY hi re a better yield than the average was being obtained. there were various causes which conduced to that result. Cows of greater productive capacity, and therefore ol higher value, th., provision of i tops for autumn and winter

A l>U»II IJI V OHS • lord, uit.li (*oiis'.‘(jnon t greaUT working «*x|)ciih.s, tin* ill ami knowledge work ol' tin* lartnrr ami his family wviv amount ranM*s, It had too olli'ii j in tho pa>t h**eOi tin.* practice to ! the* result of all theso 1 actors as it .■ 1 .1 I .1,1 i 1.1- I 11 1 \ !: lI U !

tiicv had hccii produced uy me omu. anti to value the lam! aveol'dingly. Ihe buyer of a daily farm should not giv<* ; i priet higher than could enable him to obtain an adequate return lor his ~»n labour ami skill. I hi* labour of his lamily. lie capital invested in inland and dairy herd, with due provision lor mortality and the other risks at-

temlaut upon t.!K' piissessmu m > .unable .stock, and due provision lor Ihmlnations in the price obtainable, 'sir Harold felt sure that the high prite> which have been current during the last leu years had not enabled proper provision in lie made for till these lie inis. Mr Allen had slaUd that main fanners with undoubted security to n|L r were mm harrnssed and restricted hneaiiMi ol their inability to obtain In.ills, and that farming developments had in many eases come lo a standstill because monev wa being divert!d-elsc where. Sir Harold Beauchamp eont imm'l Then- i? no doubt that money ho no ■' Dm nt ni farm mortgage* \, mu I'■ ’’ 1 tul it uas a i mimic reei iii p : "d?. hut this is not to he wondered •H. i here are to-day main more op punities for iiivu.-Lnieiit than there Usd! to he. The loans of ha a I bodies, company debentures, and (he, ermnen. -eeiiricies which were issued during and tfiThsequeut to the war periods, and Bvhich now figure largely ujnin the stock • veliangTs, ; h.i loans tor hydrn-eleet rie ■ levelopnieui. and other opportunities ■or investing money safeL am! eon■'enieutly, uudnuhl, illy appeal to many

the ill-(itiition- and individual? who iorn.erly In look mainly for niori • i!ivestments. Nutw ith?taniling Bids, however, there is iii in■ u.-i in Bie had by farmers v. Inue g>, ul B-eeurity to oiler. The siaiemem Hint typical ri mark in the bu.im-.? world Bit present is that ‘No Birin lands wdl ■)C elillsidel ed’ is ~n exaggeration. Ad Bvaucis to fanners which have been :irwithin the ins‘ feu months were added, being made. Ar the -ante Hum • he admitted that the owner of land leaking for a loan in lieHxlent 111 a large per rent of what was two or three years ago H ii! Gtnvnl lalue was. unlikely to meet success. Lend.irs lu-ilay were unliiol.ing asl.ain e . and i-ightl.- ■;). tii the valuations, which were unDie Imsis n! s,, n any Miles ■i in.iiitry bind two or thi‘e“ ymis Harold eontinued that he thought one of the principal- causes of present l.iouhles was sughv Mr Edward Allen in his that there are so many iners holding too much land tor to work ennifortahly. who H r * anxious to suhdieide. That, he was respon-dhle for much of recent inliation of land values. So Bttiny farmers were not content with ■he possession of their land which their ■-a pita I warranted their holding, and l™w!iieh they could work to advantage. Li enneliiding. Sir Harold referred to his critic's reference to the rate of interest charged to the farmer upon his overdraft. Mr Alien contrasted the overdraft rate of fit per cf.nl in New Zealand with the Bank of England rate of 31 per cent. To compare the two | things was ridiculous. The hank rate was the minimum rate at which the Bank of England would discount bills of the highest class with a currency of not miiro than three months. Those bills were hills of such a character that their payment on due ihite conlt! ho absolutely depended upon. 'The banker who held them could make etigege- 1 m-outs for re-lending the money which they had represented upon the day they fell due. There was no compnri- i son between such transaetinns and the iiverdralt guaranteed to a New Zeaj land fanner. Sir Harold did not think | Hint such advances as farmers here obj tain from their hankers could he obtained to-day. even in .England, at a lower rate than the hanks here charge upon the daily balance, and such criticisms as ho was now referring to on- • tirely overlooked the fact that in recent times, wlie'ii the Bank of England rate was (j to 7 per cent., the hanks here were charging .71 to li per cent. “It is." lie added, “also worth noting hat the rural bank in New South AA'ales, a State institution, lta.s recently reduced the rate of intrest which it charges upon farmers’ advances to Gj per cent., tho rate which is now being generally charged by the hanks in New Zealand, and that investors can obtain at par New South AA’ales Government stocks with a currency ol 8 or !l years, carrying 51 per cent interest and subject to no income tax. Tiles facts have much more hearing upon the rate of interest upon farm loans in New Zealand than lias '.ho Bank of England discount rate."