SOLDIERS LEASES.

Digger (Invercargill RSA), Issue 22, 13 August 1920, Page 8

SOLDIERS LEASES.

Instances where soldiers have given inadequate supervision to the provisions of an instrument giving them a legal status in relation to the purchase or lease of a property are being frequently met with. And the object of this article is to sound a note of warning to all soldiers who are endeavouring to secure a home, or farm, as ihe case may be. It is not suggested that the. document is delibenately framed to achieve an undue lipld over the soldier. The case of the Makarewa settlers is a case in point which will serve to illustrate what is intended to be impressed upon the mind of the soldier. It will be remembered, that some time ago a number of soldiers took up land in the Makarewa district. The men started work and began to bring the land into a state of production. A great deai of bush had been fallen and the time had arrived when the bush had to be burned. About this time the attention of the settlers was drawn to a elau.se in the lease providing for the protection of the tramway which was the

property of a sawmilling company. The effect of this was to cause the settlers to stop burning and meant a considerable loss of time and which may have involvcd a greater loss of time than actually happened. In the event of their proceeding with the burn it may have cost them a considerable amount of money. The matter was eventually adjusted, but the fact remains that here was the existence of a lease, signed by the settlers, which contained a clause that the men themselves knew , nothing about. The obvious duty of men dealing in transactions of this kind is to make sure that they thoroughly understand every clause in the lease before signing it, and the money spent in getting a solicitor to analyse the document is money well spent. It frequently happens that an attempt is made to save this fee, but when it is realised what may result from a clause in the leas*» it is eviderk that the wiSe . r penny Cnd. pound -Qolisi' policy ]ias nothir;g to recommend it. We frequently come ac/oss men who -o idea what they hi^and a number o-f men wha are purchasing houses on the ^mall deposit system are daily regretting their hasie. Men .should not be too hasty in completing the deal but carefully go into the whole question, and it many be incidentally mentioned that a guinea spent in getting the opiriion of a p-ractical man to ascertain whether the house has the borer or not will save -many regrettable moments after the deposit is paid. Another case in point, is that of a number of settlers who took up land on the Wanganui River; although in this case the fault was with the Aotea Maori Land Board. Nevertheless it will serve to show the inconvenience caused by an unrealised or faulty provision in a lease. In the leases as signed by all the tenants there was a provision protecting the improvements made during the term of the lease, and as there was a right of renewal for a second term, at valuation, the protection of the improvements is a matter of gTeat importance to the settlers. This provision to conserve to the tenant his improvements was accepted hy them in good faith and was no doubt given hy the Land Board in good faith. It wa« discovered some time after. wards that the Board had no power to give a lease containing such a clause. The effect of this was to place a serious handicap in the way of the settlers and place them at a disadvantage from the standpoint of finance and roading. The settlers assumed they would be in the position of Crown tenants and that they would get the usual assistance, but discovered, too late, that they were responsible for the entire roading of the land. The Prime Minister is hopeful of making a satisfactory adjustment, and that will no doubt be done. However, we commend the object of this article to all returned men, also their wife or widow, as the case may be.