THE EMBEZZLER THORPE.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3249, 30 November 1881, Page 5

THE EMBEZZLER THORPE.

In a leading article on the conclusion of the trial of Thorpe, charged with stealing £2500, the property of the Bank of Victoria, the Argus makes the following remarks on the case :—" An audit, to be of any value should be held at irregular intervals, and the performance should be slightly above the level of a burlesque. Discipline in the Bank seems to have been a3 lax as it well could be. We read of a young man being retained in the bank after having denied tlie receipt of money which was in his possession for days ; of routine business neglected j of cash taken over by one teller from another without the slightest examination, and other things which show, or tend towards, demoralisation. Under this head, moreover, we may notice the beggarly salaries paid to officers holding positions of tiust, and the arbitrary and cruel reductions made to meet losses occasioned by unfortunate management. One youth, who is continually handling money, gets £65 a year, but cannot tell what he spends within £100 per annum. The revelations which have been made are a public scandal, and we hope the shareholders will insist on an immediate and searching investigation into the management of the Bank, with a view to re-organisation on sounder principles."