BELATED INFORMATION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 14930, 1 March 1912, Page 8

BELATED INFORMATION.

LOAN RETURN WITHHELD.

* FOURTEEN MONTHS OLD, fa? TELEGBAPH.— CORRESPONDENT.} Wellington, Thursday.. That there is good ground for the charge againsfc the Ward Administration that information is withheld from Parliament, Was strikingly demonstrated in the House of Representatives this afternoon., A return of the cost of the loan of £1,850,000, of 1909, was presented by the Prime Minister, and the accompanying letter from the High Commissioner was dated September 16, 1910. The High Commissioner stated that the fall amount authorised to be raised had been effected by the sale of £66,390 worth of 3£ per cent, stock, in addition to the £1,850,000 debentures under the loan prospectus; making a total of £1,916,390 debentures, and stock issued. The total receipts amounted to £1,850,000, and the expenses to £37,108. After deducting all expenses, but without taking into consideration the increased indebtedness caused by conversions into stock of the scrip and debenture;} issued under the loan which was at the time of writing still proceeding, or of any expenses incurred in the Dominion, the net result of the loan was stated- to be £96 10s 8d per £100 debenture of stock issued. "What about the Discount?" An interesting debate was begun by an inquiry from Mr. Fraser (Wakatipu) concerning the discount. .;'. j The Prime Minister: It is all there. He added that the law authorised the issue of sufficient stock to cover the discount, so that the full amount of the loan authorised would, be realised. : Mr. Fraser asked whether the expenses included discount.i The Hon. T. Mackenzie: Discount is not expenses. ; Mr. Fraser: Oh, is it not? The point is whether allowance is made for the discount* in calculating the net result of £96 10s. Mr. Herries (Tauranga) emphasised the point of the question, and added an inquiry why the information had been delayed so long. ; The Prime Minister: It could not have been laid on the table until the end of last session in any, case. Mr. Herries: The loan was authorised in 1909, and this is 1912. . ' / The Prime Minister: The same old story.' Mr. Allen's Criticism. , " Mr. Allen (Bruce) said, so far as ho could ascertain, the discount, which apparently amounted to £29,282, was not included in the loan agent's account. On April 14, 1910, £1,822,2:50 was paid into the Bank of England account, and the final transaction occurred on September 15, 1910. What he wanted to know was why this information had not been given before. " Oh," exclaimed Mr. Allen, ." I did not < notice this .before.',. The .letter is dated September 16, 1910, the day after the .can. was 'completed. Where« has it been in the meantime?" Mr. Allen said ho >ivas quito justified,' in view of this fact, in, charging the ' Government with treating the House, and the country with indifference. . _ _ \ _~' r , , _ ( , ' The Prime Minister: You are misrepresenting the whole position, as usual. Mr. Allen : In what way? ' The Prime Minister: Is there anything in that" return to .which' you can take ex-. ception. (Opposition laughter.) .... / A Costly Loan." Mr. Allen:■■■!" am bound to - say h that I consider that the loan is a very costly one. Mr. ! Allen instanced loans which had been.', raised freo of brokerage. Ha suggested, that the Prime Minister should be perfectly honest, and inform the House why the information had not been given.

The Prune Minister objected to the two of the term, perfectly honest." If Mr. Allen was allowed to nee , that language, ho would have the right to talk of Mr. Allen as perfectly dishonest. Mr. Speaker did not think Mr. Allen, had transgressed the rules. Sir Joseph Ward: Very well then, sir, I know how to speak of him now. . Mr. F. M. B. Fisher {Wellington Central) said that the letter must have reached New Zealand before the end of the session of 1910. ; ' • Advice to Prime Minister/ Dr. A. K. Newman (Wellington East) said the days when the Dominion could "borrow money at 3£ per cent, were .gone. It would be a wiser policy to offer four per cent., because when the lower rate was offered discounts and charges accounted for the difference. It was far better to offer four per cent, and have a loan floated at par, than to go in for these intricate and costly arrangements. Mr. Fraser said that the actual cost'of ! the loan was £66,390. The people of the ; Dominion had a right to know what loans really cost, and not to bo put off with a garbled statement about it. Sir Joseph Ward retorted in an angry tone that the garbled statements were made by the gentlemen opposite, and they had been doing so since 1895. He wont on to refer to Mr. Allen as a " Cassandra in trousers," and said the member for Bruce "knows as much about floating a loan as my boot does." Mr. Herries had said the loan was authorised in 1909, ignoring the fact that its flotation had been delayed for a considerable period, until the market was favourable. Mr. Hemes: I said it was floated in 1910. . What is Discount? The Prime Minister asked if Mr. Fraser said the discount upon a loan was part of the expense of raising a loan? Mr. Fraser: Of course it is. The Prime Minister challenged Mr. Fraser to. show that discount was included in the cost of the loan by any country in the world. He had looked up the records and had discovered that very few of those who had in the past controlled the financial operations of New Zealand had given a quarter of the information that he had given. In the ordinary course of things, if this letter had come to him, ho would have laid it on the table of the, House on the day after he received it. But it never had come before him. Now that the' letter was hero it was all in his favour. Mr. Fisher: To whom is it addressed The Prime Minister: To the Minister for Finance. It was received by the Treasury in the ordinary way, and scores of letters addressed officially are-opened in the Department. He contended that the contents of the letters were entirely satisfactory. Anyone conducting the financial affairs of the Dominion was bound to observe for a considerable time a great deal of secrecy. Anyone making premature disclosures would get the country into a mess. , The return was laid on the table.