FRAUDS BY BANK CLERKS.

Waikato Times, Volume 2641, Issue 2641, 15 June 1889, Page 2 (Supplement)

FRAUDS BY BANK CLERKS.

£32,000 IN ONE YEAR.

Thk frauds by bank clerks which have been brought to light in Melbourne since June last amount to the startling sum of £32,000 and inquiries are being made as to the cause of this undesirable boom. A judge of the Snpreme Court provoked the wrath of managers and directors by sayiug that the salaries they paid were wretched and that they made.embezzlementJicmptiue by exhibiting a readiness to square cases in which the friends of culprits were willing to pay up ; and, perhaps, His Honor's remarks wero rather two sweeping to bo correct. The pay of bank clerks docs not appear to be above or below the market value of the work which is not, as a rule brain tasking ; making entries iu books, adding up figures and counting notes call be done by any young man who has bsen to school. Tho great requisites are carefulness and fidelity which are not more common than mental capacity and which must be recognised as qualities that require to be tenderly cultivated and well paid for. Are the banks paying as high salaries as they ought ? The answer they make is that applicants are numerous and £2 10s o, week is a sulficieut income for a young man of 22. Ledgerkeepers run from £140 to £200 ; tellers from £220 to £550. Some men can bring up a family on £200 a year but that salary is plainly inadequate for youths who go to the dress circle of the theatre, bet on the races, have shares in a yacht, and patronise tailors who are celebrated for making high charges, Many juvenile bauk clerks do all this, aud the managers cannot help seeing it. Neither is £200 a year euough for a young man who speculates on the share market and buys say £1.000 worth of stock on time, but the boom is over now and we do not suppose that any brokers are now willing to sell to boys anil youths as they were all doing a few months ago. The question seei..s to be a simple one. Is it necessary that every bank clerk should be a swell ? If it is then the current rates of pay must be made larger or tho inspection more efficient. An examination of the cash on the eve of Easter and Christmas holidays has evidently become essential. The, three or four days' start that is obtained by the young man who helps hinnelf to notes and gold on Holy Thursday gives him an advantage over the detectives which they can never mako up. Bulks that ha»'c suffered most are said to be subjecting their systems of check to examination to find out whether they are as perfect as they ought to be. Stealing cannot bo rendered impossible but it may be rendered difficult or nor worth tha risk ; and the banks might find it profitable in the long run to give good-conduct bonuses. One well managed shipping company in these colonies gives a cheque at the end of the year to every captain who gets through from January 1 to December 31 without accident ; and the care its captain takes to avoid accidents is remarkable. Clerks who might otherwise be susceptible to temptation would keep straight not merely to earn their little bonus but to get and keep the reputation of being bonus-earners,