The Hawera Star. FRIDAY. MARCH 16, 1928. RURAL INTERMEDIATE CREDITS

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 16 March 1928, Page 4

The Hawera Star.

FRIDAY. MARCH 16, 1928. RURAL INTERMEDIATE CREDITS

Delivered every evening by 5 o'clock in Hawera. Manat-., Norma nby, Okaiawa, Eltham, Mangatoki. Kaponga, Alton, Hurleyville Patea, Waverley, Mokoia, Whakamarn. Ohangai, Meretnere. Fraser Road, and A rarata-

The announcement by Press Association ■telegram to-day of .the personnel of the Taranaki Rural Intermediate! Credits Board will act, as a reminder to farmers that, the provisions of the legislation passed by Parliament last year are now operative and it rests with them if ■they are to take advantage of the channels which have been provided for giving them financial assitance. Developments in connection with the new arrangements for lending money have moved on apace in South Taranaki where a co-operative association 1 of farmers has been formed and is to be Strengthened, by the addition, of new members from the district in ; the vicinity of Opunake. but there are probably many other farmers who would avail themselves of the provisions of the Act did they know more about them. Doubtless many farmers are even now waiting to bo informed further, but the fact remains that the Act is now in operation, and though members of Parliament and officers of the Public Trust Office arc ready to give all the information required, it will rest with the prospective applicants themselves and their own efforts to that end, whether they are placed in possession of all the facts at once, or wait until the information percolates through to them by slow degrees. It should bo stated, for the information of our farmer readers who are not already in possession of the information, that the newly-formed South Taranaki Rural Intermediate Credits Association has an interim secretary in Hawera, and also that the District Public Trustee in Hawera is the intermediate credit supervisor for the district. There is a good deal of confusion existent in the minds of the interested section of the public regarding •this legislation and the reason for that state of mind, as was admitted by the Minister of Finance the other day,' is largely the similarity between, the titles of two Acts with distinct and separate aims and objects. All wo are discussing at the moment, and all the announcement regarding the appointment of a. Taranaki Board refers to is the rural intermediate credits, which have become known as the short-term. credits. This is. quite separate and distinct from the Rural Advances Act of 1926, which deals solely with long term mortgages on the instalment plan. Already something like £1,000,000 has been lent to farmers under that Act, whereas no monies have as yet boon lent under the Intermediate Credits Act. Farmers who are interested in the latter and newer Act should dismiss from their

minds the similarity between the titles and concentrate on, the point that the Rural Intermediate Credits Act aims primarily at the establishment of co* operative lending concerns in. which the farmers themselves are shareholders and borrowers. The Govern,meat has issued a booklet giving a summary of the provisions of the Rural Intermediate Credits Act, 1927, and an outline of the procedure to be followed in making applications for loans. Therein some valuable information is set out briefly and in a form which is readily comprehended by the non-legal mind; farmers would be well advised to place themselves in possession of the information it contains, copies being obtainable gratis from the Public Trust Office and its branches. A central board has been set up to administer the Act, and, as announced to-day, the personnel of sixteen district boards has been decided upon. Working under the district boards, which are responsible/ to the central board, will be the co-operative associations, formed with the; sole object of obtaining funds from the central board and relending thorn to farmer-shareholders upon securities to be aproved by the board. The booklet referred to sets out very clearly how farmers may go about obtaining shares in the associations, what their liabilities will be and what assistance they will bo entitled to when they have done so. The procedure to be followed in making application for individual loans from the board without the intervention of the board is also set out, but as it appears, judging by inquiries which have reached us, that the main concern of the small farmer at present is to understand the working of the intermediate credits through associations, we will not becloud the issue, by a further reference here to that side of the board’s activities. Sufficient it should bo for the moment 1(0 advise all interested farmers to place themselves in possession of the booklet, wherein they will find sufficient information to enable them to separate in their own minds the provisions of the two Acts, similarly named and both relating to 1 the land, but aiming at different objects.