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The Gazette of the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland.
[MARCH, 1913
Dates of Examinations.
THE following are the dates of the May, 1913,
Examinations :—
Final—19, 20 and 21 May (Notices to be
lodged on or before 21st April).
Preliminary—22 and 23 May (Notices to
be lodged on or before 23rd April).
Memorandum and Suggestions as to Invest
ment of Purchase Money of Settled Land
Sold under the Land Purchase Acts.
Contributed by a Member oj the Society.
VENDORS of estates, who are tenants for life,
may not be fully aware of the large range of
investments that have been opened up under
Section 38 of the Irish Land Act, 1909.
That Section provides
that, witli
the
consent of the Public Trustee, the purchase
money of Settled Land may be invested in :—
(1) Stocks, funds or Government securities
of any foreign Government or State.
(2) Mortgages,
Bonds, Debentures
or
Debenture Stock charged upon the
undertaking of any Railway Co. in—
(a)
The United States ;
(b)
Mexico ;
(c)
The Argentine Republic ;
(d)
Canada ;
subject to certain conditions as to
payment of Dividends on the Pre
ference or Ordinary Stocks of such
Railways.
The Public Trustee has from time to time
published Lists of Investments that have
been sanctioned by him under Section 38.
These Lists are sometimes criticised owing
to the fact that " Trustee securities " are not
included in the lists, and that many securities
are omitted which seem much more desirable
than those found in the lists published by the
Public Trustee. The answer to the criticism
is a simple one :
The Public Trustee was not
appointed for the purpose of sanctioning
investment in securities in which Trustees
had already full power of investing, and,
again, he can only sanction such investments
as the framers of the Irish Land Act, 1909,
authorised him to sanction.
It may be wise to ask for the insertion of a
clause in the new Land Bill—which the Chief
Secretary
for
Iiieand has
promised
to
introduce at an early date—extending the
range of investments.
It is thought that it ma}' be helpful to
Vendors, whose Trustees are now receiving.
or will shortly, receive the purchase money
of the estates sold, to give some examples of
how such purchase moneys can be invested,
during the present state of the money market,
so as to produce 4j: per cent., 4i per cent.,
4f per cent., and even a higher rate of
interest.
In this connection it is right to point out
that, since the decision of Barton, J., in Lord
Bandon's Trust, the Redemption Price of a
settled head rent may be invested in the
securities authorised by Section 38 of the
Irish Land Act, 1909 ;
so that the tenant for
life of a head rent, which has been redeemed,
may get the same high rate of interest on the
redemption money as the ordinary tenant for
life of a settled estate can get on his residue
of purchase money.
The following groups of investments have
been carefully considered, and consist of
securities that have been already sanctioned
by the Public Trustee.
Care has been taken to geographically
distribute the total amount invested under
each group, so that only a comparatively
small portion of the sum invested will be in
any particular country. Thus the possibility
of depreciation, owing to local influences, will
be minimised and the principal kept intact
and be available, as far as possible, when
the time comes for the distribution of the
funds.
EXAMPLE A.
Showing an Average Return of
£4 5s.
[)d.
per cent.
Return
per cent.
1. Japanese Govt. 4i% Stg. Loan,
1st Series, at 92"
...
...£417 9
2. Northern Pacific Gt. Northern
4% Joint Bonds (C.B. & 2).
at 100
...
...
...
4
0
0
3. New York Central and Hudson
River R. R. (Michigan Cent.
Coll.) 3| 1998 Bonds, at 80 ...
4
7
6
4. Argentine Gt. Western Rly.
4% 1st Deb. Stock, at 96
...
4
3
4
5. Canadian Pacific Rly. 4% Deb.
Stock, at 100
...
...
4
0
0
AVERAGE—£4 5s. 9d. per cent.