The Press. TUESDAY JANUARY 29, 1895. THE NEW WAY OF ENCOURAGING THRIFT.

Press, Volume LII, Issue 9014, 29 January 1895, Page 4

The Press. TUESDAY JANUARY 29, 1895. THE NEW WAY OF ENCOURAGING THRIFT.

It would really appear as if a Dunedin ■' social." is not .conducive either to politeness of language or lucidity of expression. Such is the impression which'we gather from reading the report of the Hon. Mr. Ward's speech at a funotionr of this sort held on Saturday night. Why the ton. gentleman should stigmatise as hypocrites or " Judas Iscariots" people who want him to remain in the colony is beyond our comprehension. They might, with some show of reason be accused of want of taste, but Mr. Ward ought to be the last* mail in the world to quarrel with them on that grouud. We: can even understand his calling them hypocrites, if he thought they weie not sincere, but why " Judas IscaryDts ?" The j original of that name carried the bag, and was in fact the Treasurer of the Society to wbioh he belonged. There is not much to be advanced in his favour, but so far as we know it can at least be urged that he attended strictly to business and never deserted his post to attend to his own urgent private affairs. We leave the question of Mr. Ward's politeness, which, alter all, is of no importance, and come to that of his lucidity. We still wish he would for .once be clear and candid and tell us the whole truth about his visit Horns, and that £150,000. When his departure was first mooted it was simply stated that he was going on private business of his own. The Ministerial mouthpiece in Wellington never pretended that he had any special public mission to fulfil, but merely argued that he had a perfect right to go to England abont his own private concerns, aud that the business of his Department would not suffer in his absence. It was only after the Press and other journals had strongly iusisted that there should be no intermingling of public and private credit and prestige, and that if Mr. Ward wished to go to England to see after his private affairs he should resign his portfolio and go simply as a private individual, that the ground

was shifted. Then we began to hear vague hints of some important pubuc work which Mr. Ward was to acoom* plisb, in addition to his own private business. How it has shifted still further. Mr. Ward drops all reference to his private mission, and says bo has in his possession information which renders it advisable that either himself or another responsible Minister should be in England ••for the purpose of doing something calculated to do a great deal of good to the oouutry." Of course, tbe hon. gentleman does not tell us what is this wonderful and mysterious feat he ia going to perform. Candidly, we believe the whole thing is an after - thought. The We'lington Evening Pout puts the matter bluntly enough when it says : —" Mr. " Ward is going Home, so far as " regards the public business, as a v kind of" political Micawber, in the " hope that something will turn up '■which may appear to afford some ''justification for his trip. We "fully believe that if anytoing does «' turn up by which be may in London " benefit the colony he will eagerly *' avail himself of tbe opportunity of " earning the cost of bis visit, but " that he has any defined public mis- " sion to justify his departure we " refuse to credit. He is going Home '-* in the interests of Mr. J. G. Ward " and the commercial concerns with " which Mr. J. G. Ward is connected. «' Ifc is an open secret that he desires " to enlist the aid of additional English " capital in the development of those " concerns. In any such object his pur- " pose will naturally be assisted by the " prestige of visiting London, not as a " Soutbland merchant merely, but as •' Colonial Treasurer of New Zealand. •• - . . The ouly thing at pre-

" sent certain about the public aspect '• of his missiou is tbab the colony will " have to bear the expense." If Mr. Ward persists in refusing to give any adequate public reason for going Home in a public capacity, ab the public expense, he might have been a little more explicit about that £150,000. That, at least, is a matter on which the public are eucitled to tbe fullest explanation. Mr. Ward tries to defend the transaction, but it is in a very lame fashion, and 'he only succeeds in making; the matter worse. We gather that the £150,000 was part of the second million of the Bank of New Zealand guarantee. Mr. Ward says that the Government were bound to see that this was invested in liquid securities, and believing that it was not right in the interests of the colouy that it Bhouid.be invested at 2 or 2J per cent, in English consols tbey " sug- " gested to the Bank of New Zealand " that security should be got in the " colony, and that in the opinion of " tbe Government it* was desirable to a «' reasonable amount to get local in- " stitutions to take a portion of the " money." Now, let us see what this means. We have to consider the matter not only from tbe point of view of the Bank of New Zealand, bat also as regards the duty of the Government. In reference to the Bank wo are prepared to admit that tho second million having gfo be invested in liquid securities, .-Jew Zealand Government consols might be considered as coming within that term. : But what about "the action of the Government? The preamble - of tbe Consols Act siys :— " Whereas it is expedient to encourage '* thrift by offeriug to the people of " New Zealand facilities for the safe " investment of their savings, be it 11 therefore enacted, &c." Tho Act was brought in and passed on the express declaration T that it was to encourage thrift among the people. Tbe total amount which the Colonial Treasurer is authorised to receive is £500,000, at the rate of £250,000 per annum, and he deliberately gets the Bank of - New Zealand to scoop up three-fifths of the amount of consols he is entitled to issue this year. Whose interest is he here considering*—-that of the thrifty settler with small savings to. invest, or that of the big Banks on whose side the Government, as we have contended all along, will always be found fighting ? But there is a further and very important point to be considered—namely, tbe disposal of the £150,000 received from the sale, of these consols. On what authority and with what public justification did the Colonial Treasurer lend that sum for a term of years to the Colonial Bank ? The Act, which says that New Zealand consols are to afford a safe investment for the savings of the thrifty people, of New Zealand, says nothing about lending tbe sums so received to any Banks. It says tbey aire "to be publio moneys within the meaning of tbe Public Revenues Act, 1891, and are to be •'irom time to time invested in such securities as the Governor in Council may authorise." We ask again what security was given iv this case, and approved by the Governor in Council ? We should also like to know what rate of interest is being given, so that apart from the question of security the taxpayers may judge whether this new Ministerial policy of borrowing money from one Bank tq lend to another is a profitable commercial transaction. Profitable or not, we dp not think it is a policy of which Parliament will approve. And certainly fche whole business is one of the oddest methods of encouraging thrift among the people of New Zealand that we eyer heard of. It has, however, the merit of partaking of the nature of a job, and,has, therefore, everything to recommend it from the point of view of the party at present in power.