APATHY TOWARDS LOAN

Southland Times, Issue 25483, 2 October 1944, Page 4

APATHY TOWARDS LOAN

LETTING DOWN MEN OVERSEAS “The apathy that has been shown in some quarters towards the Victory Loan has also been shown towards the problem of the rehabilitation of the men who have returned after service overseas. The least these men can expect is some measure of gratitude and thanks,” said the Minister of Rehabilitation, Mr Skinner, in a broadcast address on the Victory Loan last night. “Let us try in the last three days of the loan campaign to make up for this apathy and let us remember that after hostilities have ceased there is still the problem of rehabilitation to be faced. 1 Mr Skinner said that when he was asked to broadcast on the last Sunday ■of the loan campaign he had not expected that there would be still many more millions required for the loan to be fully subscribed. The news that the Third Liberty Loan of £35,000,000 had been enthusiastically oversubscribed had had a wonderful effect on the men fighting overseas. It showed them that the men and women of New Zealand were 100 per cent, behind them. It could be imagined, therefore, what the effect would be on the men of the news that this loan had lagged. Even if the loan were oversubscribed before it closed on Wednesday, that would be small comfort to the men because they would know that the loan had lagged. NOT ENCOURAGING Great efforts had been made in the past few days to arouse interest in the loan, and there had been a good response to those efforts, but the fact that men and women needed to be roused to a sense of their responsibility was not a very pleasant thought, and was not very encouraging to the men overseas. The men at the front had done their duty without hesitation because they knew that they had the tradition of Anzac to uphold. Till now, too, the men at the front had been proud and happy at what was being done in New Zealand towards the war effort. . , Why, then, had this loan lagged.' Perhaps it was because people thought that the war was nearly over. He recommended any who thought in this way to read the war news in the papers carefully, not just the headlines, and to listen carefully to the news bulletins. Only in that way would they realize how the war was going. Referring to the high cost of war, Mr Skinner said that 815 25-pounder guns took part in the barrage laid down | at Alamein on October 23, 1942, to pave the way for the initial break-through. Each of these guns fire 1000 rounds or a total of 815,000 rounds. Each round cost £3/7/- to land at Alexandria, a total of £2,750,000 sterling or £3,500,000 in New Zealand currency. In addition there was the cost of getting the ammunition from Alexandria to the battlefield, and the 25-pounders were only some of the guns that took part in the barrage. Since then there had been many similar barrages laid down m North Africa and Italy. This great exIpenditure of ammunition was designed not only to smash the enemy, but also to protect the lives of our own men. 'Good and plentiful equipment saved I lives, and that was one reason why New Zealand was floating a loan of £40,000,[OOO. It was up to New Zealanders to 'see that their men had all the arms ' and equipment they needed. It was also [ the duty of New Zealanders to see that the men were properly rehabilitated when they returned. That also would cost money.

PRIME MINISTER’S APPEAL Maintaining Standards Of Living (P.A.) WELLINGTON, October 1. “This loan is the best method of financing New Zealand’s war effort so as to maintain our standards of living, said the Prime Minister (Mr Fraser) in a further talk on the Victory Loan during the weekend. Emphasizing the importance of lending to the State at the present time, and the benefit to the individual as well as the reinforcement of the war effort, Mr Fraser said that heavier taxation or the resort to inflationary methods could only result in an attack on our Standards of living, whittling down the value of our money and sapping at any sound basis for the rehabilitation of our servicemen.

“If tire value of our money were not kept secure, and it will be kept secure,” he continued, “we would discover that our rehabilitation plans, unsurpassed by those of any other country, are built on sand. You are helping 1- pay for the war. You are unqueslably making it possible for guns, tanks, ships and planes to be provided. You are playing your part in reestablishing our returning servicemen in the civil life they deserve. You are maintaining the standards of living in New Zealand for their benefit as. well as for your own. You are doing all these things if you lend your money to the Victory Loan. You are being asked to do this to the very limit of your capacity. Even this is not asking you to go beyond the bounds of prudence, although that is not too much to ask.” The Prime Minister described the loan effort as a challenge to prove our worth as a nation, to prove that the sacrifices for us by our fighting men had not been made in vain. Success would be one more proud item in our war record.