LIBERTY LOAN

Grey River Argus, 22 June 1943, Page 3

LIBERTY LOAN

VISIT OF BOND WAGGON. The Bond Waggon, which is touring the South Island in support of the Liberty ' Loan campaign, concluded its visit to Greymouth yesterday with a rally in the Regent Theatre, following a procession. The unit afterwards left for Hokitika.

The procession marched from the Drill Hall down Tainui Street to Mawhera Quay, then to Boundary Street, and up Boundary Street to the Regent Theatre. Led by the Grey Highland Pipe Band, it included representatives of the Home Guard, E.P.S., School Cadets, W.W.S.A., Boy Scouts, and a large number of school pupils, also. a Bren-gun carrier, the Bond Waggon, and a number of Army trucks.

At the theatre the Mayor of Greymouth (Mr. F. A. Kitchirigham) welcomed the visitors. The loan, he said, was for part of the expenditure "in connection with the upkeep of the New Zealand forces. He- asked whether any of those present had made any sacrifices —had they gone i short of ’good food, clothing, shelter, or amusements. He thought they had not made any sacrifices in that direction, and he was asking them to make sacrifices to-day. Were they content to cheer the soldiers going out and coming back, or were they going to back them up? Mr. J. S’aunders, Deputy-Chairman of the National War Savings Committee at Greyjmouth, thanked the management for the use of the theatre. When advance subscriptions were taken into account the sum so far raised towards the loan amounted to only about £7,000,000, he said. The total raised on the Coast was £59,576, of which more than £30,000 had oeen subscribed at Hokitika. At Greymouth £24,000 odd had been subscribed. He waanted everyone to be a shareholder.

Mr. C. L. Rollo, the speaker who-is travelling with the party, contrasted the position of those present with that of those in the occupied countries. Civilians had a part in the war effort, and all they were asked to do was lend their money, and lending was not sacrifice, as the loan was a first-class investment. He described the efforts of these who had raised money for war loans in Canada, England, Scotland and Russia. In Canada one in every four had subscribed. Russia had raised £BOO million in one day. Kelso, a town on the border of Scotland with a population of 4,175, had given £320,000. The speaker concluded by saying that every! man, woman, and child should say that the loan was his or her responsibility. There had never been a time when so much money had been available for investment in war loans He thought that Greymouth had not yet realised its responsibility, in the matter. Members of the Bond Waggon party—Mr. Jack Maybury, A.C. 2 W. T. Moore, Gunner N. A. Carson, and Staff Sergeant T. E. West—presented a programme, assisted by Mrs. L. T. Shurlow. and Mrs. P. Mclntosh, Miss. Moira Wootton, and Mr. Jim Duffy.' ! ■ Mr. Saunders announced that two amounts of £3OOO each and one of £lOOO had been subscribed during the rally.. With the limited amount of time available the local committee did not attempt an intensive selling campaign, but an official stated last evening that he expected that the campaign would derive a great deal of indirect benefit from the visit of the Bond Waggoners. The total amount subscribed to the loan in Greymouth yesterday from all sources —through the Post Office, the rally, and the trading banks—was £14,14,7. PARLIAMENT Bldgs, June 21.

Canada’s last war loan had the backing of two millions of small and. large subscribers. This was equal to 20 per cent of the population. Can the of the Dominions which has led) the world in some phases of national effort, equal Canada’s splendid war loan record? To do this, -states the National War Loan Committee, we need 300,000 investors in the 3rd Liberty Loan. The rather general belief that a Government loan concerns only the wealthiest organisations and individuals is a peace time idea quite out of place during an “all in” war. To float a thirty five million loan in normal times would be regarded as fantastic, but the ruthless exigencies of war enforce new standards and new needs. Men join the fighting forces, and homes are temporarily broken up. Are we who remain on the home front afraid to 1 break up our bank balances? Money invested in the Liberty Loan is not a gift, and it comes back in full with interest——a painless process compared with other wartime sacrifices.

HON W. PERRY’S APPEAL. P A WELLINGTON, June 12. First public duty of Hon. W. Perry, Minister of the Armed Forces and War Co-ordination, has been to endorse the appeal made by his colleagues in the War Cabinet for the Third Liberty Loan. “I am proud,” stated. Mr. Perry, “as an ex-soldier of the Great war to have been called into*’ the Wai Cabinet, though not of my own seeking, to serve as best I can the land of my birth. I appreciate the magnitude of my task when I realise that I follow in this high office, my friend, Gordon Coates, himself a much more distinguished soldier than I a man big in stature, bigger still in intellect and breadth of vision who in war and peace served„ ms country and empire so faithfully. He urged New Zealanders who aie on the home front in the great battle to do their part in winning where their weapons are their savings, uur enemies had mobilised all resources of the state, civil military, and financial, and we must do this, too “Could the people blame the men of the fighting services who were doing so much for them, if they expected their fellow countrymen to subscribe to the Liberty Loan to the lull limit of their capacity?’ These men of ours may be asked to give their lives, which, once .given. are given, not for a few years, but for ever. They fight with their bodies, we are asked to fight with our savings We can help materially by subscribing, even if we have to stretch our resources,” concluded Mr. Perry.

AUCKLAND MAYOR'S SCHEME AUCKLAND, June 15. The announcement that part ol the Auckland contribution toward the Third Liberty Loan would be used in the purchase of specific equipment was made by the Mayor (Mr J. A. C. Allum) at a meeting of employers,, when methods of interesting wage and salary earners in the loan were discussed. “I have arranged that out of Auckland’s subscription a squadron of bombers would be bought and will be known as the Auckland Squadron,” said Mr Allum. “If the workers of Auckland subscribe their .share of the £10,000,000 called for by the Federation of Labour, this squadron can be known as the workers of Auckland contribution.”