Southland's Fine Response

Southland Times, Issue 24761, 4 June 1942, Page 4

Southland's Fine Response

SOUTHLAND has every reason to be proud of the par t it has played in the successful flotation of the Liberty Loan. The province’s quota was assessed at £500,000, onethirtieth of the amount required from the whole Dominion. Yesterday the organizer (Mr W. G. Nield) and his committee were able to report that this objective had been reached and passed, and it now appears that Southland’s contribution will not be far short of £600,000 and may even exceed this huge sum. How excellent that result is may be gauged by a rough comparison with what has been done in Auckland. The Auckland province has a population eight times that of Southland, but the figure of £2,000,000 realized in Auckland, even though it may not include the Hamilton district’s contribution, is very far short of eight times the amount raised in Southland. When details are available of the provincial 'contributions it will be possible to make more exact comparisons. But it is already clear

that Southland’s response has been outstandingly good, and that it is unlikely to be surpassed anywhere in the Dominion. This is all the more gratifying because in the “Bonds for Bombers” campaign the province did not distinguish itself: its contributions to National Savings have been uniformly high, but in this earlier campaign Southland lagged behind many other provinces and districts. In the last month the people of Southland have made amends magnificently. They have done no more than they should have done, and in the future will always do, when money is required for the country’s defence; but they have seen their duty more clearly than the people of some of the northern provinces, and have not hesitated to dig deep in their pockets and their bank accounts to answer the Government’s appeal. The committee of citizens which sponsored the appeal in Invercargill has amply justified its existence, and may become a model for future campaigns in all cities and towns. Finally, the province has been fortunate in having the services of Mr Nield, who has shown a degree of tenacity and resourcefulness, and a devotion to the work in hand, that have probably not been equalled in any other district.