THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. TUESDAY, JUNE 25, 1912. THE NEW ZEALAND LOAN.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10668, 25 June 1912, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. TUESDAY, JUNE 25, 1912. THE NEW ZEALAND LOAN.

The opening of Parliament tlais week will be invested with more than ordinary interest, 'by reason of the expressed determination, of a section of the Opposition to criticise the .financial operations of the Government. The statement made iby the Prime Minister in Taranaki .that further 'borrowing was not acquired at present, followed immediately by the announcement that a short-dated loan of '£4,000,000 wtos (being .raised in London, will'certainly require' seme explanation. But at the most, it was a iiriierepresentaition of 'facts which o.an have no important bearing upon the finances themselves. The Opposition will be ill-advised in pursuing a course of captious criticism. If it 'be tilue that a 'loan of £4,000,000 was 'required to renew expiring loans and ito -pay for the Dreadnought, the only (points (for diECUseion are whether the money could have been more advanitageousyl obtained l a few .months earlier, and whether the -issuing of '.short-dated .bonds was in the best interests of ithe Dominion. On the first ipoint Sir Joseph Ward wbufld ipr'obahly be .batter able to speak than the iHou. T. iMacbenzie. The second ipoint i<3 purely one for the opinion c;f 'financial exprrts. In the "Business | .Prospect r> Tear Book, 1912," which j .was publisUted iin October, 1911, the •following forecasts in the money market for 1.912 were made: "Throughout the year the demand 'for money iwilil be active, and bank rates will be higher than . in any year since 1907. The Bank of England rate will average 'about 4 phi - rait, for the year." Reasons for this presumption are se>t 'forth in an article, and tl'.ie facts given are sumiriami.sed as follows: "The demand for gold . should, in

1912, lie considerably greater for -the crarying on of lnferni.itior.aJ hv.fle, for new 'developments, and for the nay•ment of wages and othcV requiremcr.its of ir-i-nc'ulatk'ii. On it.ho c-'tSior sido, tlie reserves in the grout Ihmnc ial centres Jiave- been practically-sta-tionary for tbreo ycMrs. The productions abroad will be approximately ■the same as during recent year, l -:. The. prospects -are, Albert Core, that the average Bank rate will .again advaaice, and will range 'between 4 per cent, and -I-J- per cent., a higher figure than in any ycoir .since 1907." Apart altogether from the advance in B.mk ra:v;, A'cw Zealand had to face a- position of ihianeiail unrest erewbed by labour tiftni'bles and by .inte.rna.tic.ual crises in various forms. Had a long-da trd l-'rau been- placed upon tlie market, it would iprdbably have met wlt!i a m:ueb worse: .Saito than the short-dntt'd koiio. "It is jiut a question, whether the- ceet cif a dual flotation, which! will be necessary on a tw,o-year issue, will bo greater than would have been, the cost of underv.'rittnigiat bug-data:! iloan. This gecvus to .be the (inly real point at issue. And W3 have a :iughfc to ask, wlrab Avould Mr Massey have done linden - similar circirms-tancos ? 'Would be have d'&ire. better than iMr Mackenzie?