Money Borrowing: Mr. Hughes Middle-class Party: Successful Fruit Selling: Chinese Trade Commissioner Defended From Our Own Correspondent, Melbourne, Feb. 15.
Inst lotter had just started on ite journey when the Loan of the Com- Laboui monwealth nnd State Treasurers, indi, in response to an "8.0.8," call' from Dr, Boric Page, the acting Prime Minister and' Commonwealth 'Tvoasurer. Austral was generous to. the returned soldiers and the relatives of those who did not return, and granted gratuities, averaging about apiceo, bearing interen'
3 por cent, nnd redeemable in this coming' month of Muy. To meet special cases some thousands Ware at once redeemed, and the i Commonwenith allowed banks and Insurance companies to. take over about $26,000,000. The result is today thnt there are abouts £1 (000,000 of gratuity bonds. which must be redeemed by the end May, anda Joan is: necessney in order to raise the. redemption money, and also to give the banks ud others 1 now stock in_placo Of that which they now hold, But! the trouble Dr. Page had to fnco was that all the States want loan money, and, despite the fa) thoo Auatralia has a hugo—trade Dalance in London, the exchanges are such that the money cannot be transferred to the Commonwealth except, a inordinate ce: Ponto, 'Therefore borrowing must take place in Australia, and with six States and the Commonwealth all scrambling for money, the prospects of paying usurious. interest, seemed' imminent, Quecnsand said it must have £1,850,¢00 once, and Western Austratia ould not be content. with' less than £750,000, Tu the and. they! swore promised those sums on loan! from the Commonwealth, and all six States, so far as the' Coun. cil could bind diem, undertook nob to borrow in Australia until after the end of the financial year closing June 30 next, Tk was also reed that the rare of interest jonid be 0 per cent, that the currency of Toans "should not fexcood 10 years, and that the inforest on leas in. "Australia should be subject to both Common: wealth and Sta'e income taxation, Western Australia. at. once. cole: brated this agreement by going (0 Toudon and raising £2,000,000 ut poe cent, while: the' Common: wealth is calling for a. loan of an indefinite amotint, hearing O. pat cent, interest, nnd with epttonal currencies of thres, five or 10 years. While Dr. Page ju die posed to say. that Mik idea Council is proving very fruitful, it is only right to point out that the body is purely advisory, and already thers is some grumbling by State ministers to the prospect of the curtailment of their borrowings, while. the Federal Treasurer is' saying that good deal more restriction spending loan money is necessary,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.