WELLINGTON NEWS.

Hokitika Guardian, 24 July 1925, Page 4

WELLINGTON NEWS.

ADVANCES’ DKJ’AimiEXT DELAYS

(Special to “Guardian”.) WELLINGTON, duly 22. Ever .since the late Prime Minister (Mr W. V. -M nssey) announced in the House that the Advances to Settlers and Workers’ Department would advance np to Mo per cent to homo bitild- ■ I - the department has been Hooded with applications which cannot pos- . ihly he <lcalt with. This was a wellmeant hut blundering piece of j>oltijcjil l.udni '- for the Government must have, known that it was creating a •Monopoly Hr the Advances Department which it could not possibly hamile. Who was going to borrow i: in the other lending institutions mi private individuals on it 10 per • ent margin when money was ofiVr-

,| in the Government on a 5 per cent margin ? At the mu-et the Department was able to meet the demands, hut -when the pressure of applications as felt, the physical imp ssibtlity of ih aling with them in anything liho .: .isellable time became apparent, and . the funds at its disposal petered , at. the ex c-Dve number of a) plicnH.ais providevl an elegant excuse for .;,ang slow in the lending business. The applicants have no redress, aim

1 1 though ma n v have v-mted a- long Us eighteen months for n reply the a, ei ability i- thal the period of delay ■ill lengthen rather limn contract he- , a use the Department is finding U diflir-nlt to raise the necessary funds. A small portion of the seven million loan raised in London in May last will i f. available to the department and Unit will lie only a drop in the bucket. On its terms and conditions the de- • i,,.finent enul.l easily lend £2'LOC9.OnO a year. The Advances Department was riginally set up to help those who needed money at a low rate id interest ,villi rernviuent spread over a number of wars. The Deform Government has , onverleil it into a demoralising monoi, ,lv. a political Ir ak and economic u.yit.si.ro-iiy. The Advances Department car.not lend np to Mo per vent ■if the value of a security and e-e.-lpo VV I :.<r,. The Government cannot irr.iv at 5 pt r cent and lend at II par cent on Mo per cent ol the value

;f a security without being unjust to •he great hotly of taxpayers. Tho.-e who are fortunate enough to obtain leans from tin- Advances Department are pra; t.icallv in receipt of a dole. ( an | a ••dole” which is just a fancy name tor Stale charity is demoralising. The Government had In write £2.0b0.- ();){) off Soldiers’ Settlements. and that is not flic end of it. On these 95 ;cr cent ailvames on seeurilies Die losses will he more. The Minister ol , I amis (Mr A. I). McLeod) when he ; announced the amount of the writing i off was hailed as a Statesman, and those who sold the estates to the Government at fancy prices also regard the Ministers as great statesmen. .Excuse:-. may he found lor the losses o." Soldier Settlements for the whole thing was 'carried through in n hurry, and ; “profiteering'’ had acquired the status j of a pnii'e-worthy religion, hut there , is no excuse for the political I’umlool- j cry associated with the Advances De- j psirtmeiit which the Ministers wish J the people to regard as high states- . manship. The Government apparently , set out to remove hardships and has succeeded in i renting a multiplicity of j thois. Many men eager to take ad- I vantage of the charily terms ofleivd j

by the Advances Department virtually pawned their Louis to secure a section of land in ertl to have a securitv pi i lfer P r a loan. 'I hose who have l.een waiting fur their loans will know how to deal at the General Election with the party that has played t In-in false. PRODUCT; STATISTICS. The produce season has practically if i,| and a -few statistics and compel i.-on--, v. ill help us to realise what lias been ncComplishciL a.inl how we ,land. Our cxporl- of frozen mutton for Ihe eight months to .lime Gplli. lota’hd 1.0(12.781 etircitsos as compared with 1.21 1.8(17 carcases in Ute enrresj ending period of last year, an in- : tense of 217. Ml 7 carcases, equal to a little more than 27”',,, which is very g,. .1. The falnh'. expo ril'd totalled 3.751.117 carcases as against 3.fifiMJ>7o in t!i(» })n»vimis ttTins. :ui in-erea-e of 51.717 (ttreases. wlticli is small. hut. nevertheless saiislnclory in view of the fact that owing to the phenomenally high prices ruling at the beginning of the year for wool an impetus was given to sheep-farming and no doubt iambs that might otherwise have gone to tlu* abattoirs were retained in ihe paddocks. The exports of beef (not including shit incuts p, t lie l-oil t incut) totalled 177, iIM quarters as com; • mod w ith lii !.SI2 quartet -, showing a small increase ol 12.M1L quarters: and the inline given by ihe A’ice- ( bnini.au < f the Meat Hoard was not to bother about beef. The exports of butt or lor t lie II iiiont Its p; .1 lino Httt.li. amounted to 2..550.307 foxes, as ■ognii si 2.(122.2d!i boxes in the oirtesp wiling II of the previous sea--.i.ii an mere:!--' of oti.'f,MSl boxes, or expressed in tons, the figures were fid Mti7 toils against 59.5(11) tons; an increase of 1d.3-17 tons, which is decidedly good. The cheese exports aggregated MtM.MOO crates as against 939,II! crates in the corresponding term c, 1 ' the past season, an increa.se of 28.780 crates, which is also satisfactory. The ofiieial grading figures sdinvv that GO.Sfil Lons of butler were graded during the 1 linos, ax compared with (11.213 tons in Ik- prevtioiis period—tut increase of 8018 tons, and the gradings of cheese totalled 09,800 tons against 73.810 tons, a decrease of IDA I tons. There is an increase of 1 f. I ill blitter and a decrease of ->.to, in elieese. but on a butter-fat basis there is an increase of 7.1"... The exports of wool for the Smos. to .Tunc 31) totalled 515.f>17 hales, as compared with ofifi.LSl hales in the corresponding 8111ns. of (he previous season a shrinkage of 50.5G7 hales, but the smaller quantity made considerably more money as the average value per hale was £29 !s as compared with £23 Is fid in the previous season. Of the quantity exported in the past S months 172.191 huh .n went to the I’nited Kingdom. and (3,123 lades to other i un-trii-s. 'fhe produce .statistics are very satisfactory.