FINANCING THE WAR

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 22, 21 October 1942, Page 4

FINANCING THE WAR

Mayor Appeals For Support Of Liberty Loan Speaking to members of the Wellington Rotary Club yesterday as chairman of the special committee set up to help raise the second Liberty Loan in the Wellington area, the mayor, Mr. T. C. A. Hislop,-mentioned the names of the committee as some guarantee of what they thought of this, loan as the soundest of all securities. The loan, he said, was part of the £27,000,000 envisaged as necessary by the Prime Minister last year. The first section of £10,000,000 was over-subscribed to the extent ot £2,000,000, so that this £10,000,000 now to be raised was the balance of the original amount mentioned. Mr. Hislop said that, while there might be those vyho questioned whether the money was properly administered, or whether it was being economically used, the fact still remained that this 000 would certainly be needed, lhe whole way of living of many had been altered by the war, for today it seemed that they were all part of the war machine and the money was needed to Keep this great war machine going. Itemizing the expense covered by these vast sums of money Mr. Hislop mentioned in the first place, the New Zealand Division in Egypt, which had shown such bravery, resource and resolution. “As soldiers they inherited a great tradition,” he said, “a tradition winch they have not only upheld but enhanced, lhe strength of that division has got to be kept up. That is one instance of where the monev goes. I thank God the New Zealand Division is still in Egypt, and that no influence will be brought to bear upon placing it otherwhere than in the forefront of the fight. It should be our pride to know that it is where the fighting is, side by side with the rest of the United Nations.” . Mr. Hislop also referred to the cost of training the reinforcements for the New Zealand Division, the cost of training the men of the Royal New Zealand Air Force here and in Canada, the tenance of the (New Zealand section of the Roval Navy, the training of personnel here for the Royal Navy at Home, cost of clothing, food and armament, and, not inconsiderably, the enormous cost of civil defence —the Home Guard, the EP.K, and the E.F.S. The estimated cost of ?he E P.S. alone in Wellington was £82.000. and the construction of air shelters in Wellington when the full programme was completed alone would run into £308.000. One could gather from such scraps of information the enormous bill which total war involved.

LOAN SUBSCRIPTIONS

Life insurance companies, as in the case of the last Liberty Loan, have made their subscriptions early for pres nt Liberty Loan. During the first week th Reserve Bank received £ao,ooo from the Mutual Life and Citizens Assurance Co., Ltd., which, with £lOO,OOO advance subscription, makes that s J?^ 1 . investment m the loan £L o< ’ o ’ larly the Government Life Insuiance Department subscribed a further £loo, 000, which with advance subscriptions of a similar amount, makes a total ot £300,000. The T. and G. Life Assurance Society has subscribed an additional £lOO,OOO, making a total of £200,00J. Other life insurance companies, it is understood, will be investing later. In the three cases quoted, the Reseme Bank has been advised that each company is placing its total available surplus at the disposal of the bank for investment m new war loans. . , The following subscriptions to the Liberty Loan are announced:— Sharland and Co., Ltd., £lO,OOO. U. M. Banks. Ltd., £500; Thompson Bros., Ltd., £1000; N.Z. Nationalist Club, £200; Hamilton and McNeil, Ltd., £-00, .1. L. Matthews. Ltd., £100: N.Z. P. and T Employees’ Investment Society, ±300; L E Reid, £100; Pnllo Engineering Co., Ltd., £500; Karl Palio, £5O; Commission Wool Scourers, Ltd., £250: Payes Bros., £100; Macky’s. Ltd., £1000; M ellington Brace Manufacturing Co., Ltd., £100; Wellington Structural Victoria Laundry Co., Ltd., £-00, A. R. Hislop, Ltd., £500; Briscoe, Mills and Co Ltd £2000; Dental and Medical Supplies. Ltd.. £500; F. G. Miller, Ltd.. £1000; The Wellington City Renewal Fund Commissioners, £lO3O.