A STATE BANK.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3362, 15 December 1919, Page 6

A STATE BANK.

DISCUSSED AT B.N.Z. » _ . MEETING. V the course of his address at be meeting of the Baal; otVNew Zeand; on Friday, the Actin-g-‘Chair _an,(Mr J. H. Upton) referred to the ropgsalsfor a. fitate Bank “put forwuaurd y Sjgr Joseph Ward. -‘He prefaced his emagks by staining: “The adirecto-rs, such a proposal had been made at 11, acknowledge that it could not well ave'_,}_3e‘e!n gr_n.a.de in a more reas-enable nor with moreconsideration. for our rights, though tfififé’ $146 in it "vexal _V hypoth’et.ical”“”hssump2tions Vliicli a.rg§A’open to question. It would iot‘}9‘é'larfJl)ropriate, however, on this ccasiohii, ifr at the present stage, to ter upon a. discll‘§§ioii.ri)"i? “tll.e;nlel;it.s , o’r;"t6'b”jie<i?rions to, the proposal; and slrail ychtntent Inyself with"-.merely' lacing On record the words of Sif osefih“t'v‘e'rd himself.” ' ' "’*"“ Mr Up.l"so_'ilAthen'.quoted at..-lentgli l63éi-I*’ toseph Ward’s pxopgsalsg and ;then‘ ent on to tl_"9l<3<islthe hist’oryf»!,o~f the‘ ank of New Zealand. from/ift{lfilfzlfiflaon, and ‘especially its present and ast relatigns with the Government. e -showed that the “remarkable reVerxg gfrggg gts. difi‘ic_ulties In_4d,e‘—.b,§,:c_t.l3s{ ank‘was largely due to the general rosperi-ty ofdthg Eominfienygnvhigmwas imulated through the invention of lechanical jmeans of‘ m'.lintailliilg!low mperatures, which had enabled 'erishalfl‘elr“pu'odu,ce gto ibe proiitablyr onveyed to distant In/;lw:A‘a. HE said: in this general pros.pm‘.iLt.,v ithe Bank I'.’ New Zealand has, of Colll'SQ,§Sll3.l‘ed7] has grown to great propor.tio;_is, ,a.n;l9 is now———as if has been .;,f§o-1;}; the, rst—-,—the bank of our greatest indusry, one-half. of the total agriculturzll nd pastoral produce oof the country eing, in one form or another, finmieed y it. “And what of our chief partner, the 'overnmcn't..-'3” (continued Mr Upton). ‘We m',3.y, with propriety, ask whether. in also has, benefited. The Govern-i ent assisted the ‘Bank in two ways. ‘t guaranteed stock, to provide capital ‘the extent of two millions sterling. it’ that Stock there remained outtanding £5'293.955. ,‘-As it is 4 per ent stoek,,it would ‘be unwise to pay 1; off, and the guarantee ‘flone need be onsidered. ‘That gu-‘aranvtee was 'ven to save the colony from disaster, nd w:l.'<. analogous to what 11.'.‘.S hapened more than once to the Bflllli of nglaixcl itself. 'E‘h(~ other service rendered by the (‘?i‘everz‘lment‘t(‘» this B':mk '33 :0 subs(tl'ih(= ‘£750,000 to its (timial, whiell it still ho}4‘]s 13.; profe‘rem'<‘ Of these shzl~l'es the Governcnt ro('(‘iVC*s dividends aniounting to i87,5[)0, in'a(l~dition to which it last ca,r,receilve‘d tax on notes isz.~;ued by ‘he bank. amounting‘ to £92,700, and n income t-4:: and 1:-mrl tax a further i2e7,20r.>. a tot-3.1 of £ii7,40r:...n0t an ncollsider:x’r)le suni. stab-{livi:‘3i:‘:§_; it loses to v.v':ea.l'l,ly £15300 :1 day for evr-‘.‘_v day that the bunk opera its "doors for s I’ .3; V‘ > ii;fQ‘iC3all it,‘l_with‘“aill.y «legree of confi;be. avtiirxned _-I hzrt the S:-rats‘ Bank.

which it is proposed to set up, will prove of equal value as 3. source of revenue to the ‘State; or that the final achievements which are evidently expected to be attained by its agency ;will actually materialise in the single instance—the only one in actual exist‘ence, as far as I am aware—where the State has‘ assumed directly, and withI out anw intermediary, the functions of banker to the community; nor is there ‘any ground for I-assuming that they ‘would follow, if the experinrent were itriecl in this country “The questions raised are of vital iimpor.~:.:lnce, calling for the most careful and serious consideration. I, however, merely propound them. I shall not atempt to answer them. There ‘is a Well-known adage that Ia -man may may not -be a judge in his own. cause, and therefore I may not at this stage 'BO more than call attention to the "gfivity of the proposal, but‘ later, if iplficed in lthw position of respondent in —t-he ease, I may have greater freedom ‘in the argument.” .