The People's War Loan

Southland Times, Issue 24757, 30 May 1942, Page 4

The People's War Loan

IT IS NOT often that we quote an advertisement in this column. Yet the facts mentioned in an appeal by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, printed this morning, are too significant to be left without comment. Only about 8000 persons in the entire Dominion have so far subscribed to the Liberty Loan. These figures have not been brought up to date; they may have altered substantially in the short interval between the preparation and the printing of the advertisement. But they illustrate very plainly the slowness with which the appeal for subscriptions has evoked response from the mass of the people. No other loan ever floated in New Zealand has depended so much on the small subscriber. It may be true that the foundations of success had to be laid by the big financial and commercial institutions, and they have made their effort promptly and generously. But now it is the turn of the small man, the individual who owns a part of the £126,000,000 lying in Post Office and other savings banks and in trading banks throughout the country. These are the people for whom the Liberty Bonds, on sale at £1 each, have been made available. It may seem a small thing to set aside two or three pounds as a contribution to war finance. But if the response is sufficiently wide the aggregate sum must sweep the loan to a triumphant climax. And it is not merely a question of finding the money. From a psychological point of view it is tremendously important that the loan obligations should be spread as far as possible across the total community. This is not a war effort supported by a handful of wealthy individuals and organizations. It is everybody’s effort. The opinion of the outside world will be strongly influenced by the extent to which the challenge is accepted by the people. In New Zealand the national income is distributed more equitably than in most other countries. Now is the time to show the world that the nation’s wealth is in the right hands. Those who lend, without stinting, will prove themselves worthy of victory.