LOANS FOR SOLDIERS

Evening Post, Volume XCVIII, Issue 71, 22 September 1919, Page 8

LOANS FOR SOLDIERS

10 THE EDITOR.

i Sir, —Referring to the following cora- , ments on the letter of '■ 3. M'Kenzie appearing in Friday's issue, you say: "Will 'our correspondent tell us where he can , get^ loans of £300, £1000, and even ±!2500 at the lowest rate of interest, on .the security only of.the property or business-for which the full amount of ;£3OO, £1000/ or. £2500 may be paid, yet ,such is the Government's scheme—ra scheme designed to enable a returned soldier to get well established." I cannot permit this to pass without bringing under your notice the case of one (and there are possibly many others) .'returned soldier who sold a small'busi,'ness piecemeal at a loss to voluntarily en-.1 1 list in the New Zealand Expeditionary Forces; this man has now applied to. the Repatriation Board for a loan of £300 to restart the same kind of ,busi'■ness (which was voluntarily sacrificed for the benefit of New Zealand citizens as * a whole), and has been granted the loan on condition he finds guarantors for the ".amount, in addition to a bill of sale -which he is willing to execute for the Repatriation Board. Whsn he .protested .against finding guarantors, tne board stated that they are requiring guarantors "now in every advance made. » 1 shall be glad to know if .the board ; has power to insist on the applicant fmd- ' ing guarantors, and if such is the case ut. is evident that the Government rel quire as good a security as the despised -money-lender.—l am, etc., ' ' . . SQUARE DEAL. 16th September. "[lt is not correct to say that tho Expatriation Department insists on a soldier applicant for a business loan finding a guarantor for. the amount before an ad- _; vance can be made. On malting inquiries • a Post representative was officially informed that as a matter of fact very few guarantees are given in such cases, and such guarantees, when given, are usually '. the result of an offer made by a pa.rent "or near relative of the soldier to guarantee the loan. If our correspondent is .still in doubt, will he supply the specific ,• instance; in order that farther cortfiden- - tial inquiries might be made? Such a .', course as; he states has been adopted in \:. one case was never intended, and we aj:e "' assured, that our statement as made was :' strictly correct.—Ed.]