The Christchurch Star PUBLISHED BY New Zealand Newspapers Ltd. THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 1932. IS IT AN INSTALMENT?

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 375, 17 March 1932, Page 10

The Christchurch Star PUBLISHED BY New Zealand Newspapers Ltd. THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 1932. IS IT AN INSTALMENT?

NO MORE difficult subject faces Parliament than that of dealing with interest rates and rents, and the Government, wisely enough, is feeling its way, in the Mortgagors and Tenants’ Relief Bill, not towards a statutory reduction of interest or rents, but towards an extension of the principle under which relief may be given in cases of hardship. The principle, however, is widely extended, in that the borrower is not now compelled to wait until the lender has given notice of his intention to exercise the power of sale, but may apply for relief at any time, and the Bill also includes a provision for relief in the case of all leases executed before April 17, 1931—although house rents and short tenancies are not affected. The principle is sound enough because it reserves to the courts the right of reducing rent or interest only after an examination of each contract on its merits; but for that reason alone it is not likely to exercise a general downward tendency on interest rates, nor does it afford any hope of relief, to take a special case, for the salaried man who may be paying a building society 7 per cent under a scale mortgage entered into a year or two ago when money was dear. Mr Forbes, however, has stated in reply to an interjection regarding statutory reductions that other measures are yet to be brought down regarding reductions under which no class of the community will escape the general sacrifice, and if the present Bill is to be regarded merely as an instalment of the Government’s policy of reducing interest in terms of the Economy Commission’s report, any criticism of its shortcomings may be spared in the meanlime.

DUTY AND PRIVILEGE. AGO, when the enemy -®- was hammering on the Western Front, thousands of miles away, and money was badly needed, the people of Christchurch gave with a generosity that surprised even themselves. To-day an enemy more r ntless and more insistent is hammering on the home front. The direst poverty is driving hundreds of citizens to the last extremity. That enemy can be fought with money, and with money alone. Tomorrow the street appeal for the Mayor’s Relief of Distress Fund will be made. It is the plain duty of every person to give whatever he can afford to swell the fund. The call to action that has been issued by his Excellency the GovernorGeneral, and supplemented by the Mayor, is a challenge to every man to throw himself with all the resources that he can provide into this grim struggle. To-morrow a task has been set us. Let the following day find us happy in the knowledge of a job well done.

UNGUARDED BEACHES. TF BY CONCENTRATING lifcsaving teams at one point, the surf competitions are tending to defeat their own object—and this appears to be the view of the LifeSaving Society and the Surf Association—steps should he taken to ensure that where a team is absent at a competition, a second team shall be left behind to carry out the essential patrol work.

ST PATRICK’S DAY. qro THE CELEBRATION of St Patrick’s Day this year attaches the added interest and significance of the fact that it marks the fifteenth centenary of the Saint’s arrival in Ireland. St Patrick is one of the best beloved of all the saints who are remembered in the special days that are dedicated to them. Those of us who are not of Irish extraction are content that the Irish should claim St Patrick as their special tutelary guide, for is he not their patron saint? If it were not for St Patrick’s Day, indeed, the rest of the world would not be so well aware of the passionate religious zeal that .goes hand in hand with the Irish love of country.