The Wairarapa Daily WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 1891.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XII, Issue 3896, 26 August 1891, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 1891.

In the year 1872 the first bank was opened in the Wairarapa by Mr T. W. Balfour, who was sent up to Ureytown by the Bank of New Zealand for (hat purpose. Mr Balfour proved himself to be an extremely capable officer and under his auspices the institution which he represented speedily enjoyed a profitable business, not only in the then chief town of the district but also in the then smaller townships of Masterton, Carterton and Featherston. We remember that ono of the first steps h@ took when he came to Greytown was to recommend the head office not to charge exchange on cheques within the Wellington district. He rightly regarded this toll as a vexatious one which produced an inconsiderable revenue at marked inconvenienca to the public. Recently in the Wairarapa this duty on cheques has been reimposed after a lapse of nineteen years, and whoever is responsible for it lacks the sagacity which characterised oar old friend Mr Balfour. The thing is a nuisance, but as all the banks agree to inflict this worry on the people jt is taken for granted that it is something which cannot be helped. We notice that Mr Coleman Phillips in a letter to the Standard quotes a remedy which appears to nave suggested itseh? to certain people at Bakaia who propose discontinuing using the notes of banks which charge exchange on cheques. This would no doubt cure the evil, because banks make a large profit on their note issue, but it savours of the boycott, and for this reason it should, as a matter of principle, be discountenanced. The Banks would, we feel sure, abandon, the charge if the business residents of the comtr unity requested that it should be withdrawn. Unfortunately,bpweyer, thebusiness 'residents are combining with the Banks to fleece the public. A shopkeeper in Masterton if presented with a small Wellington cheque deducts sixpence frotn its amount for exchange. Perhaps he takes ten such cheques in a day, passes them through his book at a cost of sixpence lor the lot and collects on them five shillings, or sixpence each. In other words in order that a bank may earn a paltry sixpence the public have to pay fiye shillings, four and sixpence of which goes into the pocket of the tradesman, and the remaining small coin to the Bank. This is

an iniquitous arrangement, and we ! are not overstating the case when we I say that the banks, by means of this , exchange, deal with the public in a reprehensible manner. If their profits are insufficient there are other ways by which they can augment them, f '«nut resortirg to this unbusinessliktexpedieni. T2} e J are > somewhat unwise in u customers with petty charges of this kind, because by so doing they play straight into the hands of the radicals who clamour for a State Bank. As a matter of fact it is cheaper now to send a small sum of money from Masterton to Wellington through the medium of a postal note than by an ordinary cheque. If, by the imposition of troublesome restrictions, the banks drive their customers to the Post Office it will, in time, be recognised that the State can manage certain classes of banJung business more economically than the banks. Ic is also to be regretted that there is no open competition between the banking corporations trading in this colony. In a thing of this sort,

whether it be wrong or right, they act together and are in a position to laugh at the public. If they studied the public convenience in the same way as Mr Balfour considered it when he opened the first bank in the Wairarapa, they would stand better with the public and in their day of trouble they would have the sympathies of the community. In pointing out the manner in which tradesmen make a profit out of the baDk exchange it is only fair also to state that they lose by it in another direction as many of the<r outside customers send them cheques on

which no exchange is added, but two wrongs do not make one right and the sooner a pernicious system of exchange, which fosters wrongs amongst the people, is abandoned, the better it will be for both the bankers and the public.

Maocratainoka is sure'y becoming an important centre. A theatre is about to be erected at that place. There are at the present time a hundred and twenty-five patients in the Wellington Hospital. A shipment of batter sent home from Ballance, in the Forty-Mile Bush, has proved unsatisfactory. This w»s in coDsequence of the high charges for freight. Mr H. M. Stanley and his wife leave England for Australia early next month: It is stated that the carpenters of London have lost half a million: 1 wages by the strike. A dividend of 15s in the £ has been paid in the estate of Hoam Manihera, native, of Grey town. The death is announced by cab'e of Mr Cecil Ba'kes, the Postmaster-General of England, at the age of 53. The reception of John_ L. Sullivan in Melbourne was cold, and his dramaticseason promises to be a failure. Western Australia isadoptinga scheme of assisted imigration w.th a view to introducing crofters. Thero is an appalling amount of crime in Melbourne, robbery with violence being of daily occurrence

There will be no horses at all on the ground on the first day of the forthcoming show of the Wairarapa and East Cosst Pastoral Society. The total amount to be given in prizes by the Wairarapa and East Coast Pastoral and Agricultural Society this year is over £4OO, which is a very considerable increase on the previous year. The Wairarapa Lake, which has been dosed for the past few weeks, was opened on Sunday morning by a large gang of men, under the superintendence of Mr John Barr. The men were a week in cutting through the bat of Band. The Selwyn County Council have acquiesced in the resolution from Patea and Waimate Councils disapproving the introduction of the one-man-one-vote principle into County elections, and decided to useits influence to get clause 10 expunged from the Counties Act. The following tenders hare been ac« cepted by the PahiatuaCounty Council: —Contract No.. 157, formation Haster-ton-Mangahao road—E. McMahon, 25a per chain, dram Bs, culverts 3s and 6b; contract No, 158 —E. McMahon, 30s per chain, drain; Bs, culverts 3s, 6s 2d, and 10a. , Mr A. Reese, of Pahiatua, advocates the novel proposal of bringing hotel bars within ithe Shop Hours Bill and closing them at 6 p.m. He thinks this would be better than the present extreme system pursued at Sydenham. At the meeting of creditors of Mr Edmund Holt on Monday, Mr Coleman Phillips seated that he wished the Assignee to deal with the debtee undei the Fraudulent Debtors Act. An inebriate who found his way into the police cells last evening was dealt with in the usual manner in the K.M. Coui i, this morning. Messrs O. Beetham and T, C, Williams have given their consent to join the Directory of the Co-operative and Farmers Alliance. Some little diversion was caused at the R.M. Court, Carterton, yesterday, by the enforcing of the rule which requires the paying of the Court costs in stamps. Eleven shillings worth of penny stamps were procured by a certain pHinciff, but these were refused by the Clerk, and the court had to bo adjourned to permit the proper stamps being ob-l tamed. The Clirlstohucch Press states that, as a trial shipment Home, Mr R. W. England is sending by the Aorangi 70 planks of figured rimu. The timber has been selected in Havejock, and the planks are to be cut up and used for cabinet-making purposes: We are informed on good authority that a Christchurch Special Settlement Association has completed arrangements with the Government ior about 2,500 acres in the No. 1 Baker Block. The land selected lies between the Manga' mahoe line and Alfredton. Buehfallin; operations are likely to be commenced it about three weeks time. The blook ii divided amongst eighty settlers. The following is a receipt for a good sheep dip :—1 gallon of carbolio acid it added to 90 gallons of water, and to thrt mixture is added 21b of arsenic which has been boiled with 31b washing scda for half an hour, till it is thoroughly dissolved. This preparation is much cheaper than any that can be purchased, and it combines two important points in being cheap and good.

Arthur Cooley, the murderer of Mrs Ogpvy at Richmond, was hanged «>n the 17th msfc. by a new executioner, whose identity Wf s concealed by a rersk and heavy beard. Cooley confessed his guilt to the Rev. H K- Finn's, his spiritual attendant. Be expressed great sorrow, and attributed the life he had jed to drink, a want of classification of the prisons in the colony, learning ey;J * -**'"*« when a boy going round with a nau..- -»»ine. and seeing cruelty hay.pres.ing mac.. practiced at rabbit-trapping. . I conviction Cooley has been yery cheerful, has ate and slept well, and expressed no fear of death. When the Sheriff announced that the condemned man's time had arrived, he stepped cheerfully on to the drop, with a smile on his face and a bunch of violets in his hand. The sheriff asked the usual Question whether he had anything to say, out no reply was made, The bolt was drawi), and death was instantaneous. His confession has set at rest any doubt many persons had regarding Cooley's guilt. Seyeral persons who were present had witnessed many executions, but stated that they had never seen a man go so willingly and bravely to his doom.

Now is the winter of our discontent ncade glorious summer by purchasing the extraordinary bargains in blaukets, flannels, dress goods, and thousands of other lines at Hooper's gigantic tale now on. During the next few days we shall offer still further inducements to the public to secure some of the many bargains at our gigantic sale, by further reducing eveiy description of winser clothing. L. J. Hooper and Co. are determined U reduce before stock-taking (which is new in full swing) their stock of men's %nd boy's clothing, shirts, hats, socksbraces, be'ts, undershirts, and uuder. pants, ties, overcoats, mackintoshes, etc. They expect to clear out about one half of the present stock before the end of the sale. So look out tor bargains at Hooper's. I

Estate of Ouatav Hirscli. The following statement has been filed in the estate of Gustar Hirsch, of Maaterton, bankrupt Assets : Nil. Liabilities— Scoul'ar <fc Chis« holm (Wellington), £25; Kemptborne Prosser & Co, £3 4s 4d ; John Sands (Sydney), £1 ; R. Hannah & 06, £1 8s lid; J. Graham & Co, 18s ; M. Caselberg and Co., £5 15s 2d ■ Chamberlain Bros., £1 7s; Geo. Johnston, £1 8s; Pond, 6s; E. Welch, 6s; Wairarapa Star, £[ 15s ; Wairarapa Daily, £1 10s ; G. S. W. Dalrymple, as agent for the landlord, £4 10s 6d ; Mrs G. Hirsch, £240; Trustees of the late John Ritchie, (Sydney) £3O 14s lOd; G. H. Hawkins (Palmerston North), £l2O 10s, Total, £l4O 2» 3d,