THE ASHBURTON PERMANENT BUILDING AND INVESTMENT SOCIETY.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1558, 14 May 1887, Page 2

THE ASHBURTON PERMANENT BUILDING AND INVESTMENT SOCIETY.

TO THE EDITOR. Fir,— l could not help noticfn? the remarkable letter publhhed la your Issue of the 11th in3t, signed Victim, respiting ' the treatment he had lucelve^ at the hands of thft above Soc sly. I wonder how many tradesmen or professional men there are m Ash^i-ton who would grumble at making £1 Ha 8i ovor a transaction amounting to £30, spread equally over 12 months But how on earth Victim makes out £2 Is 3d to be 10 par cent on £30, pnid m equal instalments of £2 10'j pc? month is a mystery to me. Taking 7 per cent., provisionally guaranteed Interest, and 3 per cent profit;, separately on each month's payment for 11 months, I make it amount (not taking notice of the fractional Daris of a penny) to about £1 11 b 7d. Bat I am under the impression that ray method of calculation is dot the same as that of actuaries accustomed to Building Scoiety Work.— -The other charges I take to bo incidental to all such Societies: I know they are so m moss of them. I have been a B investment t^areholder m the Ashburton Building Soc'ety and have p ssed through the same trying o)deal as your " Victim " without feeling aggrieved, bat on the contrary 1 recommend every person to invest 63 a month m the Society and if, at the time the share atrivea at maturity, he objects to receive £50, I shall think he is even more ungrateful than " Viot'm " himself. If there is any institution m Ashburton whioh offara a greater mclnoement to thrift and providenco, I shall be glad to be made acquainted with it. Theie is a slight isrror m the P. 8. of Victim's leHer soarcely worsh noticing, but then I th'.nk his fetter is a mistake altogeihar, and was written m a few moments of anger. I ehould net have troubled yon with any letter, Mr Editor, did I not think that it Is a dangerous thing for any pjrson to endeavor to d-vmage m the publ 0 estimation, a Sooiety which hii for iti main object and principle the benefit of the public — Youraetc, " Anothbr Victim."

T) THE EDIi'OB. Sir,— -I am afraid that Mr J. Ward is hardly m a pos'tion to £ive an unbiassed opinion about the investment shares of the above Society. He is a Director ond tho Manager of the Society ; likewise the ' Valuer thereof, and (I believe) he is the Society's landlord m addition Under these oircumstances he natural'y thinks it a highly profitable concern, and is surprised that any investor should complain at being mulcied of hia money, seeing that the instating has been done m strict accordance with the Society's rales. Mr' Ward's elaborate explanation as to the mode m which he computes the int9rest does not, m the slightest degree, alter the hard, and to me unpleasant, fact, that whereas during the financial year I paid the Society £31 183 9d In cash, the Society at the close of the year only credit3d me wifh £31 lls Bd, so that instead of my becoming richer by co much interest, as was promised, I had become poorer. Now, I will make the Directors this offer : If they will repay me every shilling that I have paid into the Society's coffers, I will not ask them for a penny of interest, but will make them a present of the use of my money for the timo they have had it, and we will cry quitg Jf they accept the offer, I sha'l think myself very wel> out of tho affair. As to my motives, I thought that 1 had rendered thorn sufficiently clear m my first letter. Having been deluded myself, I wished to prevent others being deluded also. At the general meeting of the Society Md only a week or two 930, one of the Directors expatiated upon the great advantages which the investment eharjs of the Society offered to investors, with the evident object of getting his rercirkg reported m the newapap3rs ; and I think it light that the roal Btate of things should be known. Of course if psople choose to rely upon Mr Ward'B pane^yi-ics instead of my practical experience, and put their money into those shares, that is their own look-out and not mine. I am, etc., A VICIIM.