The Evening Star. WITH WHICH ABE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, and Echo. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1894.

Auckland Star, Volume XXV, Issue 224, 19 September 1894, Page 4

The Evening Star. WITH WHICH ABE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, and Echo.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1894.

Fer the cause that lsota* ABsistancs, For Uib -wrong that needs resistance, For the futwo in the distance. And the good that we can de.

The statement made in a London telegram published last night to the effect that many city men consider it desirable that the National Bank of New Zealand shall be included in the amalgamation scheme which has been propounded for the union of the other two New Zealand banks, is a piece of gratuitous advice which may not be altogether disinterested. London city men have much larger interests ia the Union Bank of Australia and the Bank of Australasia than in any of the New Zealand banks. Their first, condition in exchange for the very costly help which they were induced to give the Bank ot New Zealand in the extremity of its need, was the removal of the headquarters to London ; and their chief objection to the conditions under which the Government agreed to assist that .bank out of the troubles into which the heavy loading of London finance had landed it, was the provision which insisted upon the return of the bank's headquarters to this colony. They approved entirely of the action of the Government in accepting the risk of a guarantee, but. considered that a practically irresponsible^Baard; sitting in London, should have maintained control over the. institution, while the New Zealand taxpayers paid the piper. Colonists, however, are not altogether fools, i- They -understand quite well that John Bull's views of a question are influenced mainly by its bearings upon his pocfc'et, and in' that; respect they have not a little of the John Bull in their own composition.

For our own part, while we admit that the amalgamation of the.•Bankiof New Zealand and the Coldnlsrßank may be expedient and publicly beneficial under existing circumstances, we cannot regard it with pleasure or even with satisfaction. It is a retrograde movement. We have 'no love at all of those mammoth "gobble all "corporations which are the monstrosities and curses of our age, throttling private enterprise and holding the people in a bondage from which they have no escape. We have lately seen several of these gigantic corporations topple over from the effect of their own illbalanced weight, and theektravagant and ill-directed management which they beget. We would very much prefer to see a return to smaller and less pretentious concerns.

By the amalgamation of the Bank of New Zealand with the Colonial Bank, we understand some thirty-nine separate branches will be closed. Apart from the loss of employment resulting from this cause, the people in many agricultural and industrial centres will be left entirely at the mercy of one bank manager unless the National Bank of New Zealand or the Australian banks step into the gap. In Australia, since the crisis, banks, under directions from London, have put on the screw so remorselessly tbat the commercial community is almost in revolt. It was this which led to the adoption in the New South Wales legislature, by an overwhelming majority^ of a motion in favour of making the New South Wales Savings Bank the nucleus of a State bank. But even under such quasi-State supervision as is provided by the Bank of New Zealand Guarantee Act, we fear that if the healthy influence of competition were removed, New Zealanders requiring financial accommodation would soon realise to_ their sorrow that an institution so "constituted is just as soulless as the ordinary run of corporations.

So far from it being a good thing for the National Bank to merge its individuality into that of the great financial octopus which is arising in j the land, this seems to be in a special degree the opportunity of that vigorously managed institution. At an early period the National Bank grappled with its difficulties, and purged itself from the dead assets that resulted from the general collapse of inflated values. It has confined its operations to this colony, where it has a flourishing business, with advances, gold, etc., amounting to ;£i,653,000, representing assets exceeding by its total deposits and circulation owing to the public. City men, in the London cable message referred to, have tendered their advice, we may therefore be permitted to give ours for whatever.it is worth. We strongly urge the .management of the National to "hold the fort" and reap

all the advantages which may accrue, from the overflow of business that will inevitably result from the amalgamation of the two other New Zealand banks, and which will otherwise enrich banking institutions whose, chief interests lie outside this colony, and with whom our business must always be a subsidiary matter.