SOLDIERS' LOANS.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18241, 27 November 1924, Page 9

SOLDIERS' LOANS.

STATEMENT BY MINISTER, QUESTION OF CIVILIAN TRANSFERS. (SPECIAL TO "THE PHISS.") DUNEDIN, November 26. • The Hon. A. D. McLeod (Minister of Lands) made a further statement to-day on the subject of soldiers' loans. He said that during. 1924 the Department had granted 507 loans, amounting to £391,000. This figure was much in excess of the repayments received since April Ist of this year. To fulfil past commitments and loans to returned soldiers suffering from tuberculosis and those with 50 per cent., or over, war disability, the Department had granted £68,471. This showed that the Government had by no means eeased lending monov, and with no new capital available it would be dangerous to extend loans before the liabilities brought about by revaluation had been cleared off. The bulk of the work of the Revaluation Board would be completed by the end of tho year. Referring to the question of transfers to civilians, the Minister said tho Department had stiffened up the granting of such transfers. Au examination of the figures fur tho first six months of 1924 showed that n total of 393 transfers of house property had been made. Of this number 241 had been to civilians and 152 to soldiers. While this soemed to be a large percentage to civilians he, as Minister, found it extremely difficult to decide when a civilian should be barred from taking a transfer, because a large number of the transfers were made by men working in tho Public Service, in banks, insurance, and similar offices, where men were shifted about, the Dominion. It was difficult to say that a transfer should not bo made to a civilian when there was no soldier availablo to pay tho price. There was also the difficulty of doctors' certificates. A soldier might bo ordered to some other town by a doctor because of his health, and wanted his transfer passed quickly so that he could get away. The Departmental officers and himself were always prepared to meet the requests of tho Returned Soldiers' Association in the direction of transfers, and he suggested that the Association might set up branches or offices where soldiers wanting to sell their houses could place their properties in the hands of the Association to find purchasers. His Department would be willing to work in with such offices. This scheme might necessitate the taking out of land agents' licenses, but if it was for the purpose of meeting the requirements of soldiers it would not be a heavy liability. He was out to help returned soldiers, not only those who had no houses, but those who had. He would be only too willing to assist in any workable scheme which the Returned Soldiers' Association might bring forward.