MINISTER’S ADVICE

Hokitika Guardian, 21 June 1929, Page 5

MINISTER’S ADVICE

ADDRESS TO BANK OFFICERS’

GUILD

WELLINGTON, June 19.

In view of the place occupied iii:|’l national life by hanking practice tlie.M Minister of Labour (tho Hon. W. A; 1 Veitcli) in an address to-day before (I the annual conference of the Bank tjl Officers’ Guild, recommended the organisation to foster among its meni-..** hers a special study in...a wider field,- jj including the economic 'effect of bank-: ing upon the development of New Zoa-; j|l land. The Minister, who was applaud- vjll ed on rising to spenk,- conveyed greet-Gji ings on behalf of the Prime Minister -I (the Right Hon. Sii‘. Joseph Ward),, who had always; taken a keen jl in the welfare -hf the members of the , guild, rjnd 'who expressed the wish'; |l that the result of the conference’s dor jl liberations would be such as to im-i. || prove the general conditions'of those a the institution represented, and main- ; a tained and, if possible, improve the -aI goodwill which undoubtedly existed be- : tween the staffs and their employers. .1 Congratulating the guild on its ex- 9 progress over its ten years of a life, Mr Veitcli said that in reading-. ;;J through the annual report he had 'been i 1 pleasantly impressed-with the fact that : 1 the guild did not confine its activities,] I to the discussion of service conditions y | with the employers, and in that respect ? | wisdom was shown, since there were > many tilings that could be done in the|< \ way of helping each other. “There is a groat deal you cai)Mo,’tithe Minister added, “to encourage your members to study their business jn der to make yourselves qualified for i the higher positions in that great in-* stitution known as banking. I notice f there is a diploma of hanking, and in * that connection this thought has occurred to mo, whether or not the lines / of study leading up to it are sufficiently wide and comprehensive. There is. a danger, and I use the word advisedly, that it will be merely the means , of leading men to study their own ordinary everyday work in the banking houses. It is certainly advisable that . J every man should study his-business I and qualify himself to be a first-class 1 man in it, so that by increasing the jl value of his service he can obtain ~a better price for it,' but I would like to see more than that and see the study extended to a wider sphere. Banking although apparently established for the purpose of extracting profits from, its clients, has a much wider and more definite national purpose. The purpose, of,hanking is to organise the;people’s credit and make it available jftoV them for the development: of the country in all of the many features of industrial and commercial enterprises that exist. 1 would like to see the members of your institution making a special study in the wider spheres of currency, credits, (securities and'all the.'other economic features ’of finance in general. “ X think it thing, for New 'GSTinister - coii^’ timied, “if the many young men qjf. high intellectual qualities, employed' b?y' the : banking institution^'•?; became thorough masters, from the point of view of political economy, as well as from the point of vie\y of their everyday life. The; 'foundation priri-, ciple of every institution should be service to the people. No institution can continue to exist unless it -serves the people. The extent, of its success, must depend upon the extent to which it serves and meets the requirements made ’on it. I suggest to you-, with respect and without criticism, that you should widen the sphere of your studies to embrace every feature, not only of banking practice, but of the economic effect of hanking upon the development of this very fine young country of ours. That is the thought that comes to my mind in reading your report.” * Proceeding, the Minister said that as far as he could, judge the guild deserved the thanks of the community for what it had ‘ already done in the direction of educating the young men engaged in the banking institutions; nevertheless he suggested that the sphere of study should he widened down to the very bedrock of political economy as a science. , L, The secretary of the guild (Mr H P. Morant) interposed that’the, syllabus was a comprehensive one.. “If what I am saying now is cov- ,

ered by the diploma; I shall be delighted to hear of it, because it wiU show that great minds think alike,” repiied the Minister with a smile. At the conclusion of the Minister’s address Mr Morant ‘outlined the subjects concerned in the diploma course, and intimated that a committee at present was engaged on revision work aiming at further improvements. The Minister: I think anyone who can master all these, subjects would be well qualified for the position of gen-* eral manager of the Bank of New Zealand. (Laughter.) ( Mr Morant: There are fifty-seven of them* ’Hie Minister: That is very good indeed. (