LAND FOR SOLDIERS.

Taihape Daily Times, 8 July 1919, Page 6

LAND FOR SOLDIERS.

EX‘CESSIVE PRICES ASKED_ ‘ UNPATRIOTIG VENDORS. COMMISSIONER SPEAKS OUT; The large amount of work’ ‘which the North A-ucklanéed Land Board is doing in; the direction of settling Tet”-Tned soldiers, on the land was referred to by the commissioner, Mr. R. P. ‘Grewville, at the meeting or the board recently. \ A _“I am sure the soldiers do not realise what we are doing‘to. assist »’all€3m:” the commissioner said. .“It is not like buying and selling goods over the counter, simply paying so much . and getting the gofis. ‘ Each application for land involves . a tremend'o'l'ls amount of work before ‘the board for ; decision. _. ~only',,the, other day a‘re--I turned man wanted the board to; assist -him to purchase a-property, over which he had obtained an option for a fortnight. I had to explain that we have not got a valueresitting on the doorstep, and that in thesecases where a large amount -of public money is concerned, the board cannot be ex. pected to putethem through in a. fortnight.

“The most unkind thing the board could do would be to put returned sordiers on, places where they would have no chance of succeeding.” Mr. Greville continued. “The position is that Whereas some vendors are patriotic,’ others appear to be actuated mainly by cup-idity. For instance a property. was I'£cr:ntTy' offered to the Government fo'- returned soldiers for £42,000. The last Government valuation, made 13:-ite recently, was ‘£12,700, and an objection. to that valuation on the ground that it was ex:-essivee, was 11- ('l9 to the Valuation Department by the owner. That is ‘rather an extreme case, but there are several‘ propositions pretty well on the same lines. ’ ' “It is very clear from the prices asked for their properties that some owners have not been’ paying a fair amount of taxation. In one case, which is before the board today, the price asked is £3630, and the taxable value, as at March 31, 1918, is £I6BO. They cannot both Ibe right. The land tax must be suffering, and the revenue of the local bodies musf be suffering. I » ”-"

"There is one thffig I have ‘become tired of ,and that is of owners of property saying what they Want to (10 for the soldier boys. I have told some who asked excessive Mprices_ ‘Apparently’ all you want 1'" ‘.9 get as much as you can out of the soldiers,’ ” the commissioner concluded.

“That is‘ certainly the attitude of‘a lot of ven'&ors,” said Mr. J. E. Wells, 3 member of the board. ’