N. Z. BVILDING PROGRESS

Progress, Volume XVI, Issue 3, 1 November 1920, Page 53

N. Z. BVILDING PROGRESS

Registered, as a Newspaper.]

Vol. XVI. No. 3, Monthly.

The Soldiers' Loan. The Government is asking investors to lend £6,000,000 at 5 \ per cent, for the purpose of continuing its repatriation of the men who saved this country and all its wealth by their efforts in the great war. The loan is to be issued at par, and the term is twelve years. Recognition of the increased price of money is shown by the heightened rate of interest, which for a Government loan is a record. Local bodies are said to be experiencing some trouble in getting money at this price, but it may be that large investors, knowing that the Government required some millions, have been waiting for this issue. The State certainly should come first in this matter, for not only is the loan giving New Zealanders an opportunity of completing the redemption of their repatriation obligations to our brave men, but it is going to be expended on the very form of reproductive asset, the settlement of men on the land. During the last few years there has been a remarkable boom in land settlement, involving subdivision making for greater progress and permanent prosperity. Prices of some of our staple products will probably not continue to boom, but the outlook in this respect has at any rate the advantage, from the point of view of war loan investors, that their money will be put into land capable of being bought at more reasonable prices than have prevailed during the last two years. In commending this loan issue to our readers, we must stress the fact that it furnishes the opportunity of those who stayed at home to make some practical recognition of their appreciation those who could, and did, fight for the preservation of free institutions. It is a gilt-edged investment, carrying with it a sense of doing the right thing by men who well deserve their land settlement opportunities. ' ' ■-■■'■' ' * * * Depreciation Fund. We are glad to note that in connection with the Discharged Soldiers' Settlement Loan the Government has adopted the very sound principle of establishing a depreciation fund up to £50,000 per annum for the purpose of stabilising the value of

the security and also as a further means of reducing the debt. The loan is one in which trust funds can be invested, and this depreciation fund will give much greater confidence to those in charge of trust funds, as we feel confident that the operation of the depreciation fund provision will serve to effectively maintain the price of the loan. There are occasions when investors are obliged to liquidate securities. The operation is not done for speculative purposes, but is needed to furnish ready money required in an estate. When emergencies of this nature arise, it has often been the case that the placing of securities on the market with instructions to sell within a limited period have depressed tHe security. But under the depreciation fund provision of this loan, if the Minister of Finance is satisfied that the securities are being sold for a bona fide reason, the State will buy them back at a price which will not be dictated by the necessity of the occasion. Thus the market price will not be depressed by forced sales under the usual conditions of such transactions. The system is so sensible that we would like to see it adopted by local bodies and others who have the administration of loans in which trust funds may be invested. * * * Memorial Highway Revived. Until about a month ago it seemed as if the proposal for an Anzac Memorial Highway, first made a long time ago by Mr. Hurst Seager, had been completely discarded, but it has been rediscovered by an enterprising motorist, who managed to secure a fair amount of publicity for his " new " idea. We hope it will again be buried deep, for the adoption of such a form of memorial would advertise to the world that New Zealanders are capable of thinking of nothing but material gain—so much so that they are prepared to exploit the nation's respect and admiration for the Anzacs in order to get good arterial road communication for their, country. A memorial of a great phase in a nation's history ought to be of such a character as to suggest, upon viewing it, the finest thoughts and something adequate regarding the character of the great deeds thus celebrated. Would this be the case if this

elongated memorial was really' adopted? It would be an ideal race track for motorists desirous of piling up colonial long-distance records, and a perfect paradise for the speed hog-until the surface began to wear out. Then we would have disagreeable disputes and wrangles about the responsibility for maintenance. Centred around such an object, it would be as painful and undignified as a quarrel over a gravestone. The Government is determined to have a non-utilitarian memorial in the capital city. There has been objection to this purely on the parochial ground that it is to be in Wellington, but the parochialists, having let off steam, failed to change the official mind, for which relief much thanks." It is one thing to build a road, and quite another thing to keep it in good repair, therefore we hope to see a fine arterial road running through New Zealand some day in the distant future, after the backblocks have been properly provided with road access. It should be built by the State, and maintained as a national highway. Then it would be a memorial, not to our desire to meanly exploit the dead for the material benefit of the living, but a sign that we are capable of carrying out great works in a businesslike way. * * * Rational Road Control. " Legislation is in course of preparation, and will be brought before the House," said the Minister of Public Works in his annual statement, " making provision for the Government taking over the control and maintenance of main roads. With the aid of this legislation it is hoped to improve and maintain the main roads of the Dominion in accordance with the standard demanded by modern transport requirements. Should my proposals be carried out, I hope to be able to employ the most up-to-date methods in connection with roadmaking and maintenance. The work will be carried out on a large scale in accordance with a definite programme and under the control of a well-organised staff." The country has heard a lot about this ideal for years but no politician seems to have had the enterprise or the imagination to work out a reasonable scheme of doing it. Immediately he starts on this scheme he will be deluged with demands to regard every road in the country a main arterial highway. And he will have to think hard and be very firm if he is going to avoid ruinous expenditure. However, the Minister of Public Works is on the right lines, and if he succeeds in inaugurating a system of rational control over the construction and maintenance of the arterial routes of communication he will be doing a good work which will live long after him. One aspect of this problem which is not touched on by the average politician is that some districts in New Zealand, such as the East Coast of the North Island, have no chance of securing a railway for a generation. They must depend entirely on road communication, and if it is afforded, the benefit to the Dominion generally by increased

production will be substantial. But under our system of road control, the Government only subsidises the patchwork efforts of local bodies on a £ for £ basis. Why should the East Coast have to pay a subsidy towards its only means of communication when, if it was better situated, it would get a good railway at the expense of the Government? Roads of this class, connecting North with South via the east side of the North Island could be fairly built at the complete cost of the State, in the same way as a railway. But this can only be done if there is a national roading policy, such-as we seem to be within reasonable distance of securing. Such a policy will be immensely more reasonable and dignified than an attempt to get a few miles of good road by an appeal to the emotions aroused by the gallantry of the New Zealanders who gave their lives to the Empire during the great war. * - * * * Public Utility Societies. Power to carry out housing schemes is given to public utility societies under the provisions of the Housing Act which has just been hurried through Parliament during the fag-end of a long session. It is surprising, in view of the great part played in housing schemes of the better type by English public utility societies, that New Zealand legislators did not give this statutory power some years ago. It has been regularly advocated by town-planning supporters, and but for the housing shortage would have had to wait like many other useful things in their programme, until a Town-Planning Bill had been introduced. The most important features of the town-planning movement are so obviously valuable that, bit by bit, they are getting into. the Statute Book. We called attention last month to a piece of town-planning introduced into the Municipal Corporations Act; this month we have an additional item. The new clause in the Housing Act enables any company or incorporated society whose objects include the establishment of village settlements or garden suburbs, or generally to make provision for homes for workers, to secure advances out of the Housing Account for these purposes: The dividend or other return to the shareholders must be subject to limitation imposed by Order-in-Council, and this will doubtless be fixed, as in the case of English societes, at the lowest current rate of interest on good securities. The maximum amount of the State's advance to the Society, or to any member thereof, shall not exceed 75 per cent, of the value of the land to which the application relates. Before leaving this subject we think it worth while ' explaining that the Housing Act provides specifically that the provision for limitation of rents does not apply to houses built after the passing of the Act. So there is still some chance for our lamented friend, the speculative builder (who has had'legislators' tears of regret shed over his. grave) to rise again he can manage to struggle up through a high pile of increased costs. ■.:'-■ •