WHY I SUPPORT PRIZE BONDS.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 16638, 12 January 1920, Page 4

WHY I SUPPORT PRIZE BONDS.

(Bv C. B. Stanton, M.P., in the Daily Mail.) I am “all out” for Prize Bonds. As a means of raising revenue for the eonntry the scheme is healthy and honest and profitable, tl has a •—• ? It has boon brought to the attention of the Chancellor of the Exchequer and discussed in the House of Commons frequently. But one has been always conscious of the presence of a timid Pussyfoot kind of atmosphere. Some people thought tiie scheme wicked and iramoral. Tlicy "tliouglit it would instil gambling instincts into tho people of our country. Everybody knows that gambling is carried on everywhere—on the racecourse, iu the cardroom, on ’Change and in a hundred different ways and directions. I have no sympathy with gamblers. I don’t like schemes of the “I win, yon lose” kind, where a man is willing to profit at the expense _ci others. And in my opinion Prize Bonds, instead of being a menace to people’s morals, would convert thousands from “Beggar your neighbour" systems of money-making into whiling investors in a safe national security. 'Under the Prize Bond scheme of raising money for revenue everyone subscribing would get a fair rate of interest, for his money and a return of his capital ultimately, and in addition lucky individuals at the drawings, which would presumably take place three or four times a year, would" secure a. fine prize. • The point i would make clear is this: That the man who draws a prize trill have the satisfaction of knowing that ho has not taken it from his neighbour in order to enrich himself. And I believe that those working men who now place a shilling or a pound upon this or that horse will very quickly realise that it is safer and better to lend their cash to the country and get a chance of “striking it lucky” in the drawings. Prize Bonds, indeed, should even attract confirmed touters from their ways. One has to recognise that some people will “have a flutter” in one way or another; they livo in the hope that ono day they will become persons of financial importance, and here is a way whereby they may indulge their hopes harmlessly and at tho same time usefully. There is little doubt that with the Prize Bonds tho Chancellor of tho Exchequer w'ould bo able to tap a mine of wealth now lost to the country.

I have spoken of working people, but I would not hesitate to recommend even Sunday schools and chapels and churches to invest in the bonds. Church ministers and strict-minded laymen alike would soon discover that the easiest way of putting an end to low and debasing forms of gambling would be by encouraging this system of Prize Bond investment, which, while benefiting the country, can in no way injure anyone. There is notliing sordid or mean about tho scheme.

It passes _ one’s comprehension why Great Britain should have been so far behind Continental Governments in utilising so attractive a method of raising funds. It is to bo hoped that future prospects will not be nullified by weak and nervous handling. Boldness and courage should characterise tho action of tho Chancellor ef tho Exchequer, and ho will then not only have the majority of tho members of the House behind him, but the people will back him also.