LIBERTY LOAN

Grey River Argus, 22 May 1942, Page 3

LIBERTY LOAN

GREYMOUTH DISTRICT EFFORT. The Liberty Loan receipts for the Greymouth postal district now amount to £23,135, made up as follows Hokitika £21,475, Greymouth £l3BO, Wataroa £lOO, Reefton £5O, Waiuta £5O, Runanga £3O, Brunnerton £3O, Jackson Bay £2O. The above figures include the sale of £5O of Liberty Bonds at Waiuta and £3O at Runanga. The local National Savings Committee has arranged a special drive for the sale of £1 Liberty Bonds. Today street selling booths will be es-, tablished at several points in the town and these will be staffed by members of the Women’s War Service Auxiliary. In addition to these booths the Bonds will also be sold daily at Messrs Truman’s Ltd., Self Help Co-op. Ltd., Inkster’s Ltd., Harley’s, and Chief Post Office.

20,000 Subscribers STILL EXPECTED TO HELP BANKS OFFER ADVANCES WELLINGTON, May 21. Mr W. T. Ward, acting-governor of the Reserve Bank, in a statement regarding the Liberty Loan, said up to Wednesday night seven million six hundred thousand pounds' had been received. That was very good, but the number of subscribers was only three thousand nine hundred. That meant an average subscription of about two thousand pounds per applicant. There still remained seven and a half millions to be taken up, and it was to the many thousand small subscribers that he looked to provide the bulk of this amount. It might seem a pretty tall order, but he wanted from the people of New Zealand twenty to thirty thousand subscribers to this Liberty Loan. This should not be impossible, because, looking at the financial returns, he found that lying in the trading banks, on open current account, there was some sixty-one million pounds, and this, he added, was growing, and it would continue to grow as the bulk of this loan would be spent in New Zealand, and would, ultimately, circulate through all the channels of trade. In the Post Office Savings Banks, he said, the depositors held sixtynine millions, while the trustees of savings banks had between them some fifteen to sixteen millions. Thus there were some one hundred and forty-six millions Iving in the hands of people in various banks. Fifteen millions was not a very large percentage of that sum. In addition co the one hundred and forty-six millions, there was in the pockets of people—and in some pockets burning holes —a sum of twenty millions in notes, portion of which, surely, should be available towards the Liberty Loan. Mr Ward explained that, in order to assist people with limited means, arrangements had been made with the trading banks whereby those banks would advance to any applicants ninety per cent, of the amount that they wished to subscribe directly to the Liberty Loan. If a person wished to subscribe one hundred pounds, he was required to pay ten pounds down, and the trading bank would find the balance. He would be charged interest calculated on a day-to-day basis at the low rate of 31' per cent, per annum. He also would have the right to repay the money on any day, but in order that any advances might be repaid within a reasonable period, the banks would require repayment at the rate of 15 per cent, of the loan subscription each month, thus giving a maximum period of six months for repayment. At the end of that period, the advance would be fully repaid, and the bond of inscribed stock would be handed to the person concerned by the bank.