The Wairarapa Daily SATURDAY, AUGUST 2, 1890.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3577, 2 August 1890, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily SATURDAY, AUGUST 2, 1890.

The Bank of New Zealand appears to have taken at last, in the Hutchison inquiry, the position whicli it should have assumed at first, viz, that it is its duty to respect tho confidence reposed in it by its customers, and not to betray their private business transactions even to a parliamentary

committee. We.may assume that Mr Hutohison in preferring the charges which are now under investigation, was satisfied in hjs oiyh mind, and his mind is a legal one, that there existed ovidenoe which supported them, The ovidencethat convinced the judgment of such a sagacious and highly trained legal expert as Mr Hutohison, ought to be Bulh'cient to convince a parliamentary

committee, Why go beyond that, u»kig3 it happens to be the case that Mr Hiitchisoii- hjs arrived at his conclusions on insutllcient grounds, and has to prooure fresh evidence to justify the position whioh he has taljen.up. If Mr Mitchelsonorany othor ijinjslpr lias been engaged ill private business, pi j)i such a pursuit has bad a private account with the bank, it would be an extremely bad precedent for the partiouiars of suoli W»p to be published throughout tho Jongtb a»d breadth of the Colony with the consent of the Bank. Still worse would it be if Mr Mitphelson had a partner or partners in his business, and the private affairs of one or more private individuals who i ore altogether unconnected with politics were investigated by a political Coramiiioe, Jjt would be a gross impropriety for any banking institution to reveal the private business' of its customers,. and tho ;,only further question is. whether the bank in the

present instance can be compelled to make $ djepjosure. Of course, if there exists a wpm of absolute compulsion, and the Bank yielded. Jo it and it alone, there would be nc Honor attached to any revejati.or wo fail to see how. "*"';' ° V Bepresentatives can onforu ™* against the Bank. It might impriso,' a clerk or look up an inspector, ba such a proceeding would be ridicu loub as well as unjust, The rea masters of the Bank reside in Condon and it is very improbable that thi Legislature can get at them, If th House decides to force the Bank t< comply with the request of the Com mittee.it will issue an edict which i may not be able to carry oat, and th. result will bo humiliating to th prestige of parliament. The wise course seems to be to allow Mr Hut chison, the framer of the charges, t bring up all the evidence in hi possession, that evidence which ha satisfied his own mind, and give i verdict upon it

Zealand mpirim in 'jmptrhhdti declares 'that'railway employees shall refrain from handling goods consigned to: br from ascertain ■ Chrietchuroti firm which trades under the style of Whitcoinbe and Tombs, the name of the latter • Tomk, not being altogether'inappropriate for an individual- who: is under the complete boycott. .The railway employees wilUmye tQchboßß whomthey will obey, the colony which employs them or the ; Maritime Council which contrats them, and their ohoico, if they . are loyal to pledges alraaiy given, must- be to obey the Council* and "to l disobey tileir employers, the Parliament and Government of New Zf aland. \ ■ Will the Government and Parliament of New Zealand allow its authority to be superseded by. the Maritime Counoil ? If so, thetimehas arrived for this body to remove that biiible" the inacs" from the table of the House of Representatives, and to send to the right about our effete legislators. It is, perhaps, not.too muoli to say now that King Boycott rules the land, and the grand vizier oftheMantimo Council, the gentleman whomanipulates the bow string, is engaged' in establishing the authority of the new monarch. Why should we longor pay salaries to a Governor, to , Ministers, and to legislators if their functions are virtually abrogated. '•'."