The Conversion Loan.

IT will be seen from the advertisement appearing in the papers that June 28 is the last day for presenting applications for the Conversion Loan for amounts in excess of Rs 5,000. The holders of the three and three-and-a half per cent Government Paper in the Punjab have to realise the value and advantage of applying promptly and without delay for conversion. It is true that the terms of conversion offered by the Government of India are at first sight less attractive than those of the Exchequer Bonds of the Home Government and of the several war loans floated by the colonies. The Government of India might have offered more liberal terms and made the loan more attractive to Indian investors. But we should remember that the burden of more liberal terms in the shape of increased interest and more advantageous conversion rights ultimately fall on the general tax-payers in the country and that the terms of the loan could not justly be determined without reference to the paying capacity of the people of the country.