THE BANK HOLIDAY.

Westport Times, Volume V, Issue 896, 5 December 1871, Page 2

THE BANK HOLIDAY.

It will be remembered tban an announcement appeared in the columns of this paper on the 30th of last month, notifying that St. Andrew's Day would be kept as a holiday by two of the Banks in this town. A paragraph also appeared in the same issue, which, in a good naturod way, put the most charitable construction upon the eccentric, or as some will have it, selfish and illiberal couduct of the other bank, which was the primary cause of no announcement having appeared on their behalf. There the matter should have rested, but since that a letter has appeared in om Charleston contemporary, purporting to come from Mr John Leslie, and Mr Win. Buchanan, a cunningly designel document calculated to place matters in a false light. Upon the letter we desire to make no comment, save that besides its disingenuous features, it also exhibits a considerable share of snobocratic puppyism and presumption from which we are happy to exonerate the gentlemen whom we have named. Their offence, if offence there is any. is certainly of a venial character, for they were cleverly duped into signing this letter. We have it upon the best authority that one was rushed upon to sign before he got out of his bed, the other was also hurriedly induced into compliance, for he has been heard to declare that he was not aware of its real meaning or tendency until after he saw it in print. We do not desire •'to pile on the agony" upon the champions, who thus allow themselves to be led about by the nose and left in such an absurd position. But we cannot dc less than give a short resume of thecircumstanees which have led up to the present very petty, if not pretty quarrel. On the 29th ult., a gentleman in connection with this office waited upon Mr Leslie, the agent of the Bank of New Zealand, Westport, to represent to him that if his bank was to be closed on St. Andrew's day, it would be desirable to notify tbe fact to the bank's customers at a distance, who might otherwise, be subjected to serious loss and inconvenience. _ Mr Leslie acquiesced in the desirability of giving the usual notice, but explained that the three banks in Westport were bound by agreement to act in concert, and that the matter having been under consideration; Mr Kerr, the agent for the Bank of New South Wales, had refused to advertise, and, that therefore, he could not; he further added, with a spirit which we can appreciate that he would rather defray the expense of the notice out of his pocket than allow the inconvenience which might otherwise take place. Mr Buchanan was waited upon subsequently, and his version was similar to Mr Leslie's, throwing the blame upon Mr Kerr, whose worthy reason we prefer to leave to persons to guess at, with only one small clue which is, that no difficulty of this kind occurred until the Westport Times fell into the hands of the present proprietorship. We have only to add that the proprietor of this paper did not follow thp example of narrow selfishness set to him, but seeing that the whole difficulty lay in the expenditure of a few shillings, he inserted the notices at his own cost for public information.