STATE ADVANCES.

Taranaki Daily News, 23 June 1925, Page 6

STATE ADVANCES.

POLICY IN GRANTING LOANS. NO PREFERENCE TO COUNTRY. : i STATEMENT BY MINISTER. i By Talegraph —Press Association. Wellington, Last Night. Complaints made in some quarters that the State Advances Office paid more attention to applications from rural districts than it did to those coming from a city were dealt with by the Hon. R. F. Bollard. The number of applications received by the State Advances Office, said the Minister, was tremendous. All could not be dealt with at once, but the best was done in every case, and all people, whether in a city or the country, received an equal opportunity to get cheap money. “That fine institution, the State Advances Office, has achieved a record which it could well boast of,” added th? Minister. “The State Advances Department is prepared to assist all persons who are industrious, and the office seeks out deserving cases. Here is a case of one of many which spoke for itself. The department heard of a couple with ten children living not far from Wellington, in a building which was little more than a shed. It sent an officer out to investigate, and the officer reported that it was a case deserving consideration. The department offered to advance the couple money to buy a home. The woman was of high principle and declined the offer, saying her father-in-law had lent her money to acquire her present abode and she felt that until that money was repaid she could not go in for another loan. That is a case of the genuine self-reliance trait in the character of the true New Zealander.”