The Hastings Standard Published Daily. FRIDAY, JAN. 22, 1897. THE COLONIAL BANK.

Hastings Standard, Issue 227, 22 January 1897, Page 2

The Hastings Standard Published Daily.

FRIDAY, JAN. 22, 1897. THE COLONIAL BANK.

For the cause that lacks assistance, l'or the wrongs that need resistance, For the future in the distance, And the good that we can do.

Once more this ill-fated institution has been brought prominently before the public, and those'who have read the telegraphed details of the interim report of the Liquidators, must have felt a pang of sorrow that men occupying foremost positi lions in commercial and banking circles, should be confronted with charges of the gravest character. We have not an atom of sympathy for those who fall under the ban of the Liquidators' report, for men holding fiduciary positions should be mindful of their trusts, and that they are men in the front rank of politics and finance, but aggravates the position. The relations of the Colonial Bank with Mr Ward and his pocket-company the Ward Farmers' Association disclose transactions that are to say the least, very peculiar as between banker and client. Mr Ward appears in the light of an overfed chicken of the financial institution, but a bird that needed special care anil attention. Instead of the Colonial J>ank " running "Mr Ward, the latt"r appears to have had the bank well under the whip. The story unfolded by the report of the liquidators, takes us back to 1*1)2, when Mr Ward's overdraft was considered by the bank authorities to be assuming huge dimensions, his indebtedness to the institution then being i>l The time-honoured trick of getting out of a tight place was thin resorted to, and the business was converted into the J. (1. Ward Farmers' Association. This operation must have necessitated someone assuming the diameter of the historic artist Annnitts. The company was formed, and its fust balance-sheet to the 80th June, lNiKi, which contained the results of weu mouths' trading, an enormous prolit was disclosed which was divided in a lavish manner between .shareholders, customers, and i jl ,ecs. The Hon. J. (J. Ward, ( 1 rnuvn and managing directors, pre--1 1 at the meeting of shareholders _.„ l ran through th« tigurw for the udifiofttioQ of hk audience " Our

financial arrangements are such that we are in a perfectly independent position " stated Mr Ward, but he omitted to tell the confiding shareholders that the overdraft instead of being £26,278 as stated in the balance sheet, was really £47,278, for according to the report of the Liquidators he had given his own cheque for £21,000, which could scarcely have had any real value, but which helped to fake the overdraft account and make it appear hearly 50 per cent less that it actually was. And the Hon J. G. Ward concluded piously in following words : " This business is not a thing of today. I am sanguine enough to believe that when I am dead and gone this Association will be still in existence, and I firmly believe it will do good service to the farmers of Southland." When then the Hon J. G. Ward was spreading himself out in such flowery phrases, he must have known, or at anyrate ought to have known that the Association was hopelessly insolvent. However, although this balance-sheet was severely handled by one of the Wellington papers, it passed the public, and in the following year of 1894, the same process of cooking the balance-sheet was resorted to. On this occasion Mr Ward's cheque for £85,000 was given to reduce the overdraft account. In 1895, Mr Ward "was out of the Colony, but the parties interested in the affairs of the Association adroitly covered up the bankrupt condition of the company, by the bogus oat transaction. The overdraft was made to appear £30,000 less than it really was. In 1890, the cat escaped, and the Association is in compulsory liquidation. A fraud from its inception, it has been a fraud all through. Now, there is no evading the consequences. Ths chief officers of the Colonial Bank, the Directors of that institution and the auditors also must be compelled to give an explanation of their conduct. The directors and officers of the Bank must have known the true condition of the Ward Farmers' Association, and they must have been parties to the annual recurring deceptions. They must have known the effect of these deceptions, and they must be held answerable. Any squeamishness in dealing with these men cannot and must not be tolerated or permitted. In the interests of commercial morality steps must be taken to extort an explanation of their conduct. There is something more besides. Mr W. Watson, the President of the Bank of New Zealand, and Mr H. Mackenzie the general manager, were formerly the executive officers of the Colonial Bank, and they are covered by the report of the Liquidators. They should not be allowed longer to hold office in the Bank of New Zealand. The President should be suspended at once, and kept so until Parliament can deal with him. Pressure should be brought to bear on the Directors of the Bank of New Zealand to immediately dismiss Mr Mackenzie. Some such drastic measures will be necessary if the Bank of New Zealand is to enjoy the confidence of the public. It is a critical moment with this state-guaranteed institution, for according to the last quarterly banking returns it has lost some apparently good accounts. Mr Ward we trust will see the advisability of blotting himself out, of vanishing from public life. He has been an exasperating disappointment and an expensive idol. His alleged financial abilities are a myth, and his methods of financing are of the common or garden kind. Mr Ward should resign his seat in the House.