"LOOKING BACKWARD.”

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 145084, 8 September 1916, Page 4

"LOOKING BACKWARD.”

RAISING A LOCAL LOAN*.THE CRISTS OF 1845. People have Fccn so .accustomed to Now-Zealand raising loans outside the Dominion that it is probable lew are aware that the present war loan is-not the first that was raised m tho local market. Old newspapers furnish some interesting facts of what happened ui the early days, and the. Auckland Stai has fossicked out the tact that m the year 1845 the Government in office was compelled- to raise money by issuing d<v bentures, which carried interest at the rate of 8 per cent. At a time like the present, when people are subscribing freely to a war loan for winch they ndl receive -vouchers, it is of interest to note that in . 3845 dclfentnres were forged, which resulted‘in a loss to the Government of ££so. One man was caught and sentenced to ten years penal servitude for having forged a ddhenture fur 20s. ■ In 1845 people’s idea wore modest m the matter of loans. The Government Keiuji pressed for funds, decided to Esno debentures for £OOOO- No doubt there ■wore the usual croakers then who*- prophesied the bankruptcy of the colony, jusfc as they did years afterwards "when the late Sir Julius Vogel .startled people by his policy of big loans for public works. To revert to lb4o. however. The Government had had to face a financial panic shortly atterto tire fact that the Horne axrf,bend tics notified it had- no anfcbontj t to -raise that £6OOO by the issue of de--1 bentures, Tho seriousness of the financial position in 1845 may be estimated from the fact that the colony was stagzoning, under the enormous mdcbteuTiOSß «f .C 14,000, and that tho cash in the Treasury amounted to £ly JUs M. it was. however, true that the Government had a credit standing ™ the bank at that time of XJ Is M. hoitunatcly South Australia had a surplus of £6OOO that- war, which was generously fcnt to the'New Zealand Government to.enable it to tide over tho crisis. It would have-surprised the men. of 1840 eon Id they have looked into the future, and learned that the colony they were rtniggßng to put on a sound finamjrf basis wouTd. sixt y-om'-y ea rs la ter, bein- » position to respond.Teadily when tho State asked for a loan-pi £8,000,000 to be raised, in a few weeks, ihc men. of <tfi most have budded wisely ,W well to- the foundation jor. the Do-SKfinon-of to-day.