BOROUGH DEBENTURES CONVERSION.

Northern Advocate, 7 November 1934, Page 6

BOROUGH DEBENTURES CONVERSION.

(To the Editor.) Sir, —I am sorry to see that our Mayor and Borough Council have decided to take advantage of the permis-sion-given in some instances recently by Parliament and allow to themselves the right to redeem their converted loans, upon giving six months’ notice, at any time after 1940 or 1945. This seems to me not only a retrograde step, but one distinctly unjust to investors, who were compelled to accept this conversion whether they would or not. It has an even greater tendency to lower Whangarei in general opinion. It will be remembered that no sooner was the mischief which would result pointed out to Dunedin than that city at once rescinded the optional redemption clause. It has been plainly stated that those public bodies who use this right will degrade the value of their debentures in comparison with those ’ who do not. In plain language, when these conversion loans are finally completed and available for disposal upon the market, the municipalities which take advantage of the clause will be listed separately from those which do not, and the former will rank on a lower footing upon the investment market than their wiser fellows. Do we desire to see Whangarei upon that lower and less respected level? The answer is surely an important one. I am, etc., F. W. REED.