URGENT WORKS ONLY.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 November 1920, Page 4

URGENT WORKS ONLY.

ADVICE TO LOCAL BODIES. NOT ENOUGH MONKS FOR ALL.. (By Wire.—Parliamentary Reporter.) Wellington, Last Night. In regard to the difficulty experience: by municipalities in borrowing mone' at five and a half per cent., Mr. Masse said in the House to-day, that he woul be very glad to look into 'the diflleultj for it was a difficulty. He had had • number of communications from loea bodies on the same,'lines. I The diliiculty, added the Premier, was that there were so many applications 'by local bodies for loans that there was not enough money to go round. A day or two ago ono of the Treasury officials had called his attention 'to the Haet that there were £10,000,000 worth of applications from local bodies, and said that it was impossible to find the money for them. This was in addition to loans in connection with which promises had been made. The position we had got into was thai the local bodies were competing one with another for the money in the country. If that position continued instead of money being available at Ave and a half or six pcrVcnt it was going up to eight or ten per cent, and that would not be good for anybody. Mr. Mitssey wished to inform the local bodies, the members,■ and the country of the position into wlucli we had got. We should attempt to remedy it by deferring all 'the less urgent works. Ther» was not enough money to go round among those who wanted it.