COMPULSORY LENDING.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 14391, 1 September 1917, Page 5

COMPULSORY LENDING.

'SIR JOSEPH WAEO'S STRAIGHT DECLARATION. NO HUNTING FOR PENALTIES. • BUT. INSISTENCE ON DUTY. tFrom Our PaTliamejitnry Repoftet.) WRUwINtmiN, this day. The Finance^ Minister, m spite t>ic ihany dubious references to tW compulsory lending clau-se m -the Finance Bill, stoutly stood by his gnns m answering critics last ni^lii, declaring that while there was.-nn intention of hunting out people tc penalise them, yet those able by reason of their resources to subscribe to. the loan would' be obliged to dp so, even if they have to borrow. The Bill had bewi described. as securing conscription of* wealth, said Mr McCombs, and njuch had been said of the necessity for financial sacrifice, tout how far ctmid . ijt.be. fairly describecl...s9 on b, par "OFifch 'inscription, of mailhood ? Take the case of a farmei* worth £10.000, of vriiich £SOOO was land value. His income of £1000 was taxed to the extent of £79 13s 9d, and he had to find £360 to invest m the war loan. Compare him with a. commercial man <j£ similar income, £700 of it war profits. His tax woxdd \bSvi27O 6s 3d, thousrh last year )ie >wuld Jhive %d to pay £350 war tax. If coiisciijitioit applied to Wealth instead of iflconjg ; jl>icouild be called conscription of Vealtfy hiit' to- apply the term to the Bill vtaS a'; misuse of language. Payne said compulsory .eontribuViowa would heavily penalise and prob••ii'bly. }Tvnn many a strugfelinff- business mativ and this clause m the Bill would •n-obabty drive many men to the courts. He di^red\<'ith the last speaker on tne excesr^Vofits tax,, as it had wiped out the im just, taxation of many struggling cont>feyte". ,that were really i>ot making awy wai' .profits. If the Finanoe Manister had; "taken the bull by thfe honis," •and said to people with wealth that they must 'contribute to the loan and pay income, tax, ; then he would have, done poThsthmgtha^ was just. He was quite surfcthat if this war loan and exemption if ram ihcome. tax wel^e put to aieieven<3tim of Sthe people it would decide that weafthy people should invest m the loan and pay income t«x also. Dr. Thacker Bftated it had been svga Canterbury newspaper that on© wealthy man was afraid to invest aU.he pvdposed because compulsion might fee more severe next year. This, he considered, was. wrong, reading* of the clause, which was one of the greatest masterpieces put south of the live for raising money to Ray war expenses., It should run side by side with Mr Craigie's scheme for the conscription of wealth, an ultra-radical method which, if need arose, would be heartily adopted by the community. MV Oaigie remarked that the cost of the war to New Zealand was £44 per uninute. There was plenty of money aJbout, and the Government^ forgot to economise. .There Avere many rumors of waste. This is the nearest approach wo have to conscription of wealth, con tinued Mr iCraigie. The Government is to be congratulated upon going thus ffar, but it goes not upon wealth, but upon the standard of income. Men with small capital but great ability and energy - would -ha^p tp ,s^scrib^^ea^; r , though, wealthy men might escape. That was the weakness of the clause. FINANCE MINISTERS ANSWER-. Referring to criticisa|s , upon the, personnel of the board for dealing with appeals against wai- loan levies, Sir Joseph Ward stated that he intended to extend the board, arid would ask the House to add to ii-the' Controller, Auditor-General,' nnd three other officers on the board. It would thfja'^be a board to whom the ■people's appeals, could be ma,de with every confidence that [' : they would be treated fairly iit connection^witlv the loan money proposals. : .j To.' remove misconception over private companies, over the bomt raised % { MI- Isitt.Jae- wished to say thato it w^s not proposal,: m,, ; case<s of private companies havwig, a f^w: iSjLi^reholdere, to call upon thfefli sepaTat^ly, upon the basis of their separa^ incomes, to provide money for war purposes. What would 'be done would be to take them as one. There was no intention to penalise anybody. In reply to a suggestion that freezing companies should not be called upon to pay any": portion of the war loan, the Minister declared' that no company of any sort could be allowed to be m the position of not doing its part m connection with , the war. If any company could show that it could 7 not do what was required, then it would be. ; treated fairly and justly. ; A Member: Op individuals? - Sir Joseph Ward:, yes,- to a certain extent with individuals. They will have to show ,' very clearly they cannot "take, upon themselves the duty of . helping to pay )3ometl}ing , : t<wards .the . large sum we require-to carry ori this war. If the "" people of this country do their part, and provide > moneys 'required from tho end to- end of New Zealand, the Government is not going) if it gets £12,000,000 on ,September 3, to start a chase to find out whether people have conformed to the law to a nicety or no^. A Wihat we. are; ensuring is that if .there' are any, financial shirkers they are not going tp be allowed; to Bhirk from the respom sibility of doing this financial job. (Hear, hear.) As to .the plea thai many people would have to borrow the money to put iiitQj the loan, well, hundreds of people ha4'. to« borrow money from thie bank to pay their taxation last year, and will have to do it again, but because •oi that theyrare tiot. going to be aibsolved. from the^jduty of providing their proportion to the {war. loan to -enable us to carry on. (Heat, hear.) „ Mr j?ayne: How will they get the money? Joseph Ward : I have discussed it witn the banks, and on Tuesday will make a statement to the House. " I can assure the House the banks told me there is no fixed time of two years for advances, as has been suggested. The banks are helping clients with a reasonable amount of security to obtain advances for the purpose of investing m this loan. I suppose, there are some clients who cannot be -dealt with as liberally as others, and must be left to the discretion of the banks. Mr Witty: Will the rates be reasonable?-" -'■■■■ *"-" >; ■■'■■ ■•"•■••."•••- -■ ■■; Sir Joseph Ward : Not •exceeding 5£ per cent. Mr Ifayne : H<»w about people whose securities are pledged up to the hilt? Sir Joseph Ward : If anybody has securities pledged up to the hilt and cannot find a margin so that Government stock may become the principal security, the-ir case would require to be ' confidered- . .-,..' . 3ifr Isitt: Will they lend on the piirchn'fie of bonds? . wir Joseph Ward: Yes; m some cases up -to 80 per; cent. ,' s Ml\ Lee : They ought to be compelled to lend to everyone upon them.