NOTES OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1744, 8 May 1913, Page 4

NOTES OF THE DAY.

However we may differ from Councillor Tregear in certain matters of public policy, we feel bound to endorse the protest made by him at tho Mayoral -installation ceremony yosterday afternoon in regard to the method adopted of appointing the advisory cominitteesi of the City Council. Instead of appointing the members thereof by a selection process, it was taken for granted that the whole of the members of the Council who had beon re-elected should automatically, take their places on the committees on which they had previously served, while the new councillors were proposed for the places left vacant by those who had been defeated at the polls. This process, while it certainly possessed the advantage of saving a littlo trouble, is bad in principle, and, moreover, it is not calculated to secure the best results. It does not at all follow that because a councillor has once served on a particular committee that he should continue on (hat committee in perpetuity, without regard for his fitness or for superior claims of new councillors who might possess special knowledge of value to such committee. Moreover, a little shakin" up and readjustment of oommittecs is a good thing—it broadens the knowledge of councillors generally and minimises the risk. of thincrs getting into a groove. From tho increasing dimensions of our municipal enterprises, the standing committees of tho Council have large and serious responsibilities, and, speaking generally, it may be desirable that councillors who may have served with distinction on this or that committee by reason of their special knowledge and aptitude for the work, should be allowed to continue that work if rc-elected to the Council; but their appointments, as a matter- of principle, should lie made in a regular and constitutional way, so that their individual claims niay be challenged if necessary.

It is somewhat surprising to find two directors of a large financial institution such as the Bank of New Zealand indulging in a newspaper disputation with one another concerning the affairs of the institution to which they both belong. Mn. Beauchasip, chairman of the Bank of New Zealand, and Me. Watson, a shareholders' director, who have been exchanging thrusts, no doubt have good. reason for thus conducting their argument in public, and the question involved is after all one which concerns the public just as much as it does the shareholders of the ban,k. Briefly, the position is that the bank proposes to issue new share capital, which it is suggested by the shareholders' representatives on the board should be issued to shareholders at nar. The amount paid up on the bank's present shave issue is £3 Gs. Rd. per share, whereas the market value of the shares is over £11. It will thus be seen that on the face of it the suggestion that shareholders should get the new shave issue at par means, if given effect to, the granting of a substantial bonus to shareholders. This would not matter very much if the ordinary shareholders were the only persons interested in the bank. As a matter of fact, of course, (hey are not. The State, when it came lo the assistance of the bank, became pavt proprietor of the institution, and amongst other things obtained the right, to nominate the majority uf the directors on the Board of .Management, as well as the power lo appoint. the bank'? auditor. Thtn'cJore matter affcctins the bank

must materially concern the State, and this question of the increase of the bank's capital naturally must be considered in its bearing ou_ the State's interest in, and responsibility to, the institution. The whole question will have to come before Parliament, us the bank will require an amending Act giving authority to issue the new capital, and the merits of the matter can then be fully inquired into.

Tiie cablegrams regarding the progress of the American Tariff Bill which have been published in Tiib Dominion - during the past few days are of great interest to New Zealand owing to the probable effect of the new tariff on our trade. In supporting Mh. Jlassey's recent statement, that the Dominion was never more prosperous than it has been lately, Ml). S. J. Nathan (President of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce) remarked that one of the most important " factors which will lead to further prosperity in New Zealand will bo the adoption by the American Government of the free wool tariff, which, as announced in the papers, lias passed the House of Representatives. This is bound to harden the price of wool both in Australia and New Zealand, as thero will be a great deal more competition, and the improvement will have its effect on general trade. The United States authorities estimate that the altered duties will result in a very large dciicit ; and this is to be met by a Federal income-tax of one per cent, on all incomes of - more than £1000. According to a telegram which appeared in the London Daily News of March 26, the main features of the new tariff were then practically settled. The free list is to be extended until it includes almost every product manufactured by the formidable trusts. In a word, competition is to bo restored by cutting the tariff rather than bv Court prosecutions. Sugar will be free' until the measure reaches the Senate, when at least a portion of the duty, which brings in £10,000,000 annually to the Exchequer, is likely to be restored. Wool doss not get on-the free list, but the duty will be low enough to invite foreign importations on a scale never attempted before. Dr. Wilson won his election chiefly on the. pledge of an immediate and unhesitating 'downward reduction of the tariff. He is evidently going to lose no time in carrying out the party's platform to the letter, and judging by recent cablegrams he is receiving loyal support from the Democrats, who wo arc told are speedily killing tho Republican amendments.

The member for Wairau has been essaying the role of financial critic, and his efforts have won the approval of the local anti-Reform journal. Wo aro not surprised at this. The ignorance of financial matters lately displayed by our contemporary would naturally lend one to expect from it enthusiastic endorsement of even so obviously absurd a suggestion as that put forward by the amiable gentleman who so recently graccd Parliament with his presence. Mr. M'Callum probably was quite in earnest when ho suggested that the Reform Government should not have x had a surplus this year at all, but should have used the money for public works and other purposes. He has only been a few months a member of Parliament, and though a lawyer by profession possibly is not aware that the Government is compelled to keep within the law in the handling of tie State finances. Ministers cannot legally juggle money, from one fund to another and carry on public works out of the Consolidated Fund without the authority of Parliament-. , Tho member for Wairau's forte, wo fear, is not finance. Still he no doubt has served the purpose he desired. His views will go the rounds of the less scrupulous of the anti-Reform press, and be duly applauded as a damning proof 'of the heartlessness or incapacity of the Government, and an evidence of the superior wisdom and statesmanship of their opponents. It is a sorry game.