BANK OF NEW ZEALAND.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 315, 10 November 1888, Page 7

BANK OF NEW ZEALAND.

(To the Editor). Sir —In your issue of 20th inst. you kindly allowed me space to make my own comments on that, at present engrossing topic, the position of the Bank of New Zealand, and I then remarked that I might have a little more to say on the subject, but from which I hold myself debarred until the public are made acquainted with the hue of action likely to be adopted by the shareholders, towards those directors who have so misdirected that £160,000.— N0t that I hold any of the Board scatheless, us it was the duty of each and all to protect those by whose confidence they were placed in tins onerous position, which they seem so unwoithy to have held. The justification offered for placing the parcel of 3,000 shares on the London maikefc is very far from satisfactory, and I should be glad to hear the present opinions of the transaction of those unfortunates, who bought them at a premium, etc., now discover that they are j rated at £7 value. I will not characterise it with the term I think appropriate, as it too, will, I hope, betaken up by some of the Home buyers for judicial decision, and I feelthathad I been one of these, I should have seen what the law will do with auditors who certify to a misleading balance-sheet, if I could obtain no other redress, though, at the same time, agreeing very fully with a remark made at one of • the late meetings, that the audit of the books . <of such institutions is a farce ; and further, my impression is that, notwithstanding the painstaking and careful enquiry which the Committee of investigation have made, it will be fonnd that there will be a great divergence ■ irom their conclusions — probably for the better, possibly for the worse— as, with all the good intention possible, it is hardly likely that mere outsiders should come to a correct conclusion in so short a time, and without seeing more than what statements the Head €olonial office can show : and therefore Ido Hot look nnhopefully on the position of the IBank, »s I remember a case in point, when about 1848 a Bank in the North of Scotland had to wipe out hah* of its paid up capital, •owing to too gloomy a view having then been taken of its position, and yet it has gone on 'prosperously ever since : but who can take •other flian a gloomy view of the Bank of New Zealand's position, when we see that even our State securities are adversely affected. What then would have been the result had matters been allowed to go on until it was too late to •attempt a remedy ? What crushing distruction to all our hopes of seeing our Colony become the "Britain of the South," for some generations at least, as, notwithstanding all the . -natural attractions, faith in us would be lost. Such dire disaster would have been worse than the failures of either the Western or City of Glasgow Banks, with their unlimited liability -of shareholders to make good the b.ard-earned pounds of the poor depositors. We have here no Bairds of Gartsherry and others, like the Western, nor yet a monied class like the City of Glasgow Bank shareholders. The largest shareholder in the latter an intimate acquaintance, and the second largest a relative of mine, having the ■unpleasantly unexpected call to pay some £400,000. So much for unlimited liability. But what would have been the result to de > positors with a limited liability Company ? I well remember the widespread devastation ■amongstsmall depositors who, attracted by an abnormal rate of interest, placed their years - of accumulated savings with Batson, Berry, and Langhome, Berwick on Tweed, (at whose examination I was present in 1841) ; one of the last of these financial curses, a private Bank, I recollect an incident in connection vith their failure, which shows that 'females, however smart, are not always safe to«exercise " woman's rights." Two or three days after the unfortunate denouement, Mrs 28., of 8., was giving a dinner party, at ■which a^guest remarked, "By the bye, Mrs 8.-you kept an account with the Tweed Bank, 3[ hope you had not a large balance there at thefailure." "No," she said, "I had no balance at all, 1 "drove down on Saturday, the last •day She bank was open, and closed my '■account, "as I heard unfavourable rumours." '"Well that was fortunate, and pray, did you get gold-or notes ?" " Oh, notes, of course^ I could not carry it conveniently in gold." ""Where they Bank of England notes?" "Oh "Ho, their own notes, and 3 am quite safe for I have upwards of L 5,000 worth of them in my bureau, 11 She was not so safe as •she expected, for these notes only yielded an Aberdeen dividend of, I think, 2s 6d in the £, An Aberdonian who had -"taken the benefit of ■the Act," but was hazy in his ideas of "cessio bonorum," was asked what dividend he was 'going to pay, he replied, " I dinna jist ken -vera weelbut I -hear half-a-croon's fats' gaen "'c noo." There is an old saying that its not safe to trust all ones eggs in-one basket, and if a Bank ■sinks its aßsets in what may not be easily, if at all, realisable, it generally brings its own unsatisfactory reward. I remember of a Joint Stock Bank starting in New Castle-■on-Tyne with comparatively small capital, anS interest -being then very low it was thought a " good thing" when they advanced 1/70,000 at 5 per cent, to a certain Marquis, to aid in developing his coal pits. But long before the term of payment, money was scarce, and "this Bank had to borrow at a higher rate than it got for this loan, so that for years it was a ■canker in its vitak, terminating with the "usual result. I could enumerate many instances o' the risk -oHocking up money that at any time might be called on, but the case of a company either using its, own capital or the proceeds of debentures payable at fixed periods is totally different, and so also would it be with the State, and which I think will be found necessary here, as neither quality of land, fine climate, improved prices, nor any other thing will induce monied men to make •onr Islands their home in face of the unbearable taxation which we have submitted to be $irust upon us. What we want is a thriving agricultural population, «.nd unless a State ■scheme iB organised, such companies as Bees' •will be but drops in the bucket. But I will not j •diverge further, and only add that while Banks j Tnay, and ought to, aid farmers and tradesmen ! •with required temporary accommodation, 1 deny their right to supply a special few with large advances that so when the evil day comes the minnows shall be swallowed up that the tritons may go free, — I am, etc, i J. M., Senior, Te Aroha, 26th October, 1888.

The Bay of Plenty Times states that "Mr W. J. Grey, contractor for Thompson's Track, has, in consequence of the fine weather, made good progress with the road, of which he has aheady constructed fortyfive chains." " Er, what's that you want to know — why is it impolite to do anything that you're very sorry for afterwards ? Humph I Let's see. Er — oh, here, I know. Because it's rued, of course. Wish you wouldn't be so frivolous." A woman is like ivy— the more you are ruined the closer she clings to you, A vile old bachelor adds : — " Ivy is like a woman — the more it clings to you, the more you are ruined. " Poor rule that won't work both ways. " What is all this bustle about ? " asked a Newport wag of another, on seeing a recently fallen lady's bustle on the sidewalk. " It's not about what it was before it fell," replied the other.

We find the following: in the Melbourne Argus of the 20th ultimo, with leference to our mineral exhibits :—": — " Owing to the complaints that were some time ago made concerning the exhibits of minerals in the Now Zealand court at the Centennial International Exhibition, a large quantity of quartz, taken from about 40 different mines, chiefly from tho Noith Island, was recently sent to Melbourne by tho Government. Mr T, Fergus, the Minister of Justice and Defence, and Mr H. A. Gordon, Inspecting Engineer of the Mining Department, were appointed to assist Sir James Hector in making arrangements for its effective display. There wag no space available for it in the mineial section, but a large arch is now being constructed on the frontage to the Grand Avenue of Nations, with panels which are to be inlaid with the quartz. The arch rises to hoight of about 30ft. Some of the panels are as high as 26ft, and although the structure will form a striking trophy, it will not carry much information to the mineralogist One of Mr Fergus' duties in Melbourne was to report on the mineral section. He is of opinion that the complaints made were premature, inasmuch as at the time the whole of the exhibits had not been displayed. The additions will certainly be , an improvement, but it was not the fault of Sir James Hector that a more imposing collection was not obtained in the first instance. The response to the applications made for exhibits was disappointing."