THE WAR LOAN.

Taranaki Daily News, 19 August 1916, Page 4

THE WAR LOAN.

A REPRESENTATIVE MEETING, There was a very representnth e gathering of townspeople in the Town Hull lust night at the public meeting, which was held at the request of the Minister of Finance, for the purpose of urging the necessity of the public taking up investments in the war loan.

The Mayor (Mr C. H. Burgess), presided, and moved the fdllowing resolution: ''That this meeting earnestly urges nil who can to subscribe to the War Loan now being floated. Apart from the bonds affording a profitable pecuniary investment to the holders, it is the duty of each patriotic New Zealander to put forth every effort to contribute funds for the prosecution of the war in which the Empire is engaged." In speaking to the motion, he said that while the Minister's appeal wag to the community as a whole, it was especially an appeal to the smaller subscribers. It was not an ordinary loan, nor even a war loan, but a patriotic loan. (Applause). The Government had placed practically the whole burden of taxation on the wealthy portion of the community, considering, as was )nly right, that the extra cost of living was a sufficient tax on the small man, Having made this concession, the Government felt justified in asking the latter class to assist the loan as far as possible. They were not asked to give anything, but merely to lend sums of :C1 and upwards. There were not many who could conscientiously say that they were unable to contribute. This lean would test our sincerity in the vote o? sympathy which had been passed on the 4th August, when we affirmed our 'inflexible determination to carry on the war to a decisive conclusion. When it was considered that the. British Government were spending millions per day, and bearing the greater portion bf the mirdcu, every one should feel it a duty to bear a part of that burden. He concluded by asking all residents of the borough and district to respond to the financial call of the Government as readily as our men had responded to the call to fight. (Applause). A letter of apology was read from Mr. T. Jennings, M.P., who briefly and concisely pointed out the advantages offered the investor.

Hie Hon. 0. Samuel, M.L.C.. in seconding the motion, made a forcible speech, in which lie stated that Mr. Jennings' letter had admirably explained the matter. The press of the town had more than c.i'ce indicated the advantages to be trained by taking up the bonds. In addition to the pecuniary advantages, •th-"re was the enormous advantage to be derived from encouraging thrift. It had been pointed, out how the young might be assisted in making investments, and iiolv employers might assist those associated with them. Tt was impossible to over-estimate the gontl that inisht be done., or tlu< happiness that wc might be aide to brinp; to those who, by our efforts, took advantage of this system of thrift. It was also, lie said, our duty to make some sacrifice. Xew Zealand, as a whole, and Taranaki was in no whit behind, was second to no part of the Empire in its sacrifice of blood and money. Every call had bene responded to far in excess of what might have bi.tn expected. Prudence had been set at nought, when the call tff~the Empire and of humanity dictated to us. If the call was responded to there must be sacrifices. We-could not have, business as usual and pleasure as usual. Above all, it was our paramount dutj to prosecute this Avar to a successful issue, and <". Ny -sacrifice, whether of luxury or of something useful, should willingly be made. • Those who had enjoyed the inestimable benefits of living under the Brit.it-h flag must strain every effort towards the, maintenance of that Empire to wiiieh we oived so much. Mr. IT.-Okey, M.P., said that they knew the -money must be got. anil that if pushed -it could be obtained from the British Government; but he pointed out that raising £5,000,080 in the Dominion would'save the-payment of £403.000 annually in interest away from Xew Zealand after the war. He found that in the Xew Plymouth postal district last year the excess of deposits in the Post OHice savings bank over withdrawals amounted to £284,772 among 10,181 depositors, This was an indication that the people had some means to help the Government, A considerable amount was also being repaid to the Advances to Settlers Oilice by farmers. This was at per cent., and if the farmers were to cease repaying this and lend the money to the Government at 4!/> per cent, they would bo helping in two ways. He was sorry that no ladies were present, for if they became interested he felt that a largo amount of small sums would be available. The PostmasterGeneral would rather have money placed in this loan than in the Savings Bank at the present time, because he did not know what might be the effect after the war. If the rate of interest rose to any extent, the Post Office might be called on to pay up a considerable amount of the £22,000,000 oji deposit. He believed, too, that thousands of pounds could be raised from the school children if every schoolmaster could explain to the children and infuse a spirit in them that they should bring forward every penny, which was wanted to win the war. It would be splendid to have every child in a position to say it had helped to win the war. Employers too could assist. Local bodies and firms had offered to assist their employees in taking up war certificates. He understood that the time had been extended for the certificates, but not for the bonds. He stated that the bulk of the f5,000,000 would be expended in the Dominion, in connection with the clothing, arming and transport of troops. Mr. J. D. .Sole, chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, stated that only this evi.-n-ng a lady was in the Post Oliice transferring her children's accounts to certificates. If any guarantee was ".anted of the soundness of the investment one had only to consider the action of the Auckland Savings Bank, New Zealand Insurance Co., South British Insurance Co., and others, in taking up such large amounts. While helping the country we were helping ourselves. The small man should lose no opportunity of assisting in such a practical way as to show his patriotism. * The Mayor stated that several firms in New Plymouth were offering assistance to their employees. Tho motion was then carried unanimously. CLOSING DATE OF LOAN. EXTENSION ONLY FOR CERTIFICATES. Wellington, Night. As some misapprehension appears to exist regarding the time of closing the loan, Sir Joseph Ward, to-night, said he desired it to be made clear that there was no change in the time of closing tho main loan, So far as applicants for bonds of .£SO an-' uowards were con-

cerftccl, applications would close definitely on September 21. The extension only applies in the case of the small investors in certificates of £1 to £SO issuing through the Post Office. Interviewed to-night, Sir Joseph W«rd stated that as some intending subscribers to the war loan did not apparently see the value of investing for twenty-five yeara instead of fourteen, he would meet the views of tlioao who want to invest for fourteen years by putting them in the same positon, and would accept any one sum up to £20,000, to bear interest from Ist September, providing their application is in on or before '2lst instant. At the same time lie expressed the opinion that, in all probability, the opportunity for a longer term upon such favorable conditions was not likely to arise in this country for many years to come. As the bonds would be readily, saleable, and, ip all probability, .in tha next few years would be at a premium, he could not understand why anybody should, by preference, select the shorter instead of tbe longer term for invests ment. From his point of view the advantage was on the side of the longer period. PATRIOTIC FUNDS INVESTED. Feilding, Last Night. The Feilding Patriotic Society is in« vesting £SOOO in war certificates. i The Chief Postmaster desires us to state that any person wishing to make a withdrawal from a savings bank account for the purpose of investing in war certificates will be permitted to do so during the special re-opening of the New Plymouth office between 7 and 8.30 this evening.