MANY SMALL LOANS.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18089, 3 June 1924, Page 13

MANY SMALL LOANS.

dVA *CES FOR ELECTRICAL A jSSTALLATIONS. n , following Btatemeut from tho ** , Manager of the City Council <*"•■**«■ Department relating to the by the Department to to DflV *>r thl - cost of cffcctin S (*^!? ißßtnllaiions in their prcm- ** cut before the Council last J$ t: ""' , tn draw the attention of the to H)0 position regarding & m \ ,nces made by the Council to Aw adV3 for electrical installations. -«fttfß» e ™ to f capital employed durending Maroh 31 a t,.192J, «MoO, of which £1)500 was bori*f from fi"»« al « ccount ' an ' 3 * lO Nation loa"- Thc 10a,,s n ° W P'WOO advanced to 700 con«tsi . ?a«rage about £l4 32s per fssie" \" Th(3 number of loans paid <w'the vrar was UP, and the * f ff neV loans was 328. Thc "? rf administering these loans may ff//ted approximately as follows:- «* ' Dr.

While this is an .ipnroximation, and : t may be claimod that interest on the IS borrowed from general account 5 not ''e actually « barged, it ,s cy,S that the administration ot the „ involves the department in an gjSrtrf f»m £250 to £3OO V Mnital were borrowed under the ,i« of the Act, the interest is InnB t0 5 per cent., and tlio r.uarge on ?« advances is limited to 6 per pent, fii obvious the margin of 1 per cent. nnot meet the cost of administering C advances. A very considerable Lnt of trouble has been experienced Securing regular payment of the- inItaentß. Last month as many as 100 Jut-off notices were sent out, mtimat■m that if overdue accounts we.ro not «utl the premises would be cut olt. fL'had a satisfactory effect,-but such j Itep was not taken until many other njowouw bad proved unsuccessful, ad a great deal of time wasted and expense incurred. Over a period of ten years, the total •mount advanced in tho various loans hsbeet) £41,898 15s 3d, and the total IMP from had debts £SB 15s, but tiis exceptional result lias not been tally achieved. There can bo little feibt that advantage has been taken of these loans in eases -where it was UVff intended to bo made available. Altett of £4O has now been set, but liil" dosa not altogether remedy the (jjtUr. The questions that arise out tf this review of the position are as mm:- 4 „ , ~ d . , . . (1> The ueed for extending the ousim that oxisted in 1913 is not now a pressing as it then was. Many . MCfi» avail themselves of the loan, but se«n to give the maximum amount of troths in collecting instalments. HWini! isenred the Council's assistoae'», u#'ju>pear to hold the regular as in no sense to oWipibs; Consequently, from 10 to 15 per «ajt. have regularly to be may be desirable to add s ipjjjjfe, which could be deducted

P qWJ/wjment by duo date. (2) Instead of advancing the whole ugmtot an installation, an advance d {wf tlic amount might bo equally wMle to the leas tarffli to the Department."* {s) In order to cover the cost of, the tdministration of the loan, as vre canjfii raise the interest rate, the fee night be from 12s 6d to, say, -68 2a. This would still be much less than the cost of an ordinary second Jfcortgagg deed applicable to such a J (4) The present method is to receive trom tbo borrower an application for $9 loam and in response, when his tqnity in the property has been voriki, the Council makes a -declaration, *McJi is lodged with the Deeds Ofitt, and becomes the Department's Wly security. | An alternative that would placo the 1 Council in a stronger position would te for the owner to execute an ordinary mortgage to the Council, and pay tfc« costs involved.

(5) It may be desirable to discontinue or to hold over advancing whilo fte presotit high rates of interest are nllpg, and the necessity for obtaining aw consumers less pressing. (6) It ia of interest to note that tho Itoer Boards Act (1920 Amendment) Provides powers in this connexion simi!v to those existing for the recovery "f rates, and the Boards are consequently in a much stronger position Ban the Council.

Jio spocific recommendation is offcrrt oo this matter, but the above facts, ttd the general position, are submitted "*«. inforra ation of tho committee. «Ie foregoing statement' had pro- *>««!? been considered by tho Eiec"Ktty Committee, which advised the C °Wl that the loans in question were NMOTUig valuable service to the eomJ!' 8 %, and tlio cost of administering |M$ v?as a reasonable expense to U , 1 t >* n tlle interests of stimulating «**ffcai development. *W Council approved of tho report. h = =

£ s. d. :i,:3 5 10 el** 1 ■; '.'■ '•'• 533 10 0 50 0 0 Mi 0 0 53 15 0 :;o on £1072 17 9 Cr. £ r,. d. BuW.tffMtorcd to general sorting "P enSM '■ 709 0 9 108 5 7 255 11 5 X1072 17 9