AUSTRALIA’S BIG DEBTS.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXIV, Issue 18822, 10 March 1931, Page 9

AUSTRALIA’S BIG DEBTS.

Talk of Cancellation. REPORT DISCOUNTED AT CANBERRA. United Pres* Association--By EUectns * c.egrapn—Copyright SYDNEY. March 9. “The Sydney Morning Herald” say the reports that Australia’s war debt to Britain are likely to be cancelle< were discounted in Canberra durin the week-end. It w r as stated that there was n possibility of Australia’s debts bein cancelled, as the question of debt between the Allied nations would b affected. It is understood, however, that th Commonwealth Government is hopeft that relief will be obtained for Alia tralia by securing a modification 0 extension of the present terms of pay ment. AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL DEBT, LARGE INTERNAL HOLDING. HOW THE BONDS ARE HELD. Of the public debt of Australii £543,418,675 is held in Australia. No less than £400,000.000 of this amount 1 held directly or indirectly by the mas of the people, directly in 833,000 sub scriptions to war loans, indirectly b savings banks, with 5,000,000 deposi accounts, life offices with 2.400,000 Ilf policies, friendly societies with near!; 600,000 benefit members, and the Com monwealth Bank, wh'ch itself hold £23,000,000. The contemptuous reference by som politicians to the “bondholders” cug gests a clique of inordinately wealth: capitalists, remarks the “Sydney Mora ing Herald.” The above figures shew that the “bondholders” represent th people of Australia, and that th people directly and indirectly interest ed in war loans number millions. The total public debt of Australia os December 31, 1930, was £1,119,216,121 Of this huge sum £543,418,675 was re deemable in Australia, £527,954,744 wa redeemable in London, and £47,842,701 was redeemable in New York. Of the £540,000,000 odd outstandin securities in Australia of the Govern ment and municipal authorities, £lsl^ 1 000,000 belongs to the savings banta and is, therefore, really the property of the small, thrifty men and women of the Comonwealth. Accounts of de positors in savings banks number mo* than 5,000,000, and £141,000,000 is th amount that the savings banks on thet behalf have invested in Government* and municipal securities. Life Assurance Companies. In Australia the life assurance com : panies have more than 2,400,000 life as surance policies in force. The com panies, which are responsible for th< payment of these policies when the] mature, have invested approximate!] £65.000,000 of the moneys of policy holders in Governmental and municipal securities. The Commonwealtl Bank, an institution owned by th« people of Australia themselves, anc whose funds have been provided b] the people, holds more than £23,000,00< of Governmental and municipal securities. The friendly societies in Austr* lia have nearly 600,000 benefit members and have funds of £13.009.000, and th< great bulk of that money also is invested in Government and municipal securities. These figures show’ that £250,000,00C of Australian loans is, therefore, helc by institutions whose funds have been provided over a long period of years ai a result of the saving and thrift of working people. In addition to £250,000.000 held lx trust for the people by these institUr tions, it has been estimated that smal subscribers are the direct owners of between £150,000,000 and £200,000,000 worth of Government securities. Thes* people have responded—in most csm to the utmost of their financial ability —to appeals for contributions to Com monw’ealth loans, and they received to turn definite undertakings that interest and principal would be paid to them on specific dates. In the W’ar time more than 833,000 persons subscribed to the war loans, and many tens of thou® ands of those subscriptions were sums as low as £lO. Small Loan Subscriptions. When the then Acting-Federal Treasurer, Mr Lyons, made an appeal lata last year for a further loan of £28,000,000, to enable the Commonw r ealth and the States to meet their obligations to the people of Australia, 118,000 investors made a practical response by lodging subscriptions. These figures have not yet been analysed to ascertain how many were large and how many small subscriptions. Of 96,500 subscribers to loans floated earlier last year, however, 76,000 made investments ranging between £lO and £SOO, in addition £7,500,000 was subscribed out of the savings of the people held by life assurance societies and other institutions, and of the total of 76,000 subscribers, 34,000, or more than one-third, were depositors in savings banks. Altogether, the 5,000,000 savings banks depositors have accumulated savings in these institutions of £210,000,000, while in the life assurance and industrial assurance societies, the total value of the policies for which the people are assured is £340,000.000.