THE LAST DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 70, 24 March 1933, Page 8

THE LAST DAY

LOAN CONVERSION

MINISTER'S APPRECIATION

Ninety per cent, of the internal debt has been offered to the Government for conversion, and holders of the remaining 10 per cent.- have only a few more hours in which'to make their applications. Under the terms of the Debt Conversion Act, the scheme definitely closes tonight.

Beturns.requisitioned, late last night from banks, post offices, and district Treasury offices in all parts of New Zealand brought the total offer up to £.104,016,337, which represents slightly over 90 per cent, of the whole debt of £115,000,000. Similar returns, will be called for tonight, so that although the final result of the conversion will not be known until next week it will bo possible by tomorrow to give a very fair approximation. The stock in respect 'Of which dissents havo been lodged is now £472,000, or considerably less than oae-half of one per cent, of the total conversions. Since the last few clays have shown no marked increase in the notices of dissent, it seems safe to predict that the conversions, assented and "silent," will represent as much, as 98 or 99 per cent, of the total debt.

The conversion of the British war loan last year under different conditions was 92 per cent, successful. In the Australian debt conversion of 1931, out of a total of "£556,000,000 the assented stock was £487,000,000 (88 per cent.), the dissented stock £.18,000,000 (3 per cent.), and. the "silent" conversions £50,000,000 (9 per cent.). It is already clear that both the percentage of conversions^ actually assented and the total percentage of conversions will be -greater in New Zealand than they were in the Commonwealth.

It was perhaps natural' enough, said Mr. Coatea today, that the! small investor should have ■ hesitated a little before-consenting ,to such a reduction in hi 3 income, but in the end he must have realised that the Government had done all in its power to avoid seeking the reduction, and . that the general scaling down of interest rates which he would help to achieve was one of the indispensable conditions of a revival of prosperity."

".All. I can do now," ended the Minister,, "is to remind bondholders that today is the last day on which them applications for conversion may be posted or lodged with the tanks, post offices, or district Treasury offices. I have many times stressed the value of "a unanimous responso to our appeal. W.e are nearly there now, and I am confident that the final result will b& very gratifying "indeed. I know that some of tho details of the scheme have been subject to some "public criticism, but I have found no ono who can deny that the benefits of conversion are real, and are essential to the country's welfare. And that after all is the bondholder's niain concern, for he must first guard his cpuntry's welfare if he will guard his own."