The Daily News. FRIDAY, AUGUST 11, 1916. DOMINION WAR LOAN.

Taranaki Daily News, 11 August 1916, Page 4

The Daily News. FRIDAY, AUGUST 11, 1916. DOMINION WAR LOAN.

The Government having decided to raise in New Zealand a war loan of eigne millions sterling, are now inviting the public to subscribe thereto, and elsewhere in this issue will be found full information concerning the terms and other matters connected with the proposal. In v asking for eight millions, the Minister of Finance has been mod'.!ate, but it will be noticed that lie reserves the right to accept all or any excess of that sum that may be applied for. , There has been a persistent urging of the Minister to take this course for a long time past, for it wac felt that New Zealand should no longer be a drag on the Motherland for war finance in view of the fact that, while there are many millions of unemployed capital in the Dominion, the British Government has to bear a financial barlen, the increase of which by loans to New Zealand seems to be not onlj unjustifiable, but a serious reflection on our financial status. In taking this ve.'y politic step of raising a local loan for war purposes, there has been removed the one- and only blot in the happy relations between the Dominion and the Motherland. Not that Britain complained; that is what she would nev-ir do, for the sacrifices New Zealand has made, and the acceptable help given m liiis period of Empire storm and stress would be regarded as far outweighing all financial matters. But what the statesmen and financiers of the Old Country thought is quite another question. Sir Joseph Ward and Mr. Jtassey can now face the British authorities without a blush for any shortcomings on tht: part of the Dominion in conne ition with the conduct of the war, and it i? nothing less than gratifying to the people of New Zealand that two great political leaders can pay a visit to the Homeland under such creditable auspices. We do not urge this as a lvasi'.'i why there should be a practically universal response to the invitation for subscriptions to thi. loan; that may be left to individual good sense and the recognition of the fact that honor demands the success of tho loan, for the sacrifice of men must be amplified by the placing of cur verplus money at the disposal ot the Government for the prosecution of the war. The thiee essentials to success are men, money, and munitions. The country's generous contribution of man powei can now be supplemented with an equally useful and necessary provision of money. The last, June banking returns showed that there was in New Zealand over twenty millions and a half of idle money, on free deposit, and therefore not earning interest, while the Post Office Savings Bank held over twenty-two millions to the credit of depositors, and the reserves of the joint stcrk banks and insurance offices in the 'poSiinion amount to nearly eight ml

lions Hero we liava about fifty millions sterling that may be regarded as to a large extent awaiting investment. The country needs twelve 1 millions and e-ks for eight, an amount that is move than covered by the excess of deposits in the June quarter over the advances and discounts made by the banks. The Minister of Finance has acted wisely in throwing the loan open to every citizen ot the Dominion. The wage-earners of the humbler class can invest as small a sum as sixteen shillings, in return for which a war loan certificate, payable to bearer and therefore easily negotiable, will be given to the investor, entitling the holder to the payment ot £1 in five years time. Similarly, a payment of .£8 rill entitle the holder to £lO at the end of the same period, while all other amounts invested can be made up for a combination of £1 and €lO certificates uq to £SO. Those who are willing to invest more than £SO will receive War Bonds, to which ava attached coupons for the collection of half-yearly interest at the rate of four and a half per cent., free of incometax. The certificates carry no interest that can be collected, but the small ~ n-vestor vestor will receive exactly the same interest as the largo investor, only it .vill be compound, and added to the principal, thus making the sixteen shillings invested become £1 in five years time, this principle affecting all £1 and £io certificates. The scheme is very simple and practical, while the security is is sound as British Government stock, with regard to the bonds, they will be issued for or twenty-five years, in denominations of £SO, £IOO, £SOO, and £IOOO, and the purchase money can be spread over four payments of 25 per cent., the last being due on February 1, 1917. An important provision in connection with this loan is that for its repayment by an annual sinking fund. The people of Now Zealand have now a great opportunity for demonstrating their practical patriotism in a way that will bo to their personal gain, and they should eagerly embrace the -pportunity. As applications close on August 21, there is not much time to i/aste in calculating whether it might be possible to find a better investment From a national point of view there can possibly be no better avenue for utilising the surplus money that is so urgently needed for Imperial purposes. Wo hope to see the loan very largely over-subscribed and that all the money I offered will be taken. We are rightly proud of our unprecedented prosperity, and,as that is largely due to the war, it is only fitting that this war loan shall ' one of the means whereby those who cannot go to the front will be doing equal service by j'oviding the sinews of war.