The Manawatu Herald. THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 1907. DAYLIGHT ROBBERY.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXIX, Issue 3768, 27 June 1907, Page 2

The Manawatu Herald. THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 1907. DAYLIGHT ROBBERY.

Britons boast throughout the world that the Bank of England is the soundest, financial institution on earth. No one was ever known to question the integrity of the great institution, and no one (except the New Zealanders) is likely to refuse B.E. five pound notes, which are the lowest paper currency the Bank issues. The Bank of England note is accepted as a promissory note worth its actual nominal value in nearly all countries of the world, just as the English sovereign is eagerly accepted by all nations, some of whom are xyilling to pay more than twenty shillings for it. The unwise Englishman, who, believing in the Bank as a sort of financial religion, and- who comes to this country vtdt'fa all his capital in “ fivers,” gets a nasty awakening. There is no Government on earth that is so keen after the dollars as the N.Z. Government, and no Government that is so wasteful in the spending of them. As a punishment to the person who is foolish enough to have English “fivers,” the Bank of New Zealand charges the enormous exchange of 2s 6d on every Bank of England five poun d note presented in this colony, apd also, for fear the revenue isn’t fat enough, demands the addition of a penny stamp. This, of course, is rank out and out robbery, and one no longer expresses surprise that Banks in this country are able to rear ornate buildings and generally to put on a great deal of “ frill.” The presumption is that Banks in New Zealand generally charge their enormous exchange for clerical work in connection with the keeping of the Bank books, but none of the Banks have ever been accused of being at all liberal with their -employees, and they have a hold over them that makes even their private life less livable than the life of the ordinary freeman. The reductions in postage a while ago appear to be specially devised to assist banks and other large institutions whose postages of bulky packages are very large, and to whom, of course, the old postage of a .penny a-half ounce meant the spending of a large sum of money. The average business letter, or even the average letters of friends, do not often weigh more than half an ounce, but anyone may send a four ounce letter nowadays for the humble penny stamp. This is the most liberal ’system in the world, and its beneficiares are mostly banks, which are distinctly not liberal. The Bank of New Zealand is generally looked upon in the colony as something of a State institution, and because of this, it penalises New Zealanders much more heavily over Bank of England notes than any other Bank. If you have a few British “ fivers ” it will pay you better to take them to any other Bank. Bank exchange on cheques or other negotiable documents within the colony present another feature of the rapacity of the financial institutions. The branch of a> Bank in the town of A. on its cheque form says : ‘ ‘ Pay so and so the sum of one pound one shilling.” This is advice to the branch in the town where the cheque is to be cashed. But the Bank does not pay one pound one shilling. It docks six pence for exchange. Within a Province the exchange is 2s 6d per and sixpence for every ,£lO, and out of a Province 5s per £IOO, and the same sixpence for every ,£lO. The funny part is that the Banks charge the same for a jQi cheque I as for a £lO cheque. They are

out to rob the poor and the rich alike. The .State has a very excellent banking institution in the Post office Savings Bank. Now, the State reduced its postage by giving anyone the privilege of sending a four-ounce letter for a penny. This, as we have shown, benefitted large institutions a great deal more than it benefitted the hidividual. If the State is hankering after distributing privileges more widely it might, with some justice, reduce the charges on postal notes, money orders, and other .State negotiable documents. To return momentarily to the private or semiState Banks : While the exchange imposition is very heavy on provincial and interprovincial cheques, exchange on cheques coming from Australia is still heavier. The payment of is id fine on £i received from Australia is outrageous. Every Bank that is told by its client to pay so and so £i, and yet only pays him 19s 6d, is robbing the payee. If the bank is bound to be paid these enormous exchanges, the drawer of the cheque is clearly the person who should be penalised. It is the drawer’s fault if he does business with a rapacious institution, and he should be the person robbed. Wonder what sort of ,a hubbub there would be if your butcher charged sixpence in every £lO for making out your bill ? Possibly the Government would freeze on to him. The Government should freeze on to the rapacious Banks !