The Cambria Daily Leader

HE to 1 n I" '0?' moo, U 0 I THE VICTORY LOAN. 1 I A I I ?i ————————————————— •i NQ Charity, But a Great :I 0% 2  Opportunity. ,1: r lidM SPEECH. i Enthusiastic Meeting at Swansea. 1 Genuinely representative and intensely enthusiastic was Friday night's War Loan meeting, held at the Albeit Hall, Swansea. The large building was packed from floor to ceiling with all shades of the town's religious dA,. political thought, whilst here and there were military officers (in khdki;, relieving the somewhat sombre-clad mass on the floor of the hall. As toon as the door- -I -s i-ooii as the d ,)oi- were opened there was a rush for seats and until the opening of the proceedings \1.r. T. D. Jones, the well-known Sketty orga- nist, gave an inspiriting -ecital, playing some of the newest and popular airs, which were heartily joined in by the im- mense audience. At eight o'clock promptly his Worship the Mayor of Swansea (Aid. David Davies) led the way to the platform, closely fol- lowed by Sir Alfred and Lady Mond, who were accorded that welcome which ever awaits them by Swansea audiences. The oratory was of a forceful and telling character, the opening remarks of the Mayor being chiefly concerned with the progress of the Loan at Swansea, and the f [ magnificent response the town's sons had made when the country's needs demanded their services. Sir Alfred Mond's speech was an imter- ;-sting resume-of the European conflict. In- deed his speech must in every sense prove a powerful stimulant to the cause for which the meeting was convened. Mr. T. J. Williams, M.P. for the Swansea Dis- j I trict. also came in for a warm welcome. EXCELLENT ARRANGEMENTS. A word must be given to Mr. W. J. Crocker, upon whom fell the onus at ex- i ceedingly short notice of perfecting the necessary arrangements that in not;mal1 degree marked the success of this unique and important fixture. Mr. Crocker had left nothing undone that went for the comfort of those who attended the meet- ling, and he is to be complimented upon the completeness of his effort. The interior j of the -hall had been prettily decorated with the flags ef the Allipd countries. i ON THE PLATFORM. The Mayor (Aid. David Davies) presided, and he was supported by Sir Alfred Mond, rt, (His Majesty's First Commissioner Works), Lady Mond, Mr. T. J. Wil- M.P. for Swansea District; Mrs.1 .J. Williams. Mr. J. Aeron Thomas, 'Mrs. J. A. Thomas; Mr. I-ang Co&th (Town Clerk), Mr. W. H. Ashmol,, ")roligh Aoc,,ountani), Messrs. Hyajr Goldberg, Richard Martin, Morgan T"t?on, W. H. Edwards. Ben J<MM. R. L. Sa??. T. P. Cook, William Edwards (Messrs. WE. Edwards and Co.), R. G. j Lewis (Messrs. Ben Evans find. Co.), J. j Vmisrhan Edwards. E. A. Wynne. ("Jwilvm Morgan, D. M. Glasbrook, 1. T. Davies, A. B. Davies. C. H. Shaw, Richard Lewis, David Roberts. Arthur Richards, FTedk. Rocke, A. P. Higham, J. W. Jones, A. Maries, J. M. MullhoUand, John Jonr-s, R. J. Matthews, Cyrus Evans, Wm. Rosser, A. E. John. E. Fish, Dd. Griffiths, J. B. Owen, Mr. and Mrs. C. T. Ruthen and Mies Ruthen, Major and Mrs. Bertie Perkins, Dxs. Robert; and Lloyd Edwards, the Revs. D. Price (Bethenda), Percy Moss Weston Lieut. John Hodgens, Major G. S. Harries, Capts. C. Shaw, Thomas, Sid Bevan, etc., I etc. At the outset Mr. W. J. Crocker read letters of apology from Mr. John Wil- Hams (M.P. for Gower). Sir J. T. D. Llew- elyn, Mr. Frederick Edwards. Rev. James Owen. Sir Robert Morris. Mr. Joseph Hall. Mr. Cory Yeo. Mr. Talfourd Strick, Mr. H. Mieis (Clydach), Dr. Brook, Mr. Owen Owen. Mr. J. E. Rowlands, Mr. J. S. Brown. Mr. H. Maedonnefll, Mr. H. M. James, and Mr. R. W. Beor. Oapt. Rhys Williams, K.C., D.S.O., Welsh Guards, wrote that bis work at the War Office prevented his coming to Swen- sea, adding Very much regret unable to speak at meeting, which I hope will be a great success." Mr. Marlay Samson wrote: Regret unable to accept invitation to 6peak &t meeting to-night. being engaged at Car. marthen Assizes." THE MEETING. I I Epitome of a Lucid I Exposition. The Mayor said the object was to pro-1 vide the men with the material that would make them irresistible. He had never been prouder of being Mayor ot Swansea than to-night. Ho felt justified in saying no town in proportion to its size had excelled Swansea in its contri- bution. One of Swansea's proudest' Stteaaories would be that before compul- i sio* was applied between 16,000 and 11,000 had come forward. There were in Swan- sea now over 4.00 war widows, 800 war orphans. The present appeal was for a smaller sacrifice. No nation could be- I come great without eelf-sacriuoe. Sir Alfred Mond's appearance, no less than his reference to the Premier, met with loud applause. He expressed thanks for the many congratulations he had re- oeived on taking office. He had come on behalf of the great War Loan campaign at the request of his colleague, Mr. Bonar Law. j During the lull in hostilities there had been a bombardment in Notes. The Notes of the Allies, in contrast to the neutral and enemy Notes, left no doubt os to our war objects. Germany's efforts to show herself as the innocent object ot attack filled the disinterested with deri- sion and disgust. The speaker showed how A-u-,tria, beyond doubt or cavil, provoked and declared war. The calamity could, had our enemies wished, have been averted. You, like myself, Mr. Mayor, had a son in the Welsh Division," said j the right hon. member. He mn- i gratulated the Mayor publicly as lie had done privately) in the honour gained by his son. Speaking with feel- ing. he referred to those wlip had sacri- ■ ficed sons in the war; but this sacrifice would be in vain if they accepted Ger-I many's proffered terms. To talk of peace J was to compound a felony against the Empire, Europe, and the future freedom oi &e Tfi J d* 1 Sir Alfred spoke with passion of the oppressed Poles, Slavs and Italians under enemy domination; of the horrors of the Armenian atrocities, to which murder would in comparison be kind and merci- ful. And this by order of the German Emperor, who was continually invoking God. Never again! The Turk had con- tinually destroyed that civilisation he came in contact with. The dead heroes of the Entente nations would rise and reproach, us if we made an inconclusive peace. Their sacrifices would have been in vain. They stood in the middle throes of a great war. We had all along been prone to think it would soon be over. Kitchener (whose name was applauded) had proved his military geuius in his three years' prediction. We must go on as though the war would never come to an end; the more we did that the sooner the end would come. This was the greatest loan Ln history; for an unlimited amount. We were given the opportunity of doing a good thing for ourselves and a good thing for our country. The country was not ask- ing for charity. It was an investment at interest hitherto thought in- credible; five-and-a-quarter per cent. on the premier security in the world. It was an opportunity that would never recur. It was a bold thing to prophesy which would be the better form. Personally be was going to take 5 per cent. in the re- gistered toriu and take his chance of future income tax. A few people were frightened as to Britain's financial position. What our forefathers paid for freedom we too could afford to pay for our liberty. Work- ing out the figures of population, debt, and national wealth, Sir Alfred showed that oar committments was only 20 per cent, of our resources, against 37 per cent. in wars. We were', too, making great investments in interna- tional friendships. Depreciation was jiraotdcally impossible, appreciation practically certain. The nation wanted not merely spare balances, but people's credit. He asked those who had hitherto hesitated lto in- cur obliga lions for overdraft to relax that rule. The banks would see they did not go too far! He suggested a war loan information bureau at the Town Hall. and house-to- house canvass. The War Savings Com- mittee had prepared excellent pamphlets, and he hcaed the local committee would get ample supplies. Swansea v, as a rich town. Its people were richer than anybody but the income- tax assessor knew. It had not been un- prosperous during the war. The Technical College subscription figures did not sur- prise him; but they staggered London. To invest what we could was really very little. It was as nothing to the sacrifice and hardships of the men on the Somme, the Struma, and the high seas. If he were asking them to give the money with- out any interest it would be a compara- tively small sacrifice. No tclass, sex, or age was excluded. Every penny brought the dear ones nearer home; every pound brought the end nearer. He was confident Swansea, would subscribe its last farthing to the loan of victory. Mr. T. J. Williams. M.P., congratulated Swansea on its Mayor, its War Loan con- tribution. and its business Member. The Borough Member's ability had been justly recognised by the Government. He was glad to find Sir Alfred had begun the ploughing up of the Royal Parks. He paid tributes to the men of the origina.3 Army, the merchant fleet, and the Navy, and gave glowig praise to the work of the now Premier in the Ministry of Muni- tions. All the money in this country, said Mr. Williams, belonged to the State. It was a privilege to have the security of the British Government. Mr. R. L. Sails, in a happy speech, moved a resolution pledging the meeting to do its utmost to make the loan an overwhelming suocees. M r. C. Hamilton Shaw seconded, and gave some lucid de- tails regarding the loan. The resol-utiou was carried with acclamation. Mr. Hyam Goldberg proposed a resolu- tion of thanks to the Mayor for presiding, and the meeting concluded with the sing- ing of the National Anthem. THE SPEECHES. I The Chairman, in his opening address, said he did not think it would be neces- sary for him to try to explain the pur- poses and objects of this meeting. They all knew that it was to supplement the efforts of our statesmen, of our soldiers, and of our sailors. (Applause.) It was to provide our figbting men not only witn food and clothing.,and equipment, but with the munitions and the guns which would make them irresistible in the spring and summer to come. (Applause.) He was r.ever more proud of being Mayor of Swan- sea than that night. (Applause.) Swansea had done right splendidly throughout the wvir. She had not only sent her so as in thousands to fight; ahe had kx> £ ed after the wounded soldiers, locked after the expa- triated Belgians, looked after the eoldiers in the fighting line. (Applause.) Swansea, had done its duty in many other wavs. It waj the fashion to speak of corporations os not money-finding: but as money-sperrSing bodies. But he thought the Swansea. Cor- poration on Wednesday made a good stroke for the town when "they decided to subscribe £ 125,0W towards this War Loan. He thought he was justified in saying that there was no municipality of the size and character of Swansea that had excelled or even approached its action in this matter. Newport, a fairly prosperous town, had subscribed £ 40,000. But Swansea had set th? example by the sum he bad mentioned (Applause.) £ 250,000 IN A DAY. They had made appeals to other bodies in Swansea, and although he had not the figures by him he had received an intima- tion that day that the subscription amounted, he thought, to a quarter of a million. (Applause.) Mr. Aehmole, the highly capable borough treasurer, had &ot:ght out for every po?s?T>Ie pound too bo obtained. libey had arranged to put up a barometer at the Market and at the Labour Exchange to show the rise of the subscriptions; but before they had put up one of the boards. the subscrip- tions had reached nearly a million pounds. (Applause.) He did not propose going in- to the financial side of the question, be- cause Sir Alfred Mond and Mr. T. J. Williams, who were more competent to deal with that side of it, were going to speak to-night. He would only menuon. two points. One was the Tytain hints of the Chancellor of the Exchequer that if this loan does not produce the re- quired amount, the next would be a forced loan at less interest. And the other point was that if we lost the war no propertied man in this country would be safe in the possession of his property. Ilf the Germans were to win the war each man would be poorer, and the rich would dose what he had. (Applause). He w,imply mentioned those points as a re- minder to people with sluggish consciences —if there were any. SWANSEA'S PROUD RECORD. lie felt confident that Swansea would respond to the call. They had responded to previous appeals in a manner which redounded to the credit of Swansea. Be- fore compulsion came ten to eleven thou- sand or our boys had volunteered to serve their country. At the meeting held in this hall, they asked the young manhood of the town to come forward, and the re- sponse was a noble one. *The young man- hood made the sacrifice. Others also had made sacrifices. They had 400 war wk'.o-vs in Swansea, 800 war orphans, hundreds of mothers w ho had lost their sons. Others had lost husbands or brothers. And he hoped and believed the descendants of :io-,e ancestors who, jn times gone by, had won British freedom and spread British civilisation over the whole world would come forward and help to-secure the tri- umphant victory which we all felt certain would come. Napoleon had declared that he was not beaten on sea or land, but by golden guineas, and it was certain that the olden sovereign wus going- to be an important factor in the winning of this 7-ar. in conclusion, he-urged tne people rvho could not subscribe large amounts not to be frightened or deterred by the large "ims of rich men, for the XI r)f the .worker was as wel<v>me. as th.) million of the multi-millionaire. (Applause.) SIR ALFRED MOND. Sir Alfred Mond was given a rousing reception as he rose to srpeak. He said:- Mr. Mayor and fellow citizens,—It is now nearly four weeks agoo ;cnnee the Prime Minister invited me—(applause)—-to accept office in his National Government, and if i- -ioti t?e'<)m h: i jiave not before this time h'ad' an occa- sion and opportunity of meeting mymfUlY friends, who so kindly congratulated me and conveyed to me their good wishes, it was not because I was not desirous, or that there was any discourtesy meant to the jrreafc eonsrfcitnency I reprf. It is due to the fact, which I think you will realise, that from that moment till this morning I I have been occupied continuously with the arduous duties of the office I have undertaken, and if I am here tonight, it is because my colleague, the Chancellor .)f the Exchequer (Mr. Bonar Law)-ap- plause)—requested me to come down to this consti tuency in order to oarrv on, as is being done all over the country, the great war loan campaign. THE PEACE OFFER. Ladies and gentlemen, it appears to me that it would be useful before I enter on any outline of the loan itself to say a few words on the position of the moment in its relation to the loan which the Govern- ment is now promoting. We have had through the recent lull in hostilities a kind of bombardment of Notes—German Notes, Allied Notes,, and American Notes. 1 think anyone who has taken the. trouble to study the Notes of the Allies to both Germany and the United States, in re- ference to peace terms, and especially the brilliant statement by Mr. Balfour of the Allies' position, can have no doubt what- soever either of the ends or the objects for which we fight. Nothing in the world will porsuade any unprejudiced and ua telligont human being that our enemies are fighting for objects which have any- thing to commend them. Efforts are being made to-day by the German Em- peror, and by those who are fighting with him—or behind him would-be a more cor- rect phrase—(laughter)—to persuade an astonished workt that they are the peaceful lambs whom the ravenous wolves of Belgium and Serbia attacked without warning, and this statement, however often repeated, can only fill the world with derision, if not disgust. The se- quence of events in this war is too recent to be overlooked and forgotten so soon. We have no need to cast our minds back for a very long time to remember the Austrian ultimatum to Serbia in July, j 1914. This is a point which must always be remembered-the Austrian ultimatum to Serbia in July, 1914, an ultimatum as un- provoked and insulting as imaginable; an ultimatum, on the advice of the Allied Powers, Serbia accepted almost word for word, and if Austria and Germany had not wanted war the whole matter would naVA been closed. What happened? THE CARDINAL FACT. Despite Serbia accepting the advice of the Allies to humiliate herself to the ut- most, Austria declared war on Serbia. In, thi.s controversy we,. must not forget that' one cardinal fact; that was the keynote. This was the light whicn was thrown into the European powder magazine. What happuK-a What obviously happened was tho intervention of Russia diplomatically No ouj worked harder to preserve peace than the late Foreign Secretary," discount Grey of Fallodon. No one worked, harder, more earnestly, more sincerely and more con- scientiously. and I am told that not many day before the war he himself hoped he had succeeded in averting this terrible caJ- amity. It could have been avoided or aver- t-xl if our enemies had wished it to be averted, but our proposal for a conference or reference to arbitration was rejected. And then to talk of the threat of Russian mobilisation! Those who know the facts know only too well that for daya before the German mobilisation their reserves were called out, men equipped with guna, and troops were marching to the various fronts This hypocrisy will not deceive anyone. Al- though they are now attempting to put the blame of the war on others, a thing that would never have happened if the original programme had been carried out; it will not deceive any of the people in this town. The record stands there—it stands there stark and naked—the cynical brutality with iiiuch'Germany overran Belgium. And the absurd reaaons which they gave for the ac- tion! A LUDICROUS EXCUSE. I was only looking lately at a "cry in- teresting volume which has just been published. It is a reproduc- tion of the I, proclamations issued by the German generals in Belgium and France, and pasted on the walls, tell- ing tie citizens of those territories what they must do in order to save their lives. The first relates to Belgium, and what was the excuse given by\a Ger- man general for invading the country which the German Emperor had guar- anteed the neutrality of ? I will tell you. The official proclamation states that a motor car with a number of disguised French officers, had passed through Bel- gium into Germany, and therefore the great German army must be hurled on Belgium. Has anybody ever heard a more ridiculous, a more absurd, a more insin-i cere excuse for invading a country than the one offered? Others have been in- vented since, and they will go on invent- ing reasons and facts and endeavour to pervert truth to the end of the chapter. TH F, -,R FAL,R EASON. I I Therefore ifc behoves us carefully to xe- A I The K r: Ach Himmel! If this keeps on I shall be snowed under. [The Wax Loan may very well become a Victory Loan if the pace is kept up. It behoves every British patriot to put his foot (and his hand) down hard and heavy.] member and keep fixed in our minds the aims and the elementary fact that it was not the Allies who are fighting with us, and it was not ourselves, who wanted this war. but the Central European domina- tion, the power of Austria and Germany, whose vaulting ambition on the one side was to dominate the Balkans, to dominate the East, and to threaten our flanks in Egypt; and .on the other side, the towns of Belgium, and from Antwerp to present a pistol at the heart of England. THE PEACE TALK. We have heard something about offer* of peace. I may say, as Mr. Bonar Law eaid in the House of Commons and the Prime Minister repeated at the Guildhall, that there is no man in this country who would not be glad of peace. We are not a warlike people, although when we start fighting we are terrible enemies. (Laugh- ter). -We are slowly moved to wrath, but once moved we are solid, stormy and indomitable to beat. You, Mr. Mayor, like my- self, have a son in the Welsh Dlvision- (hear, hear)—and I am glad to be able liere, as I have already done privately, to congratulate you upon the distinction conferred upon your son in being men- tioned in the 'recent dispatches. (Ap- plause). We would all be glad of peace, we would all with joyful hearts welcome the return of the soldiers to the homes they have been fighting for, suffering for, and struggling for. But not until they had won the victory which will lead to that final security of Europe which they had been struggling for the last two- and-a-half years. (Hear, hear.) A BURGLAR'S OFFER. It is impossible fdr Germta-ny to upset the, whole balance of Europe, to put fire into the Balkan powder barrel, and after all ask that everything should be as it was before. It would be very easy for a burglar, after a policeman had appre- hended him, to say, "Kindly unarm me; let me return to the status quo ante." (Laughter). It would be a poor 6tate of civilisation if a burglar was to be treated in this manner. There are some people in this country who do not realise all what the enemy has done, COMPOUNDING A FELONY. There is an offence against humanity, and civilians in this country know that under t?-e ri?minal law as compounding a felony. It is the crime of trying to bar-! gain with someone who has committed a felony to prevent him from being brought to justice. I say that those in this country who talk of peace and offers of peace are compounding a felony against this coun- try—(hear, hear)—against this Empire. against Europe, and against the future freedolu of the world. (Applause.) It is idle to ask or make peace yntil legiti- mate national aspirations are satisfied We live within a fence ring. We. do not know what it is to have on our borders men and women, groaning under the domi- nation of hostile tyrannical treatment. HORRORS WE HAVE ESCAPED. Do you know of Alsace-Lorraine; the town of Metz, where a French person could not speak French without being arrested by the police? Do you know that in Russian Poland the Pole was expat- riated and oppressed and crushed down?! Do you know of Trieste, where the Italian on the Austrian side had his universities disbanded, and the people were treated like dirt? Look at Transyl- vania. Learn the history of oppression and degradation, which these people have suffered for nationality, and if you do you will understand their burning desire to reunite their own flesh and blood and their own race. In order to get at this we want once -and for ail to get out of the way theee danger spots which have too long threatened the peace and security of Europe. THE BILL AGAINST TURKEY. And what about Turkey? We have a long bill. to settle with Turkey. (Hear, hear.) I remember Mr. Gladstone's last ,hear. ) I remi)mber speeches on the Armenian atrocities—(ap- plaTie(-)--and these atrocities were merely child's play compared with the atrocities in this war. There is no more horrible chapter in the history of humanity than uie apj>alliity treatment by the Turkish Government of these Armenian subjects in this war. Murder W;1 a kind of merciful punish- ment. Death by hunger, deatfi by starva- tion, death by drowning, much more than death for the women and young people oi thi-, country. The extermination of the race was ordered and carried out by Act of Government and spported by the Ger- man Emperor, who is continually appeal- ing to the Almighty and his conscience. hear and ajy?laus9). We have tolerate too lona the guilty hand of the Turk, who has destroyed evjery civilisation he has come in touch with. THE FATE OF BELGIUM. A moment ago, just before I came to this meeting, I was looking at some Ger- man proclamations in Belgium and in France, and when I read them I thank heaven for that sure shield, our. Navy, which stands between us and the terrors our gallant Allies have been undergoing for so long. I saw a proclamation to a I Belgian town, in which it was stated by Ueaerul Von dor Golcz that if the rail- ways and telegraphs were destroyed, the people would be punished mercilessly or shot whether they were guilty or not. I was talking to a French friend of mine the other day and he was giving me a, vivid description of the advance of the German Army in the early part of the war. There was a little town the Ger- mans were advancing to. The French troops had just evacuated it. and their rearguard were in the woods behind the town. ;1 SHOT IN COLD BLOOD. The Mayor, an oldish man. came out, and asked the German troops to safe- guard his town from damage. He was asked by the Germans whether there were any French soldiers in the town. He 6aid quite truly he did not believe there were. The Germans entered the town, and, being shot at by the rearguards—of which the mayor knew nothing, the troops having left the town some time before—he was simply taken and shot in the square of the town. Mr. Mayor, you are not likely to be placed in a similar position. (Laugh- ter.) That is simply one out of a thou- eand instances of brutal murder—brutal, brutal murder-and many worse things which have happened in those countries which were occupied, and which have got to be swept clear, and for ever clear of ] the invader who is insulting their soils. I say we want peace, peace with security. PEACE, WITH SECURITY. We want security from the German naval menace. We want security in our' econbmic life. We want security in our trade. We want a security that this terrible, terrible time which we have been living under shall not recur again, and unless you get that, the hecatombs of the slain—who are sleeping near Mons, near i the Marne, at Ypres, on the Somme, where the Swansea Battalion-(chc-ers)- I has distinguished itself so remarkably in the great assault on the Mametz Wood, where so many of our boys lie, at Verdun where our French Alliea showed heroism itrequalled in the history of the country, on the snow-clad peaks of the Trentino, on the limestone crags of the Carso, and along the frozen marshes of the Russian front-would rise up and reproach us that their sacrifices should be in vain, an inconclusive peace arrived at. SACRIFICES IN VAl N? Ii vain would have been the enormous sacrifices made. I say we want a security as absolute. as we can get it, ,if not entirely atsolute-and it may be impCTSsible to have anything entirely absolute-oo absolute that we, at any rate, in our time and onr chil- drea after us, can turn our hands again to the plough of peace, turn the sword again into the instrument of industry and i io- gress. (.Applause.) Why have I gabbled away, some of you may think from the main subject I came to speak to you about —mainly the War Ioan. WARNING AGAINST FALSE HOPES. I want to impress upon you the position in which we stand. We stand in the middle threes of a great war. Don't let us ever, make the mistake of under estimating the difficulties, the magnitude of this war. It has been the tendency ever since the war started to assume that it would soon be over, to assume too easily that their efforts could relax, and to assume too easily that our enemy was beaten. Lord Kitchener— (applause)—that very great. man to whom ibis country owes a debt of gratitude which can never be repaid—(renewed cheers)—Lord Kitchener, when he spoke about three years as the duration of the war, was looked on by many people as being a pessimist. Lord. Kitchener i merely proved his great military genius. WHEN WILL IT END? I say, therefore, that at this moment you must concentrate your energy,, you must go on, not as if the war were com- ing to an early end, but as though it were never going to end. The more you do that, the sooner it will come to an end. Now, the Government is issuing, as you know, a loan, the largeist loan which 'any country hiaa ever endeavoured to I raise. We are endeavouring to find an unlimited sum of money. I NOLI MIT TO LOAN. I There is no limit to the amount of the loan. It is not a loan for 100 millions or 200 millions, or 300 mil- lions, or 400 millions, or 500 millions. The larger it is, the better it Ïê. And we are now given an opportunity of doing what? Well, really, of doing two things: Of doing a good turn to ourselves, and doing ja good turn to our country. (Applause). I," OPPORTUNITY, NOT CHARITY. I I am not going to speak of the loan to you as if I were asking you to subscribe to a charity. 1 ou are not being asked to 'give your money. You are being asked to invest your money, and on what terms are you being asked to invest your money ? You. are being asked to invest your money in a Government loan at au lu?eic?L ?uic?, I three years ago, would have 6ound,.??l i"n, credible. Five and a quarter per cent! Think of it! bi per cent, on the premiel security in the world—Great Britain. (Cheers). Why, most of us would have been glad to take iYà- per cent, a few years ago on a great many very much more doubtful securities. A few years ago a 5l per cent. loan would have been issued not at 95, but nearly 1.75. I say you a.t;e not asked to give your money away. You are asked to take an opportumty of investment which will never occur again in the his- tory of any man or. woman in this hall. You are having advantages offered in connection with tiiis Loan which are unprecedented. WHICH FORM OF LOAN? I I daresay some of you would like to know my views as to which of these two forme of Loan which are being issued I should personally think it best to take. 1 am going to take the 5 per cent. Loan, and take it in the registered .form, and I am going to take my chance of income, tax after the war. (Laughter.) The point you should remember about that is this: Any- one who has this 5 per cent. Loan, and i- below the scala at which you pay inoorrn tax. will be relieved from reclaiming hi- income tax, because the income tax will not be deducted from the 5 per cent. CLAIMING REBATE. I Income will have to be declared by the individual, and he will have to pay on it if he pays income tax at all. But you will see the importance of that in one moment. A good many of you know thai it is always a very cumbersome amd slow thing to reclaim income tax from Somer- set House; and, therefore, a great I many people never do reel.ih). their income tax when they are entitled to. Under this arrangement, if you are in j the happy condition of not having to pay income tax, and you have some of this loan, you will never be troubled in that way at all, and that is a very groat con- cession. But another point of great im- portance is that you can pay over stock I, of this loan in payment of death duties. That is a very great advantage to a very large number of people, because when a man dies and his executors have to pay death duties, before they can get probate of hie will there arc difficulties of selling out a part of his estate in order to release some of his money. A very prudent man should try and take as much of the loan as he can in order to facilitate the pay- ment of his death duties when he dies. TAX AND BORROWED MONEY. I There is another point which I daresay you have observed in to-day's papers, and that is the question of income tax arising on borrowed money. I shall say a little more about borrowed money in a moment. The point of that is this: If you borrow money in order to take up the loan you will only pay i lveome-tax on the difference between what you get on the loan and the amount of money you have borrowed. That is to say, you will not pay income-tax on the whole of your interest on the loan, but only on the profit you make, and further, of course, you must deduct the cost of interest on the money you borrowed from the cost of interest on the loan, and charge the income-tax on that, which, of course, reduces the amount of income-tax very much indeed. I said a moment ago that we want a very large figure, indeed, for this loan. It cannot be too large. BRITAI N'S STABILITY. I Some people eeem. to be frightened about the financial position of this coun- try. I think they are very few. I think most people realise how immensely power- ful the financial position of this country- ie. and I have had got out for me just a few figures which demonstrate our posi- tion now, and what it was previous to the great crisis. I would say that what our forefathers paid for freedom we should go far to maintain. The period I am comparing with ie that of the end of the 20 years' struggle in the Napoleonic war. In 1816 our population was 19 millions and a half. Our national debt was 900 millions. Our national wealth was estimated at £ 2,400,000,000. The proportion of our debt to our national wealth was 37.5 per Cent. Let us look at the position to-day! Onr popula- tion in 1914-15 was 46,000,000. Our national debt at the end of 1916 was £ 3,000,000,000. Our national wealth was estimated at £ 16,000 million. BETTER THAN IN 1816. fI Sixteen thousand millions. Nearly eight times as great as when we finished that huge Napoleonic war, and our pro- portion of liabilities to assets only 20 per cent. against 37.5. (Applause). It is a good balance sheet, and nobody can doubt, not only the capital, but that the in- terest on the loan will be as safe as the seas which guard our shore. It 6hows what a burden was carried at a time when this country was small; before our industries developed, when our popula- tion was email, and the people poor, ^nd now, when our population is great, our wealth is great and large, and our industries are abundant and fully occupied, I say we should be a very poor and graven people if we cannot find all the moiitby to carry on the war our forefathers did for 20 years. We have made great advances to our. Allies and Do- minions. These advances I have no doubt in time will bear great fruit to this ooun- j try; not merely investments in capital *wiH interest, but as bonds of friendship and guarantees of future commerce to comri (Cheers.) CAPITAL WILL APPRECIATE. r We should three years ago be, stag. gered by the Government bringing: out a loan 5i per cent. at 95. We must remem- berthe time when 2J per cent. Consols worn at par. Yes, but the war je not going on ] for ever, and this loan is not redeemable until 1929. a.t the earliest, and then at par. And I venture to prophesy that anyone who takes this loan will not meroly make a good iii\efctment as regards an investment, but he will make a good investment as regards appreciation of capital. It is redeemable at par, so it must go from 95 to 100. And it is also possible that in the intervening time it will go considerably higher than that. And you must remember, as a busi- ness proposition, the Government's sinking fund makes. deprooiation practically an irn- possibility. The sinking fund proposes 10 million pounds at a time to buy stock which comes on the market, making de. preciation an impossibility. The ap- preciation is in your pockets. That is one of the leading, strong points ot this loan. 1 like investments that cannot go down but must go up. (Laugh- ter.)' They are only too rare in my com- martial experience. You will find most in- vestments do the other thing. (More laughter.) | YOUR SURPLUS NOT ENOUGH. I Now, 1 was going to say a word about borrowing. It is not sufficient at a moment like this for people to look at what money they have available and to spare to lend to the nation. We want to go further than that. The nation wants not merely your spare balance. Thvi nation wants you to advance them your credit. In ordinary times it would nut be considered a sound proposition to stand I up before sucli a large audience like this an audience largely composed of com- mercial men--and ask them to borrow money from banks on profits that have not yet been made. But in a great national emergency like this it is the only way to mobilise the great resources of this great country. In days of peace it would be justifiable to hesitate to rush into debt and be under obligations to banks for overdrafts, but I would ask them to relax that prudence to-day. PROFITABLE BORROWING. Bankers will be prudent enough not to let them take too much. The bank will lend you the money for your credit. You need not be afraid of your credit, and you will always have at the bank that security which 1 said was worth the money you have given for it to-day, and will be worth more probably at a future time. I therefore say: Be bold and erect. Do not be afraid to pledge the future in the nation's great need. PRAISE FOR SWANSEA. I Do not be afraid to ask your banker what he will do for you to help the nation by taking up this great loan. I was in- deed glad and proud to see that the Swan- sea Corporation has shown an example— as it always has done during this great war—by the magnificent subscription it has made to the loan. (Cheers.) I hope that their efforts will not cease there, and I have no doubt that they will not. I have seen it stated that in some munici- yalities war loan information bureaus have been established at the Town HaH, at which the treasurer of the town or other capable officials give people infor- mation and advice, l thini-; lll;l,t 10 au excellent idea, and I hope it may be pos- sible here. I have altoo seen it isugge-sted that a house-to-house canvas should he made, and a good deal can be done iu that direction. I am not going to take you through matters 01 detaii on tiii.-i loan It will take up your time, and tax your patience. It will not, I think, bo satisfactory to detail points of the loan; it would be much better to study quietly the leaflets and prospectuses which have been published. PAMPHLETS READY. 1 The National War Savings Com- mittefc, who have organised this meeting, and for whom I am speaking to-night, have prepared an excellent series of pamphlets, and 1 hope the War Savings Committee here will got large numbers of them, and that you will organise a distribution of those pamphlets througholt the town to enable everyone to see and follow the various points as to lyhat they have to do and how they are to do it. HOARDED GOLD. I In the course of this loan it has been shown that there are still people in this country who apparently do not realise their duty to their fellow citizens or t.lie gravity of the financial situation. I refer o people who stupidly and criminally ihoard golden sovereigns in their housed. The hoarding of gold is not only a crime, but gross stupidity. Gold in a box in the house is of no vahie to the community, and of no more val ue to the individual than a box of bricks. (Laughter.) The function of gold in the economic life is a basis of credit and means of exchange. It is only when gold is poured into the banks, and allowed to get into the possession of bankers, that it fulfils a useful function. The notes the Government issued in this country are every bit as good as gold, and worth more than gold to France, because you cannot export gold from France, but you can export notes. And I would AAV to anyone who has himself, or who knows people who have, mistaken ideas of a bygone financial time. and are holding sovereigns in this possession, that tliey are. committing a great crime against the financial strength of this country. I ap- peal to them to surrender the gold at the earliest possible moment to the bank, and thus enable that gold to perform its true a ad proper function, namely, to establish an exchange to buy food and munitions of war. LiS,000 NEW MONEY. I I am glaa to kiiow-I have had placed in my han& since I reached this place- that one of the many well known mer- chants in Swanwa, Messrs. Parry and Roclre, Ltd.. has asked for IV-10,000 worth of the War Loan, which is all new money. Continued on Page Five.