WHY NOT A COMPREHENSIVE DISASTER FUND?

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22666, 17 June 1948, Page 4

WHY NOT A COMPREHENSIVE DISASTER FUND?

tf CONSIDERING that the existing administrative machinery for giving aid to people in distress is limited in its scope, nobody can, with any justification, accuse the Government of being ungenerous in its treatment, of the farmers who suffered so heavily in the recent Gisborne flood. Sound reasons have been given why there can he no recourse to the earthquake and war damage fund, and during his present visit to the district the Prime Minister, Mr. Fraser, has given an assurance that the wdiole resources of the country are behind the Government’s programme of assistance to victims of the economic disaster. Loan commitments are to he taken up on the understanding that, if an applicant is unable to meet the terms, the loan will be wiped off in part or in wdiole. There will lie no harassing of any beneficiary not in a position to meet interest, or principal. This proviso should he particularly welcome in the case of the younger* farmers, including returned soldiers, who are not long established. Realising the special national significance of the losses and threatened losses of maize, moreover, the Government lias agreed to subsidise the increased costs of harvesting the heavily-silted ciops on the flats. The sheer necessity of saving as much maizeas possible, if only for the sake of maintaining some semblance of life in the poultry industry throughout New Zealand, makes it imperative that there should he a satisfactory response to the Prime Ministers appeal to the Maoris in the East Coast areas to come forward and help in the harvesting. After the most careful appraisal has been made ot ail the measures taken to help stricken farmers, however, the wisdom of the suggestion submitted by the Mayor, Mr. N. 11. Bull, that there should he a national fund to cover all catastrophes remains vividly apparent. In commenting that this is “something for the future Mr. Fraser did not rule out the possibility that his Government will give serious thought to the plan. It is indeed to he hoped that the matter will be carried at an early date beyond the point of mere consideration. The more comprehensive such a disaster fund the greater the sense of security people in all walks of life would feel. No man need he diffident about taking advantage of its ptovisions. Likewise its creation ■would eliminate any possible sense of humiliation on the part of a person reluctant to admit that he could not meet, the terms of a loan.