TOTAL OF £40,672,104

Dominion, Volume 38, Issue 20, 18 October 1944, Page 6

TOTAL OF £40,672,104

Final Of Victory Loan MR. NASH’S COMMENT “Every Reason To Be Proud ? ’ An announcement that the final figure for the Victory Loan amounted to £40,672,104 Was made last night by the Minister of Finance, Mr. Nash, in a statement after a meeting of the National War Loan Committee yesterday. “The Dominion has every reason to be proud of the successful result of the loan,” said Mr. Nash. “Our people have shown that when faced with a financial task of a size never before asked of them, they could rise to the occasion. The completed figures show that investments in Stock amounted to £30,080,704, in Bonds and ■ National Savings 110,591,400, making a total of £40,672,104. This is £1,395,364 more than the subscriptions to the Liberty Loan of last year. Increased investments in Bonds and. National Savings account for £1,141,260 of the additiioilal amount. “It is a matter for congratulation that no fewer than 10 districts out of the 20 exceeded their objectives, as against seven who passed their objectives in the Liberty Loan last year., Fotir other districts £.ame within 10 points. The details of the district percentages are as fol-, lows:—Southland, 115 ; Auckland, 113; North Otago, 103; Marlborough, 102; Wellington, 102; Otago, 100; Northland, 100; Nelson, 100; Gisborne-East Coast, 100; Taranaki, 100: Buller, 99; Wanganui, 95; Hawke’s Bay, 91; Manawatu, 90; Westland, 89; Canterbury, 83; Thames-Bav of Plenty, S 3; Waikato-King Country, 82; South Canterbury, 81’; Wairarapa, 79. “The broad lines of the Victory Loan campaign,” continued Air. Nash, “were devised by a working committee under the direction of the National War Loan Committee. This working committee consisted of men of great experience and unbounded energy. Its task was the creation of effective means to utilize every medium of public appeal on a nation-wide scale, and thus create and maintain among the people a receptive attitude toward the loan. “The central organization could do little more than create the right atmosphere, presenting the facts which justified the raising of a £40,000,000 loan. .It was the responsibility of the District Loan Committees throughout the country to drive home the appeal, with local demonstrations and the individual approach which produced practical results in bond sales and investments in stock. “The chairman and other representatives of the district committees, all of whom gave their services freely, were hard at work several weeks before the campaign was officially opened. Stressing Urgency of Need. “The actual threat of invasion having receded so far from our shores, the necessity for financial sacrifice was, in some cases, <not so readily realized as in the previous year, with the result that the stimulus of success was not forthcoming early in the campaign. But these patriotic workers did not lose heart. Greater effort than ever was required to make sections of the public conscious of the responsibility to raise some portion of the expenses of war by way of loan. Fresh and more emphatic measures were devised to stress the urgency of the need, and this unflagging effort ultimately had its pyoper reward iu the extraordinarily good response of the public in the last week of the campaign. That success was won in the end, though success was not in sight after several weeks of hard work, is all the more to the credit of the Victory Loan campaigners for never losing their enthusiasm till the task had been completed.

“A very heartening feature of the ioau figures is the amount raised by means of National Savings deposits and bond sales,” said the Minister. “Maintaining the war effort on the home front has necessitated many calls—high taxation, increased land production, a high ■level of industrial efforF, aud constant support for patriotic appeals—with the result that most citizens have had to make sacrifices to meet every request. But this has always been done in a generous spirit.

“The remarkably successful i-esult of bond sales could not have been achieved but for the help given to the Loan Committees by patriotic men and women who are constantly giving their time and energy to public appeals. They concentrated for the lime being on the Victory Loan, and the results can be regarded by our fighting men overseas as another heartening proof that those who remain at home have uot slackened in their share of the struggle for victory. Proper Economic Balance.

“Every pound invested in Victory Loan stock aud bonds, or deposited in a National Savings account is another safeguard to maintain the value of our savings, aud an assurance that when the money can be spent iu a well-stocked commodity market, there will be a real pound’s-worth of value in return. Inflation is the bugbear of every country at war, a disease which can sap a nation’s financial strength aud affect its well-being for years after war has ended. By taxation cheerfully paid, and war loans fully subscribed, we in New Zealand have materially assisted to make effective the inevitable price controls of wartime. But for the, influence of taxation aud war loans iu reducing the threatening volume of purchasing power which cannot at the moment be fully used, it would be difficult to maintain the proper economic balance even with all the controls which can -be devised. Black marketing eyils would develop, prices would rise and the purchasing value of our earnings and savings would fall. “Our people, by so splendidly maintaining their support of successive war loans, are keeping their country on an even keel economically, and keeping intact and up to full value their own investments.

“May I in conclusion express appreciation of the help given by iny colleagues in tile House of Representatives on both sides of the House who during the final stages of the campaign hr short appeals set out the oneness of our endeavour as far as the Victory Loan is concerned.”