NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 937, 3 October 1910, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

.: The■', hardening . of -the:. London money'market by the advance,in'the Bank of i England discount rate -on .Thursday last: from 3/per cent.;,to, 4. per "cent..'.;\yas" the.''.natural..: seqitel! to the.,'; movement .in-' .Germany, where the Imperial/Bank .lof.'Germany's rate,was! moved .up;'from';'4 to-5. per' ;cent.. -'■"-on!, Tuesday!: 1a5t..;!,F0r.,!, : weeks past: it'has been.evident that, there was. a scarcity of 'money in the short, loan market- arid ; in,-the discount market, for-: in both cases! the .rate's, have been considerably higher than at-the corresponding 1 date'of: last, year. The, Bank of England, further.more,; ..lost a -..fair ..amount ■-■ of ..gold: during the .month," the total ,iri,,the -Issue Department declining .from '£38,067,00,0,t0,'£35,826,000, ;adrbpof:£2,B4l,Qob;:;; Compared .'with■■.-.a .year, ago, the bullion appears to .be!at: its normal. level,, but although the, re-, serve- is nearly'.two millions- greater.; than it:-was twelve months ago, -.the I prppprtidri r ; of reserve to liabilities | , shows.-'a v Very minute difference, the.; | actual figures being 50.39 per!- cent.; againsfc'so.36 per" cent. . The movement' in Bank; rate, is normal, that is! to say : : an advance': ■ usually ;!takes, place at this time of the year.,.' Last year the:"advance '.took place! on' 7, when .the, rate. was .-raised from 2i percent, to 3. per ,'cerit. : , Biit, the .conditions, this';year,:."are 'very! different from .what, .they '■ were months ago:: Last year we, had the ..Bank rate at 2i per 'cent., while at no time this year has:it.!gone.below 3!per cent. In October, 1909, the advances were : rapid, for in: three weeks the rate advanced from 2i! per cent., to 5 per cent.' Looking: at the present state of ihe.Lpndpn : money market,' a- 6 per cent: • Bank : : rate seems'very probable, 'and the .rate ■ may possibly be ■■ 1 per cent: higher, but that;will depend upon how: Paris arid 'New ■Yorkioperate...- For/ three': months'"bills' the /! discount. rate is now £3 lis.-. 3d.'/per cent.* while a year agoit was £2- 3s. 9d. per: cent., and the short loan rate' is £3 15s. per. cent.', against £l 10s.' per/cent. .The conditions to-day are decidedly, more unfavourable than they! /were at. this' time last year, and as Brazil, Egypt, andthe United States •frill be: want-! ing gold, the Bank 'of England .maybe compelled in self-defence to establish a,very high rate. These are possibilities in the situation which business -.men .will no doubt: carefully consider.' ■ ! ■'.■,:,:.:: " ; //.

~:.'All..interested in the 'welfare, of the young 'men of the community— and whoVis.rioU—will ibe. glad- to learn that 1 the work of the 1.-M.O.A; in this part of the_ world is not only" maintaining: the high -position : it has alroady attained, but-is making preparations for forward ; movements, in .new directions.;; These_ and other encouraging facts are disclosed in the report presented ■-. to .the. National ■ | Convention:,iof. the. !Young.Men's Christian ; Associations of' Australia and New Zealand, which was opened !:iri Wellington on Friday: last. The I y.M.C/A. .has 'grown .wonderfully since it-was founded in a very small I and humble way,: and, without,! any' great flourish of trumpets, by the 'Tate Sir .George Williams"in, 1844, To-day 'it,probably."has. a;:membership! of.,close upon .900,000, but/, its sphere''of'.'influence, extends far .beyond its: actual membership, _and of late years ..its. social, enterprise, has developed in ' a . ;most remarkable manner. An outstanding feature of the last: few years' has ; been the' suc.'cossful building 'campaigns, the generous response: of the public proving that the Association is meeting a realneed, and now the-work' of consolidation and, extension! of activities is going oh._ Buildings, machinery, and organisation are'of course of great-importance, but.as the Convention no doubt fully recognises, the machinery should not be regarded as ah end in itself, but the means by which the real objects of" the Association—the ' social, . mental, and moral well-being of young men—may be attained. : In all societies of this nature.there is a danger of allowing the machinery to obscure the ends for which the machinory exists. It is generally • recognised, however,: that the'branches of the ,'Y.M.'G.A. throughout'the world are striving to foster .'-arid, cultivate the' best and strongest in manhood. They do not exist* to produce weaklings and mollycoddles, but strong,.clean men ,in the boit'!Beriße.;of! ■to'/Wrmf'and

in order to do this their aim is to eliminate as far as possible those elements of social, moral, and physical disaster which at times make thoughtful men uneasy for the future of our race. It is to be hoped that the present Convention will mark a real step in advance towards the attainment of the highest hopes of its founder, and of those who are, under more modern conditions, carrying on and extending the good work which he' begun over sixty years ago. ;'■■■■.

The outline of the new Gaming Bill which we publish this morning in our news columns indicates that the Government have dealt with the issues involved in drastic fashion-' It was fully recognised that.nothing could save the bookmaker, and it was' generally suspected that some, reduction in the number of totalisator permits now issued might be proposed; but the substantial curtailment indicated was not anticipated. While many people agree ; : that., it would be a good thing to.'cut down the nuniber.of, racing days, the ing is not so general as 'to the reduction in the number of: permits issued, and there will probably be a close division when this portion of the Bill comes to the vote... _Those who,, asthe result of the : legislation of 1907, doubt the , bona Jides •.. of. -the Government on the gaming questionwill be likely to view, the: reduction; in the number.of totalisator permits as a. design .to kill the, Bill and save the bookmaker..■ TJntil the full text .of the 'measure; is • available,: however,., there. ■ is. .little. ; use ■in speculating. on' the subject. V ''.■.