LIBERTY LOAN

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 119, 22 May 1942, Page 6

LIBERTY LOAN

APPEAL FOR SUBSCRIPTIONS

(P.A.) WELLINGTON, Thursday.

The acting-governor of the Reserve Bank, Mr. W. L. Ward, in a statement regarding the Liberty Loan, said that up to last night £7,600,000 had been received. That was very good, but the number of subscribers was only 3900. That meant that the average subscription was about £2000 per applicant.

There remained £7,500,000 to be taken up, and it was to the many thousands of small subscribers that he looked to provide the bulk of this amount. It might seem a pretty tall order, but he wanted from the people of New Zealand 20,000 to 30,000 subscribers to this Liberty Loan.

This should not be impossible, because, looking at financial returns, he found that in trading banks on open current account there was some £61,000,000, and this, he added, was growing and would continue to grow. In the Post Office Savings Bank depositors held £69,000,000, while trustee savings banks had between them some £15,000,000 to £16,000,000.

Thus there was some £146,000.000 lying in the hands of the people in various banks, and £15,000,000 was not a very large percentage of that sum. In addition to these rtiillions there was in the pockets of the people—and in some pockets burning holes—£2o,ooo,ooo in bank notes, a portion of which surely should be available toward the Liberty Loan.

Mr. Ward explained that in order to assist people with limited means arrangements had been made with the trading banks to advance any applicants 90 per cent of the amount they wished to subscribe directly to the Liberty Loan. If a person wished to subscribe £100 he was required to pay £10 down and the trading bank would find the balance. He would be charged with interest calculated cn a day-to-day basis at the low rate of 3£ per cent per annum.