The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1886. NATIONAL BANK.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1514, 18 November 1886, Page 2

The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1886. NATIONAL BANK.

Soute Australia is at preeent suffering from depression just as severely as New Zealand, and the remedy generally suggested is a National Bank. We cannot help expressing the gratification we feel in noticing that the idea has been taken op in that distant colony. Four or five years ago, when it was first suggested to establish a National Bank, the proposal was laughed at by Jthe thoughtless, and scoffed at by the interested, bat since then the Right Hon. W. 1*!. Gladstone—the greatest statesman of the age—has expressed his approval of it by suggesting to Ireland the advisability of adopting it in the event of that country acquiring power to make her own laws. He also stated flat pressure of business had hitherto prevented the English Government from taking the subject into consideration, an J intimated that if Parliament were relieved of the burden of having to legislate for Ireland the matter would be taken up. The proposal has thus received " the stamp of the mint" from Mr Gladstone having approved of it, and it is, therefore, not at all wonderful that the subject should be discussed in colonial Parliaments. We have not yet seen the full report of the debate on the subject in the South Australian Parliament, and consequently we are at a disadvantage in discussing it. All we have seen of the discussion is a speech in opposition to it by the Attorney-General, the Hon. J. W. Downer, and this is pronounced by the Australasian Banking Record to be "undoubtedly the ablest Parliamentary

deliverance on a very important subject that haa ever been delivered in the colonies. Its facts are indisputable and well arranged, its arguments unanswerable." Twaddle is always " unanswerable " when it is employed in upholding monopoly—at least, bo monopolists think. Mr Downer's speech rises above the level of twaddle in some respects, but it as frequently sinkp down to the depths of impudent imbecility. Here is the first argument Mr Downer uses : " The idea of» PHte Bank is not new. It is no moiv than the idea of obtaining the fruits of labor without working for them ; than of having a cake after eating it; or of selling com modifies and keeping the money as well." The language of this sentence is eo mixed as to be incomprehensible. What is the meaning of " selling commoditits and keeping the mony bp well ?" How any man could use such senseless language we cannot understand. Next, does Mr Downer place supporters of a National Bank in the same category as persons who want to have " a cake after eating it, etc. ?" His language is so obscure that we cannot tell, but we presume that that is his meaning, and, if so, nothing can exceed the stupidity of the insinuation. There is no analogy between the two things, except in this way : Mr Downer wants to secure the perpetual eating of the cake to a select few ; the National Bank advocates want to give a share of it to the nation at large. The suggestion of covetousneescontained in Mr Downer's utterances is rendered not only unobjectionable, but even laudable, when it is remembered that it is prompted by feelings of patriotism, and a desire to benefit humanity. The advocates of a National Bank do not look for the fruits of labor without working for them, but tbey want to secure to the people the fruits of their labor afier having worked for tbem—instead of allowing a few monopolists to swallow up the whole of them in the shape of 10 per cent. The next point in the 6peech relates to the disastrous effects of making a metallic currency the standard currency. Mr Downer upheld that it was the safest currency. His conduct was right, and his argument wrong. It is nonsense for any colonial legislature to talk about altering the currency ; tbey cannot do it. England is our money market, and we must abide by whatever laws govern the currency in the monetary metropolis of the world. In opposing any change in the currency Mr Downer was right, but to deny that too high an appreciation of gold had frequently been fraught with financial disaster was not wise. The greatest financiers of the present and the past have attributed our periodical depressions to too high an appreciation of gold. But colonial Governments can play only a very small part in remedying this. The most tbey could do would be to agree amongst themselves to place silver, in proportion to its value, on an equal footing with gold, but we doubt whether that would do much good. They could also make an effort to influence the British Government to legislate on the subject, but iurtber they could not go. It is useless, therefore, to discuss the currency question in connection with a National Bank, which is entirely a different matter. The chief point in the National Bank scheme is to secure to the people the profit on the note issue of the colony, the next is to establish an institution that would enter into competition with the present Banks, make them lower the price of money, and break up the unholy alliance which at present exists between them. We want a National Bank to transact domestic public business and the business of farmers ; it should have nothing to do with foreign exchange, and therefore it would not be much interested in thfl currency guestion. We want metallic money when we go to buy our goods in the London market, and our exports would get it for us. To discuss the question of a metallic currency in connection with a National Bunk would be very amusing in one of Gilbert and Sullivan's comic operas, but mischievous in a legislative debate. Mr Downer's speech is very long, and we iii tend to review it more freely in a future issue.