N.Z. STANDARD OF LIVING

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 79, 2 October 1944, Page 2

N.Z. STANDARD OF LIVING

VICTORY LOAN’S IMPORTANT PART (Special to “Mail”) Wellington, This Day. “This loan is the best method of financing New Zealand’s war effort so as to maintain our si; ndards of living,” said the Prime Minister, Mr P. Fraser, in a further talk on the Victory Loan during the week-end. Emphasising the importance of lending to the State at the present time and the benefit to the individual as well as reinforcement of the war effort, Mr Fraser said that heavier taxation or the resort to inflationary methods could only result in an attack on our standards of living, whittling down the value of our money and sapping at any sound basis for the rehabilitation of our servicemen. “If the value of our money were not kept secure, and it will be kept secure, ’ he continued, “we would discover that our rehambilitation plans, unsurpassed by those of any other country, are built on sand. You are helping to pay for the war. You are unquestionably making it possible for guns, tanks, ships and planes to be provided. You are playing your part in re-estao-lishing our returning servicemen in the civil life they deserve. You are maintaining the standards of living in New Zealand for their benefit as well as your own. You are doing all these things if you lend your money to the Victory Loan. You are being asked to do this to the very limit of your capacity. Even this is not asking you to go beyond the bounds of prudence, although that is not too much to ask.” The Prime Minister described the loan effort as a challenge to prove our worth as a nation and to prove that the sacrifices for us by our fighting men had not been made in vain. Success would be one more proud item in our war record.