THE FOUR MILLION LOAN

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 289, 3 June 1912, Page 5

THE FOUR MILLION LOAN

SIR JOSEPH WARD EXPLAINS.

By Telegraph—Press Association. Wellington, Last Night. Sir Joseph Ward, interviewed to-day, made a further and more explicit reference to the four million loan. He said that a loan could not be split up and raised in sections except at a ruinous eost, so he had adopted the plan of raising only one loan yearly. Had the Liberal Party been returned with a reasonable majority the loan would have been raised in February. It would be ridiculous to assume t'hat any loan would he raised for sentimental reasons. An important point he had had to consider was that the Opposition had vehemently and with great maliciousness attacked the raising of a five million loan, which had, however, been recognised in financial circles as a most successful operation. When he saw there was a possibility of the second ballot going against the Government, he thought it his clear duty to keep the Opposition free in the event of their being returned to power, so that tlicy could fix whatever amount they thought necessary to raise. He, however. after 'the second ballot, decided to make proper provision for the requirements of the Dominion to the end of the financial year, and meantime not to raise a loan on the Home market. He, therefore, made arrangements to enable the Government to carry on till October, and he would have done this even if the Opposition had been returned, or at least have given his successor fullest information to enable him to do so if he wished. Money for roads and bridges, the purchase of land for settlement, etc., had been provided from the time of t'he election till now, without going 011 the money market, and the suggestion that the Opposition would be embarrassed if it came into power through any want of smoothing the way was contrary to fact. The point he made at the recent reception was that had the party been returned with a fair majority he would have accepted full responsibility for raising the four million loan, and, after deducting the amount temporarily obtained for public requirements, the balance would have been transferred to the Dominion. The raising of such a loan must have an influence for good upon the money market of the Dominion. He certainly would not be a partv to raising a loan for the purpose of easing the money market, lie had never done so, though it had been done by one of his predecessors in a Conservative Government. Immediately after the first ballot, when the success of the Government became doubtful, all 'the financial institutions that had been lending freely pulled in, and this- was due to the uncertainty of the political position. He was not discussing the matter from the aspect of controversial party politics, but lie did feel amused at Mr. .Massey's recent statement that his (Sir Joseph Ward's) statement; upon the matter appeared to him. ('Mr. Massey) as an extraordinarily awkward and most unfortunate admission by a former Minister of Finance. '•'That," said Sir Joseph Ward, "is what I call the view of a Parliamentary leader who is prepared to take upon himself an extraordinary and distorted view of a very plain matter." Money, he continued, was undoubtedly tight, and if he had been backed by a reasonable majority, either at the first or second ballots, he would have carried out what he believed to be the best policy, but if he had , so acted in view of the closeness of parties and remembering the attitude of the Opposition, which wa9 characterised by extraordinary unfairness at the general election in relation to a former loan, Mr. Massey and his friends would uave been the first people to find fault witli him for raising the loan, and they would have been justified in complaining that he (Sir .1. G. Ward) had anticim)'"! IV rightful obligations of the parly that had a majority at its back, and took control of the finance of the Dominion. He himself had always been on the side of strong finance, and was incessantly defending our finance against unjustifiable attacks coming from opponents. The Opposition seemed to forget that when money was recently tight he had instructed the State Advances Department not to raise t'he rates of interest as the money-lenders were doing, and this had had a salutary effect, and the moneylenders soon lowered the rate of interest. Again, he did not agree with those who thought that money would rule high for long. Anyway, it was due to outside causes, and New Zealand's credit was ! still good, and if a loan was to be raised he thought it could be raised at a satisI factory figure. As to- the statement in I the "Post" that "there are times when a loan can help a country to health, and there are other times when loans are a stimulant, merely postponing the inevitable headache." He said that while the writer was entitled to his view in connection with money bor: owed for public requirements in New Zealand', the position of the country had to be remembered, and it was a very dangerous doctrine to say that for fear of a headache provision should not be made for a number of railways for some years to come at any rate, which were so urgently needed by those who had gone on t'he land where railways at present did not reach. No worthy public man had in recent years opposed advances to settlers. Few would say that money was not required to open up native lands, or that public bodies did not want money -to meet legitimate requirements, and those who were familiar with the extraordinary expansion that wrs going on in connection with the railv. -.y services of the country and the requirements of the people would not oppose the provision of a certain amount of money each year for additions to open lines, independently, of course, of the amount that is devoted to them out of revenue for upkeep and' repairs. Anyone considering these points would be satisfied that a four million loan was not one pound too much. Most of it would have been expended on reproductive works, and would have borne more interest than would be payable on the loan. Those who complained had never put forward a reasonable statement as to which por- j tion of the people's requirements were to be curtailed. He thought none of ■them should be curtailed, and it would be found that wherever the Government constructed new railways new settlements had ibeen created, and this greatly increased the earning power of the country, which in its turn was chiefly responsible for giving the Dominion the magnificent ordinary revenue that had been earned during the last financial year. In conclusion, Sir Joseph Ward said: "I may add that under similar circumstances I would act just as I did before, upon the principle that if full and proper provision is made for carrying on the requirements of the country in the event of other people coming into power, they should have the undoubted right to fix their own policy, decide the amount of the loan they desired to raise, and settle the time'and terms for themselves."