H.—-A5

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PART lII.—MISCELLANEOUS. Settlement oe Mortgages in Germany, 54. lu my last report 1 made reference to a Press cablegram stating that a German Court had decided that a mortgagee was not obliged to accept paper marks in payment of a mortgage loan contracted in gold marks, and I stated tiiat as a result of inquiries made it had been ascertained that an appeal was pending against this decision, i have since received advice that the repayment of German mortgage loans is now governed Dy a Jier man passed on the 14th Eebruary, 1924, providing lor the appreciation in Germany of claims involving the payment of a fixed sum of money expressed m German currency where the amount concerned has lost value owing to the depreciation of the German currency. The statute is .expressed to cover " capital investments " which is defined to include mortgages with or without time limits, liens secured over land, registered ships and railways, savings-bank balances, debentures (in certain cases), and claims under life-insurance policies. Eor the purpose of assessing the amount of appreciation in particular cases, the " gold mark values " of the claims are assessed upon the following lines. For claims acquired by tne creditor or his representatives before the Ist January, 1918, the face value is taken. Eor claims acquired later the basis of assessment varies according to the date of the loan or other claim, and is to be determined by converting the face value into gold marks on the basis of the quotation for the day in question of the Berlin Exchange for payments in New York. For the period during which dollars were not quoted on the Berlin Exchange the German Government is to determine the rate to be adopted. Provision is made that if the amount actually advanced was less than the face value the lesser amount is to be the basis of the calculation. When the gold - mark value of the claim has been determined upon this basis the claim is appreciated to 15 per cent, of this value. In terms of the statute payment of the appreciated amount is not demandable prior to the 31st December, 1932. The procedure detailed above is not intended to exclude private agreements between the parties concerned. Eor the purpose of determining disputes upon matters arising out of the statutes provision is made for the setting-up of an Appreciation Board, whose decisions upon matters of fact must be regarded as final. Archives of the German anl> the Austrian Consulates in New Zealand. 55. The archives of the above Consulates, which were handed to the Public Trustee for safe custody during the war, are stili held pending the receipt of directions regarding their disposal from the Governments concerned. Claims against Russia. 56. The total of the claims against the Russian Government, or persons, firms, and companies resident in Russia, registered with the New Zealand Clearing Office, or with the High Commissioner for New Zealand in London as representative of the New Zealand Clearing Olfice, is now £15,234 18s. 6d. The position regarding claims of this description is set out in the following extract from the Fourth Report of the Controller of the Central Clearing Olfice ; — Russian Claims Department.—A certain number of additional claims have been registered with this Department during the past year, but the total figures of claims given in my last annual report remain substantially unaltered. The work of classifying claims has been continued during the year, and information has been supplied for the purposes of the Anglo-Soviet Conference. The future work of this Department depends upon the treaty recently signed as a result of this Conference. The treaty referred to above was not ratified by Parliament, and there have been no later developments regarding the claims. The matter is at present solely one of registration. German Property in Samoa. 57. Since my last report considerable progress has been made by the Samoan authorities in the direction of the disposal of the German plantations which have been retained by the New Zealand Government in exercise of the power conferred by Articles 121 and 297 (b) of the Treaty of Versailles. Approximately four-fifths in number, though not in value, of these estates have been disposed of, chiefly by lease ; and, as the values to be placed upon these properties can now be readily assessed liquidation schedules for transmission to the German Government for the purpose of enabling it to compensate its nationals in terms of Article 297 (i) of the Treaty are in course of preparation, and should be completed in the near future. The remaining plantations, comprising the larger and more valuable properties, have been advertised for lease to private planters, tenders being returnable up to the 30th April, 1925. In regard to those estates for which satisfactory tenders are received and accepted the values to be returned upon the relative liquidation schedules will be assessed upon the basis of the rentals so obtained. In those cases where suitable tenders are not obtained it is proposed to assess their values, taking into consideration all relevant factors, including, of course, any tenders received but not accepted. It is therefore anticipated that all the liquidation schedules in regard to Samoa will be completed in the near future.