FINANCE AND WAR

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 17, 15 October 1918, Page 6

FINANCE AND WAR

STATEMENT BY SIR JOSEPH WAED. "It is certain that the Government Will require to raise another large loan for war purposes in this country durine tbis 'voar," said tlio Minister of Finance (Sir Joseph Ward) to a. Dominion reporter last night, x The amount of the loan cannot be stated at present. ' . , "I have been interested to notice during my journey abroad t]yt the difference of opinion as to whether or not ivar lo,ans should be raised under a free-of-'income-tax provision is not peculiar to this country. The question has been raised and discussed elsewhere, and it is worthy of notice that, other countries are doing what New Zealand has done. When I was passin" through Canada oil my way back to°New Zealand I found the Canadian Government arranging to raise £100,000,000 for war purposes at o\ per cent, free of income tax. That is a higher rate than we have paid in tins country. , , tv "The Canadian Minister of l'inance, in dealing with the matter publicly, expressed the opinion that the first essential was to get the necessary amount of money in order that the war expenditure might be met. That applies equally to the United States and to every country where' large* sums of money have to he raised by way of loan for war expenditure. The men in the positions of responsibility have got to be sure of getting the money without in any way weakening the credit of the country. The welfare of every per-' son in the country, from the humblest to the highest, depends upon tho maintenance of the credit, since any failure in that respect will make it impossible for the wheels of industry U> run successfully. "We have to look ahead a bit aud remember that when the war is over and peace is restored we shall bo faced by a greatly altered state of affairs in the financial world. My opinion, is that in the case of Britainianu her Allies, money will be cheap within a reasonable time after the war ends. ,Wo will be clear of the present tremendous outlay for the maintenance-of armies and navies and \the purchase of all sorts of munitions. There will _be a general disarmament and reduction of war Ueets all over the world, and the money that is now raised to be spent on war and preparations for war will bo turned into other channels. Tho people who control money will find that they will have to accept moderate rates of interest if they are to secure safe investments for their capital. The sooner wo get peaco under proper conditions tho better it will bo from the financial point of view. "Assuming that tho war ends eighteen months from now,", added Sir Joseph Ward, "it is certain that tho heavy taxation wo are undergoing at present will be greatly increased. I havo no doubt as to the capacity of the Motherland and the Dominions to carry their new obligations until they are extinguished in years to come without seriously afl'erting or impeding the progress of tho Empire as a.whole. "One can only generalise on the dimensions of our war debt, but certainly we are all in for a period of increased taxation. There is no need whatever for gloominess; on the contray, a people which caa provide for nil its own requirements as the British have done, and at the same time make such powerful contributions to the financial needs of some of their Allies, may surely be depended upon to meet tfter-war cssditkea satwfsictorily"