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PREMIUM BONDS. -+--

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PREMIUM BONDS. -+-- WHAT THEY ARE AND WHAT THEY MEAN. THE House of Commons next week will take a decision that may prove the turn- ing point in our financial history. For years a persistent effort has been made to influence Chancellors of the Exchequer to issue Premium Bonds which will bring, in the opinion of their supporters, a large sum to the Treasury. A Com- of the House reported against the issue, .and it was believed that the matter had ended. Unfortunately our National Exchequer contracts daily fresh debt, the usual sources of loans have been tapped dry, and as "desperate diseases demand desperate remedies," it is argued that what under normal circumstance would, to say the least, be inexpedient— now becomes a necessity. Premium Bonds are Bonds issued by the Government at a low rate of interest which will enable the Government to pro- vide large sums that will be apportioned by lot to those who happen to possess the lucky number on the Bond. The current rate of interest on Government loans is cent., and it is maintained that a loan can be raised at 3 per cent., which will attract the small investor who will be eciiitent with a low interest and the prospect of waking up one morning and finding himself a rich man." His principal will be intact, and the hope of winning a big prize will make him eager to invest and slow to "part with his capital in the loan. No Charms for Banks. Apart from any other consideration it is certain that Premium Bonds v 1II have no charms for Banks, Financial Cor- porations and insurance companies, as their investmenfts on a large seals will cancel out gains and losses. The appeal is to the small man who has for the most part put his money in War Certificates and other forms of Loans to the Gov- ernment, If -he is attracted by the sportsmanship of the new Bonds he will sell out his capital and by so doing deprive the Government of the money he > now has in its hands. Only a- small amount of new money will reach the Treasury. This consideration has not been sufficiently considered by the advo- cates of the gambling issue. The welfare of a nation depends on the industry of its citizens, "and the healthiest form of finance is that which depends on the reduction of the uncer- dainties to their lowest point. A sure and safe investment leads to the develop- ment of the reproductive powers of a people, and on the steady industry—the normal day's work for assured returns— the progress of well-being hangs. The prudent man knows this, and prudence and imprudence have in themselves somewhat of the nature of virtue and vice. The spirit of adventure--of stak- ing foresight against odds that cannot be overcome—leads certainly to success when everything possible has been done to reduce these odds to a minimum, but that is the direct opposite of a deliberate magnifying of the uncertainties to make chance the sole arbiter of success and failure. By doing this we encourage restlessness and discontent, and make something we cannot control, the deter- mining element in success and failure. An Economist's Views. The great economist, Dr. A. Marshall, says that by issuing Premium Bonds the State becomes the holder of a gam- ing table." He adds, mere gambling is, at the best, a barren amusement, and when it has once obtained entry into the the practice of men and women who are excitable and lack strong purpose, it mars their lives." Anyone who, like the writer, knows anything of the public gambling resorts of the Continent, knows the unhealthy influence they have on the people who gamble, and a hundred years ago a Parliamentary Committee re- ported the question naturally arises whether any pecuni.ary advantage, how- ever large or inconvenient, can compen- sate to a State for the amount of vice and misery produced by the levy of it. No mode of raising money appears to your committee so burthensome, so per- nicious and so unproductive. The ex- perience of those continental nations who foster State lotteries is by no means. a good advertisement for our following in their train.. } Old-Time Fallacy. ic It is said that the issue of the Victory I Loan which by a drawing enables the investor of £ 80 to be paid off if he has the "lucky" number at par prevents the I principle of "Gambling" Bonds being raised as unprecedented. The reward of £ 15 on an investment of zES5 is not an inducement that appeals to the gambler. There is no "get rich quickly" about it. No one will go to bed a poor man and become a rich man in the morning. It is the old-time fallacy of the Sorites that has been the sport of logicians, which has made the argument plausible. The attraction of the Premium Bond is its purely speculative quality which urges men to play with money instead of investing it in order that they may ob- tain a prize "—-a reward which is in reality the fruit of a State gamble. When once the State gambles it will be difficult to restrain the gambling fever of the citizens. Every announcement of a. big prize gained will add to the fever in the class we most desire to restrain from indulging the instinct.

--------------ENABLING BILL.

fSOUTHWELL DIOCESE. ¡-

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