BORROWERS’ CLAIMS

Taranaki Daily News, 23 February 1935, Page 4

BORROWERS’ CLAIMS

PERSONNEL OF CORPORATION. REPRESENTATION REQUESTED. (By Wire.—Parliameniary Reporter). Wellington, Last Night. An appeal to the Government to include borrowers on the personnel of the board of management of the Mortgage Corporation was made in the House today by Mr. W. J. Polson. Mr. Polson said the Rural Credit Commission, of which he had been a member, had come to the conclusion that the joint stock system was wrong. He admitted the Bill did not provide for the joint stock system, but the principle was much the same. The Government. was proposing to admit £500,000 of private capital, and that capital was going to run the organisation. Shareholders had certain powers that nobody else had. It would be to the advantage of the shareholders to sell bonds at the highest possible rate as their dividends were to be 1 per cent, higher than the price of the bonds. It was his contention, said Mr.' Polson, that the farmers, who would be the borrowers, should have representation on the board. He appealed to the Prime Minister and tjie Minister of Finance to reconsider that point. If the borrowers were given representation it would I lessen the blow. Mr. Coates: What blow? 1 am not going on. my knees to anybody. The main consideration is the provision of cheap money. Mr. Polson: I admit at once that the first consideration is cheap money. In every other country in the world the borrowers have representation. The farmers would welcome a promise from the Government that the matter would be considered. Mr. Forbes said ha had no desire to depreciate in any way the work which the leaders of the faiming community were doing, but he did think that the farmers generally had not given the consideration. to the proposals that they should have given.