Everybody's War Loan

Southland Times, Issue 24754, 27 May 1942, Page 4

Everybody's War Loan

WITH ONLY six days to go before the closing date, the Liberty Loan is still not far beyond the halfway mark. At least £6,000,000 has to be found before next Tuesday—a million a day. The task seems formidable, especially when it is remembered that the amount already subscribed is nearly as great as the total figure of last year’s Victory Loan. But the task must be measured by its importance, not by its difficulty; and its importance is literally a question of life or death. Is New Zealand to survive as the home of a free nation? Are its defences to be as strong as money and vigorous effort can make them? These are questions that many persons answer cheerfully in the affirmative, without pausing to think if they are a summons to individual action. It is fatally easy to decide that something must be done, and then to postpone the deed, or to wonder if the responsibility should be left to those who have, or seem to have, a little more money, and not a great deal to do with it. But there is no time for these hesitations and slow decisions. Japanese warships can move fast: in six days they can travel a large part of the way from Yokohama to Bluff. Admittedly, they could nbt make the journey without interference. But the illustration is at least a reminder that modern war moves at high speed; it is waged by aircraft that can fly from Christchurch to Invercargill in an hour, by tanks that travel like motor-cars. Speed is the essence of mechanical warfare; and it is equally the essence of preparation. The money has to be found—quickly. An extension of the time limit set for the loan would be the admission of a defeat on the home front. And it would be a defeat for the people themselves: the people who ask for a bold leadership, and must now show that they are worthy of it. There is a tendency to regard loans as the business of a small minority. The man in the street is inclined to believe that they are of interest only to stockbrokers and their prosperous clients. This may have been true in the past. But the Liberty Loan is everybody’s loan. Inscribed stock is available for investors who can afford to set aside anything from £lO upwards. And for the great majority of the people, accustomed to think in units of £1 rather than £lO, Liberty bonds have been issued with a nominal value of 1/4/-, maturing in a little more than seven years. So far the bulk of the money has been subscribed in large

amounts. The Liberty bonds, from which so much is expected, have scarcely begun to find a market. Yet they can provide an immense return as soon as the people realize that the appeal is aimed directly at themselves. It is true that living expenses are high, that there has been an increase in the wage tax, that many of those with funds available are already doing something practical in the war effort. But the money is there: the figures of savings bank deposits prove how widely the nation’s wealth is distributed. If every person with an account in the post office savings bank withdrew 10 per- cent, of his money for re-invest-ment in Liberty bonds, the £6,000,000 needed to complete the loan would be fully subscribed. And there are thousands of men and women who could divert two or three pounds from their normal expenditure without needing to draw upon their savings. Money is a prosaic commodity: there is no glory in it. Yet the war effort needs it in the way that machines need lubrication. Six days remain for decision and action. If all those who have held back now make an investment, each according to his means, the Liberty Loan will reach a climax that will strengthen the foundations of victory.