A SERIOUS ALLEGATION

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 137, 8 July 1909, Page 4

A SERIOUS ALLEGATION

ADVANCES TO SETTLERS. WHAT OFFICIALS SAY. The Elthn.ni Argus states that well-to-do people have mortgaged their properties to the Advances' to Settlers Department, and have, obtained money at 4'/ 2 per cent., and lent it out again at ] nearly double the rate of interest they , are paying. "If this is not a flagrant abuse we would like to know what is," says' the Argus. "When a person makes application to the department, he has to state the purpose for which he desires the money. We are quite sure that i r.one of the applicants have declared that they required the money for the purpose of lending it at high rates of interest. Therefore it is plain that some people have obtained loans under false pretences. We would suggest that the Government should set a few enquiries .afoot for the purpose of ascertaining where the abuse we refer to exists. They could get some interesting information in Taranaki."

This' paragraph was brought under the notice of the Acting-Prime Minister (the Hon. James Carroll), who is in charge of the department concerned, and the superintendent of the Advances to Settlers Office (Mr. P. llcyes),_.by a Post reporter. In reply to enquiries it was ascertained that in the last fifteen years only one case of the kind mentioned had been discovered. Applicants for loans are required to state, on forms' supplied by the department, what a loan is required for; and the valuers, in their reports, are required to state whether in their opinion the money that may be advanced will ho used "judicially." As a matter of fact, this little word covers a lot of things, valuers being specifically instructed to enquire whether there is any probability of the money being re< lent at an advanced r ate. The department limits its advances now—and has done so for the last twelve months—to £SOO, so that in any case a transaction of the kind suggested by tire paragraph in the Argus would return the original borrower comparatively little for his trouble. The one authenticated case referred to did occur in Taranaki, hut Mr. Jleyos states that there is no reason to suppose that such a thing is general, if it exists at all. The department at all times, he says, does its best to conserve the interests of people who wish to borrow from it for legitimate purposes.

COBRAM. VIC. Mrs. Thos. Ryan, Cobram, Vic., writes: "I may state that I am never without a bottle of Dr. Sheldon's New Discovery. It w as' recommended to mo at Kilmore five y ears ago, and I may honestly say that it cured me of a severe attack of bronchitis, and for coughs and colds it cannot be surpassed. Whenever my children show any symptoms of cough troubles. Dr. Sheldon's New Discovery is at once looked for, and its' effect is marvellous." Dr. Sheldon's New Discovery for Coughs and Colds is an unequalled preparation for the cure of all Chest Complaints and Lung Troubles. Price, Is Cd and 3s per bottle. Obtainable everywhere.

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