AUSTRALIAN WAR LOANS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LV, Issue 16837, 30 April 1918, Page 5

AUSTRALIAN WAR LOANS.

TOTAL OF OVER £147,000,000,

GREAT FINANCIAL RESOURCES. The splendid success of the last—the sixth Australian war loan iras referred to yesterday by Mr. Denison Miller. Givernnr of the Commonwealth Bank, 'cho is at present in Auckland. Up to the time Mr. Miller left Australia, ...e final returns had not come to hand, but it was certain that the loan would be over-subscribed. At the time of the receipt of Mr. Miller's last information over 175,000 people or institutions had made application for scrip, and close on £44,000,000 had been lent to the Government for war purposes. Mr. Miller said the result was 3 stupendous achievement for Australian patriotism. Subscriptions to the first five Commonweal cTi loans totalled £101,440,340, or an average of over £20,000,000 each. With the sixth war loan, however, after allowing for an amount of £5,000,000 obtained by the sale of war savings certificates up to date, the total amount which the pub.io of Australia had so far subscribed for war purposes was in round figures £147,000,000. Mr. Miller said the financial position in Australia was absolutely sound, for after all only a comparatively small portion of the wealth cf the Commonwealth had so far been devoted to war purposes. Tho wealth of the Commonwealth the year ended Juno 30, 1915 was £1,643,463,376, and was at present estimated at £1,800.000, The annual income at the date mentioned was £257,650,251. This showed that the Commonwealth had a long way to go before it was at the end of its financial tether in providing money for war purposes. The greater part of the money raised for war loans had been spent in Australia, and so long as that went on, and wool, wheat, meat, metals, and other produce which the world required continued to be produced, so long I could the Commonwealth continue to bor- | row money in Australia, as the bulk of the I money did not go out of the possession of I the people there. Mr. Miller said the banks throughout the Coram Hiwealth had given very great assistance to the loan, and their patriotic efforts in this regard merited the" highest appreciation of the community. The special arrangement under which barks made advances to customers to enable them ti. invest in the loan, charging interest at only 4 per cent., had enabled numbers of people to invest who would otherwise have Been quite unable to do so to anything like the ®me extent. la effect, many people had mortgaged thai? future incomes tor a period of 12 or 18 months to enable them to put their money into the fighting fund, and at the same time had made an excellent and profitable investment for themselves.' It was anticipated that beneficial results from a national point of view would accrue from this arrangement, as its effect would be to encourage thrift among thosa who have mortgaged their future incomes in this way. Experience had shown that every effort was concentrated upon reducing and paying off the overdraft- as ra.pidly as possible, and the saving spirit which would thus be engendered throughout the community should ultimately prove extremely beneficial. While Australia had raised a great deal of money for war purposes, it mutt not be forgotten that at the same time the people had increased their own material prosperity by their savings, which were invested in war loan stock. In conclusion, Mr. Miller said the war loans were being raised in a systematic manner, and the organisation by which thijy are obtained was being extended from time to time to meet requirements. ' e