Lake County Press. PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY Arrowtown, August 23, 1917. THE WAR LOAN.

Lake County Press, Issue 2696, 23 August 1917, Page 4

Lake County Press. PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY

Arrowtown, August 23, 1917. THE WAR LOAN.

A war loan of i>12,000,000 is a very large sum for a email country like New Zealand to provide, b'ut the Finance Minister is very hopeful that the large sum will be raised. Sir Joseph Ward has certainly offered a very strong inducement to persons of large capital to subscribe heavily to the loan, for their investment will be free of income tax, the highest rate of which is now 7/6 in the £. Doubtless all who are condemned to pay so high a rate of interest will avail themselves of the way of escape Sir Joseph has made for them. But as the Otago Daily Times observes, " the loan is not unattractive to the person who cau invest only a small sum and doe 3 not wish to lock it up for a period of 21 years. Under one scheme of the loan proposal, which, explained by the Minister of Finance on Tuesday night, seems to have been an afterthought on the part of the Government since it is not mentioned in the prospectus, an individual of such limited resources that his income is not directly assessed for taxation, may purchase Post Office bonds up to a limit of £OOO with a currency of 10 years, at 5 per cent., the interest being paid hall-yearly as in the case of the inscribed stock or bearer bonds with the longer currency. He may also, if he prefers to put his investment in war certificates, purchase these with a currency of either five or ten years. These certificates may be obtained for any sum between £1 and £SOO, but the interest will accumulate during the currency of the investment and be payable at maturity. The interest in the case of this investment will be at the rate of 5 per cent, on certificates maturing at the end of five years and at a fractionally higher rate on certificates with a currency of ten years. It will be seen, therefore, that the is?ue provides for the investment of small as well as of large sums, so that no person in the community is deprived of the chance of contributing in some measure to the success of the loan." In some further remarks our contemporary says that there is, in the aggregate, a huge sum that is available for investment on the terms that are offered to persons of limited means. Over twenty-eight millions of money were, for instance, held by the Post Office Savings Bank on June 30 last on behalf of depositors. And the war loan offers a better investment than a deposit in the Savings Bank does. It should be only necessary that this fact should be appreciated to ensure that the application for Post Office bonds or for war loan certificates, which are themselves negotiable, should be as liberal as the Government can desire. it is certainly the duty of all who have the means to contribute to the war loan, and to do so without any delay. Thousands of our brave soldiers have made the supreme sacrifice. To contribute to the war loan is no sacrifice at all: it is to make a profitable investment and at the same time help to win the war and preserve our liberties. Nothing could be more disastrous to this and every other civilised country than the triumph of Prussianisra, which represents everything that is detestable. Therefore we sincerely hope that there will be an immediate response to the appeal of the Government for money which is urgently needed to keep our soldiere in the field and continue the reinforcements until complete victory is won.

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