BOROUGH LOANS

Evening Post, Volume CI, Issue 19, 22 January 1921, Page 6

BOROUGH LOANS

THE RATE OF INTEREST

1 Permission to offer a loan at 6 per cent, 'interest was sought'by representatives of the New Plymouth Borough Council, who interviewed the Prime Minister yesterday. The members of the deputation explained that the New Plymouth Bor'-' ough Coucil, with the consent of the ratepayers, had undertaken ndceseary extensions of. the existing hydro-electric plant. The present plant was heavily over-load-ed, and was unable to supply all the power that was required. The council had entered (into an. agreement to supply Inglewood with power, and it had received ' applications from, other centres in •Taranaki. A sum of about £60,000 had been spent on the extensions, but the council found itself unable now to raise the rest of the money at 5^ per cent., the maximum rate of interest allowed by the Order-in-Council. It had done its best to attract investors. The Auckland Harbour Board and some other bodies had been allowed to pay an increased rate of interest. . .

The-Prime Minister said-that an increase in the rate had been authorised only whore loans were, maturing or where machinery and plant had been ordered I and ha,d to be paid for. '■'... Mr. Bellringer >( (Borough Manager) said tho council had ordered plant which /should arrive within the next few months/ Col. Campbell, Secretary to the' Trea-\ ei^ry, said that he had been approached in England by a prominent: engineer who I was (prepared to provide all the power New Piymouth required bo as to have power for working the ironsand deposits. ; Mr. Bellringer said the borough could not provido all the power this engineer required. )To allow him to take over the works and supply the , borough with power was another matter. '

Mr. Mftssr-y, after some further 'discussion, said that he would talk over the proposal with Colonel Campbell. The position really.was quite si.mplc. Thero was merely a limited amount of money available for a-11 the works in New Zealand, arid thero was not enough' money, ma-, terial, or labour to go round.. IT ono local body were allowed to rush in ahead of tho others it would got .more than its share- of tho available money. Mr. Bellringer: "Our material is largely on drd.er, and our labour is actually on tho job. We have enough labour." Colonel Campbell said that as head ofthe Treasury _he had to toll the Prime Minister, that it was very necessary to go very slowly in view of the requests for support that were being received from many quarters.