STATEMENT BY SIR JOSEPH WARD

Evening Post, Volume XCII, Issue 40, 16 August 1916, Page 7

STATEMENT BY SIR JOSEPH WARD

THE OUTLOOK DECIDEDLY HOPEFUL.

Various phases of operations in Connection with the £8,000,000 war loan which is being floated locally were referred to by the Minister of' Finance (Sir. Joseph Ward), in conversation with a Post reporter to-day. It was suggested to the Minister, at the instance of a prominent business man in Wellington, that means might be discovered by which people who had money on fixed deposit in building societies and other institutions for a definite period could release those amounts and invest them in the war loan, and that otherwise they would not be able, to invest. "We cannot commandeer anybody's or any company's money," said the Minister. ■ " It is a- patriotic loan for war purposes, appealing to the finer side of the people of New Zealand. 'It must be floated with their goodwill and by voluntary application. To' commandeer money from any source against the will of any person concerned would be against the spirit that we want to see permeating the whole country. Further, from information which has reached me from various parts of the Dominion, I am convinced tha.t the outlook is decidedly hopeful,' and that the expectations of those responsible will not suffer disappointment. There are widespread indications that people in all walks of life are taking-an interest in helping to make it a success. Applications so far had been entirely satisfactory.

Sir Joseph Ward also had brought under his notice a suggestion, by a Post correspondent, that there might be a difficulty iil the event of loan certificates being lost, and that some different method from that laid down under the Act should ,"be adopted in order to save trouble in that respect. The question was answered by Sir Joseph Ward in this way. If the original owner has not parted with hia certificate ajid has lost it he can have it replaced by going through a very easy procedure. If it is replaced, the new certificate will be the only one oil which interest would be paid or that would be virtually current.

Another correspondent suggested that Savings Bank depositors who desired to invest in the war loa-n could have an entry made against the withdrawal for that purpose, in order to obviate the necessity of keeping the loan certificate. The Finance Minister did not see any possibility of such an arrangement. As to^ another correspondent's, question, he said he was considering a proposal to open the Savings Banks on Saturday evenings for a certain time to facilitate withdrawals by those who desired to invest their savings in the war loan.