POOR PROGRESS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 19 June 1942, Page 3

POOR PROGRESS

AUSTRALIAN WAR LOAN COMPULSION IN PROSPECT. NEED OF ALL POSSIBLE CONTRIBUTIONS. (Bv Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) SYDNEY, June 18. Australians are faced with the task of finding £3,000,000 daily for the next five days to fill the second Liberty War Loan of £35.000,000. The “Sydney Morning Herald,” in a leader under the heading of “War Loan Lagging,” says that if voluntary loan subscriptions fail to provide the Commonwealth with sufficient funds, and if income taxes are not to be increased, then the Government must logically be prepared to enforce the savings by making additional current levies on incomes to be repaid later in the form of postwar credits. The article points out that if this year’s loan programme remains unfulfilled, the outlook for voluntary loans next year can only be black. Not only does the Government need more money to meet, increasing war expenditure, but several customary sources of loan funds have been severely curtailed. High incomes are so heavily taxed that little surplus remains for loan subscriptions nor can the Commonwealth rely on the continuance of big subscriptions from companies, for it is the declared policy of the Government to prevent companies from earning more than the subsistence level of profits in the future. The Prime Minister, Mr Curtin, has little hope of enduring success in raising the money by voluntary loans unless he can instil a sense of responsibility for the cost of the war into that section of the public unaccustomed to investment—the wage-earners, munition workers, and factory employees. EXAMPLE SET GENERAL MACARTHUR BUYS BONDS. TO' VALUE OF SIX MONTHS’ PAY. MELBOURNE, June 18. The importance of filling Australia’s second Liberty Loan of £35,000,000 was emphasised today by General MacArthur when he bought loan bonds to the value of six months’ pay. General MacArthur was accompanied by the Prime Minister, Mr Curtin, when he went to buy bonds. His gesture is regarded as a declaration of confidence in Australia’s future, coupled with the recognition of the urgent need for funds to buy weapons for the forces. Mr Curtin, who had already bought bonds, made a further subscription. Though the General’s visit was secret, thousands gathered at the Commonwealth Bank when they saw teams of newsreel cameramen and news photographers assembled on the steps. General MacArthur is a rather mysterious figure here, being seldom seen by the public. On Wednesday he attended a meeting of the War Council, when he reveiwed the Pacific position, which is still regarded as urgent. On his return to headquarters the General found a pay draft waiting for him, and he immediately telephoned the Prime Minister announcing that he intended lodging this amount in the loan. This morning, surrounded by a battery of arc lamps, the General paid over his personal cheque for 3248 dollars, representing £lOOO. He said: “I know nothing more satisfying or more economically sound than to subscribe to the future of Australia.”