LOANS TO LOCAL BODIES.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 518, 16 November 1912, Page 5

LOANS TO LOCAL BODIES.

DEPUTATION TO PREMIER. AN INTERESTING POINT. [BY TKLEUKArir. I'RKSS ASSOCIATION.] Auckland, Friday. The Premier received a deputation frum the Waitemata County Council, asking the Government to grant the balance of the £58,000 loan, of which £20,000 had been lifted, as tha same rate of interest as the first instalment and an extension of time during which the money should be spent to six years. Mr Massey said the previous administration had decided in January last, in view of the financial conditions to observe the £SOOO limit for loan advances. The stringency had not been relieved, and the present Government did not feH justified in raising the limitation until after the visit of the Minister of Finance to England. There would bo no difficulty in regard to the extension of lime. Regarding ttie price of money, Mr Massey said the Government had decided "upon a policy of differentiation between loans for development and non-development. The for::u ; r woikl have firstconsideration, and the Waitemata loan came under the former heading. The Government intended to make the public works allocations available at the earliest rjossible time to enable the work to be done before winter each year.