The War Loan

Southland Times, Issue 24680, 27 February 1942, Page 4

The War Loan

ALTHOUGH THE terms and conditions of the new war loan have not yet been announced, advance subscriptions are to be accepted as from today. The value of this arrangement is that it permits individuals and institutions to take up stock with funds that might not be available during the normally restricted period allotted to subscribers. It should not be necessary, in this critical stage of the war, to look for new arguments in support of the loan. As the Prime Minister’ pointed out, everyone who can afford to do so is under an obligation to give a financial impetus to the war effort. It is not merely a question of favourable terms, although these will obviously be designed to give investors a reasonable return. The motive that should be heavily emphasized is simply the desire to help New Zealand in what may well be the most troubled and difficult year of its history. A prompt response will increase the funds that are needed to finance the country’s defence preparations, which must now be on a scale much larger than was anticipated a year ago. At the same time it will assist the Government to make these preparations without taking measures that will weaken the national economy. If the response were disappointing the money would have to be found in other ways, probably through forced loans or heavier taxation. Experience has shown that forced loans are uneconomic, and taxation is already pressing more heavily on the family man than in any other British country. It is to be hoped, therefore, that the new war loan will have a buoyant inception. All men and women who can spare anything from ten pounds upwards should lose no

time in mobilizing it for war service. It will bring them a monetary profit. But it will also give them far better returns —an increase in security, and the satisfaction of a duty performed in the time of their country’s danger.