BANK HOLIDAYS.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 18675, 26 April 1926, Page 5

BANK HOLIDAYS.

TO TUB ZDITOB Of "TH> n»8." Sir,—Don't you think it ia about timo the Chamber of Commerce and other interested bodies put a stop to the tomfool holidays proclaimed under tlie Bank Act? The banks have been granted considerable privileges by the Legislature, and it is up to them to respond by consulting the convenience of their customers. Fancy yourself a country resident coming to town on Friday to complete a transaction only to find all the banks closed because it happens to be St. George's Day! Was he not the patron Saint of England, and do the English close their banks in his honour? Of course, they do not. Then to make the farce completo, although Anzac Day falls on a Sunday the banks, no doubt following the lead of the butchers, are again closing their establishments on Monday. So now we have this annoying position. Friday a Bank holiday, Saturday a half-holiday, and Monday a Bank holiday. Result, an attempt by the business community to do in half a day the work which ought to be spread over two and a half days. Now I am the last person to wish to see curtailed the holidays enjoyed by the bank officers, but after speaking to quite a number of them it appears that these isolated holidays, often coming at very inconvenient times and frequently not observed by the rest of the business community, are not regarded very favourably. No doubt an extra week tacked on to their annual holidays would b« much mora acceptable, and" a perusal of the bal-ance-sheets of the several banks operating in New Zealand would lead one to the conclusion that thiß could be quite safely granted without endangering the stability of the institutions referred to.—Yours, etc., CHARLES R. CLARK. Christchurch, April 24th.