A DEAD MARKET.

Shannon News, 5 April 1927, Page 3

A DEAD MARKET.

NOBODY WANTS WAIKATO LAND. OVERWORKED AUCTIONEER. It is perfectly evident that New Zealanders—however concerned they may be in the welfare of their own country and the settlement of its pastoral areas—have no desire to buy land at present. Striking illustrations of vhis have been manifest during the recent weeks, and the Minister of Lands 'Hon. A. D. McLeod) has been harshly criticised for having approved the purchase of a northern estate. One of the most arresting examples of this reluctance to go in for land, however, occurred earlier in the week, when an estate of 1800 acres, recognised as heavy dairying land, and successfully farmed for over 60 years, was offered in 30 lots at what many farmers would term ridiculously low prices. Only two lots were disposed of. . This sale, disastrous from the viewr.oint of the vendors, was on. the Green Eill estate, at Te Awamutu, through which the Main Trunk railway runs, jnd a great deal of which is improved. Hundrods of farmers attended the 'ale. and sat stolidly and silently m their benches while lot after lot was passed in under the hammer of a perpiring auctioneer. One lot of seven acres the auctioneer began optimistically with a suggestion of £6O an acre, but he was soon whispering "£3O" into the mresponsive ears of his audience. There was a hopeful gleam in the salesman's eye when £3O an acre wae >ffered for the second lot—but bidding was as dead as the proverbial house-.-..it, and £3O was refused. And so it went on. Farming sections, fertile and rich, were juggled and thrown aside through no bids approaching within eoo-ce of the reserve price. Never had the auctioneer worked so harf l —never had a monologue fallen upon sucli unappreciative ears, tor many of tho sections did not excite even a nicker of interest in the eyes of the farmers-present. One lot. 118 acres, lying to the sun with cottage and cowshed, attracted £25, which rose sluggishly to £29, and it was knocked down; and a little later 48 acres next to the railway station fetched the upset price of £2O an acre. Towards the end of the sale a despairing and very tired auctioneer was receiving offers of £B, £6, and £5 an acre. An examiner would have treasured a list of passes such as that auctioneer took home with him that night. It is reported that this land was recently offered to the Government at a figure considerably in excess of that mentioned in the sale, but the Lands Purchase Board refused to buy. Another illustration of the reluetance to purchase land comes from the north, where the Government cannot secure buyers for one and a-half sheep to the acre land at £8 to £lO an acre, whieh price, on general grounds, appears quite reasonable.