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whether for business, farm, or dwelling, carries its own problems, and it is therefore pleasing to note that by far the great majority of ex-servicemen assisted to date are proving successful and are rapidly becoming firmly established. The relatively. few failures that have occurred have been due mainly to the personal element, either the borrower being temperamentally unsuited to the particular venture or revealing poor managerial capacity rather than to the proposition itself being economically unsound. The table hereunder shows the aggregate numbers of loans and amounts authorized from June, 1941 (the inception of rehabilitation policy), to 31st March, 1948. As a record of substantial and successful rehabilitation it requires little elaboration : Type of Loan. Number. Amount. £ Tools of trade .. .. .. 1,188 38,806 Furniture .. .. .. .. 28,429 2,613,360 Business .. .. .. .. 5,940 3,650,719 Farms .. .. .. .. 4,716 19,237,489 Houses .. .. .. .. 20,194 23,752,605 Miscellaneous .. .. .. 312 67,980 Stock (R.1.C.) .. .. .. 350 296,301 Totals .. .. 61,129 £49,657,260 Included in the amount shown above is the sum of £1,742,587, representing the total authorized by way of supplementary interest-free loans to 31st March, 1948. As indicated in previous reports, no interest or principal repayments are required in respect of these loans whilst the ex-serviceman borrower remains the owner occupant of the property. Ex-servicemen have entered into almost every phase of business life from taxi transport to inter-colonial freight shipping, from bootmaking to hotel ownership. In a necessarily condensed form the following table shows, under classified headings, the various types of business loans authorized : Classification of Business Loans Number. TotaL Number. Total. £ £ Butchery .. .. .. 142 115,815 Taxi, service car, and transGrocery and general store .. 445 356,801 port .. .. 794 446,227 Bakery, dairy,refreshment-rooms 302 202,454 Carrier and mail contractor 953 672,030 Milk-round .. .. .. 172 128,916 Hairdresser and tobacconist 83 37,655 Building trades .. .. 437 225,385 Bootmaker .. .. 128 38,869 Mechanical repairs .. .. 296 178,351 . Painter and paperhanger.. 144 44,927 Manufacturing business .. 209 140,438 Launch and fishing gear .. 81 50,598 Stationery and fancy goods .. 85 60,825 Agricultural contractor .. 348 249,033 Eggs, poultry, &c. .. ..40 25,668 Chemist .. .. 24 25,130 Professional equipment .. 656 290,704 Miscellaneous .. .. 435 264,870 Radio dealer and electrician .. 136 70,048 1 Hotel and guest-house .. 30 25,975 Total to 31st March, 1948 5,940 £3,650,719 All loans are granted on terms providing for reasonable repayments over a number of years determined by the Rehabilitation Loans Committee or the District Executive Committee in relation to the type of asset and the estimated profit-earning capacity of the particular business. In many cases borrowers have found it possible to increase their instalments, thus reducing the loan term and clearing their liability in a shorter period than that originally fixed. On the other hand, through temporary setbacks due to ill health, shortage of Supplies, or some other factor outside the borrower's control, it has been necessary in some cases to ease the rate of repayment. Such cases are considered sympathetically by the Committee concerned, and, where warranted on the facts, appropriate relief is extended.

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