Nash is Against Use Of Earthquake Fund Money

Northern Advocate, 30 August 1948, Page 7

Nash is Against Use Of Earthquake Fund Money

TORNADO DAMAGE ~,

HAMILTON, Mon. (Sp.).—lt was neithei’ ethical nor wise to suggest that money should be transferred from the earthquake fund to meet expenses involved in the restoration of buildings damaged by the tornado on Wednesday. The Minister of Finance (Mr Nash) said this at a meetingin Hamilton yesterday. Mr Nash, who was accompanied by the Minister of Rehabilitation (Mr Skinner), arrived at Hamilton by air on Saturday afternoon and held meetings with departmental officers, members of the city council and other organisations.

The Minister’s views on the use of the earthquake fund were expressed at a meeting in Frankton, where he met residents and businessmen to discuss steps which should be taken to alleviate the difficulties of the people concerned. He said everyone in the Dominion who paid insurance had contributed to the earthquake fund at the rate of a shilling for every £IOO value of property insured. FUND AT £6,000,000 The earthquake fund stood at about £6,000.000, and if an earthquake occurred in a city like Wellington the damage might easily exceed £10,000,000. The Government wished to help to the limit the people who had suffered in the tornado, but it could not afford to have the public revenues exploited. Suggestions for a separate fund covering disasters olher than earthquakes might be worth consideration. If the spirit of self-help which had been in evidence in Hamilton since Wednesday were continued, the problems that existed would not be difficult to solve, said Mr Nash No one should make a profit out of the disaster and that introduced a lot of problems. REPLACEMENT COSTS A house which was worth £2OO last Tuesday might cost £ISOO to replace, and if the owner sold the property within a few months he would stand to make a lot of money. The houses that required restoration were in a different category from those tnat had to be replaced. Mr Nash said information was wanted about mortgages, insurances, the size of properties, the rents paid, the condition of the leases and stock, and the extent of the damage. When all that information was collated, each case would be dealt with on its 1 merits. It might be necessary to issue import licences for those who had been left in short supply of stocks. At another meeting. Mr Nash said

and not carried on for five years, as had happened with some claims at Masterton. ' l ' IF*! ’WISH TO BE GENEROUS The money involved in the expenditure was taxation money and the Government had to see that it was spent wisely. The Government wished to be generous in the matter.

Ex-servicemen were in a different category from civilians, said the Min-

ister. They would be restored as far as possible to the situation they occupied before the disaster. An ex-serviceman’s indebtedness would not be increased by losses caused by the ternado. The district rehabilitation officer (Mr

J. W. H. Barber) said eight ex-service-men were affected.

“The chamber is concerned that the victims of this disaster are apparently not to be provided for out of the

funds set aside to compensate for earthquake' damage.” said Mr C. B. Prisk, president of the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce, yesterday.

Mr Prisk expressed the opinion that

he wanted to see all the problems settled within two or three months,

disasters such as that in Hamilton on Wednesday should be made good on a national scale. ALTERNATIVE SCHEME “It is never desirable for large sums of money to be held in pools for any length of time,” added Mr Prisk. “The chamber can only reiterate the need for an alternative scheme, such as the one put forward in the early years of the war, under which all property would for insurance purposes. “A nominal registration fee of 1/would be paid at the time of taking out the policy and where an area suffered from tornadoes, floods, earthquakes or action at the hands of the King’s enemies the cost would be met in the first instance by the Treasury, and in due course a levy would be made on all registered insurance policies to reimburse the Government. “We recommend this scheme for fur-

Schools' Tournament

DUNEDIN, Mom (P.A.).—Auckland Grammar School retained the Rankin Cup when it defeated Mt Albert Grammar 6—l in the final of the New Zealand secondary schools’ hockey tournar ment. Auckland Grammar showed clear I superiority and encountered little . serious opposition in the second spell. The New Zealand secondary schools’ team beat the Otago junior representative team in a hard-fought match by 3 goals to 2.

CYCLING. At Amsterdam. Van Vliet, of Holland, won- the world professional sprint cycling championship by beating the Frenchman, Gerardin, by half a length in two consecutive final heats, clocking 12.8 s over the last 200 metres of both runs.

ther consideration by the authorities as one which would have adequately catered for the situation on the present occasion,” said Mr Prisk.