THE BANK AND THE STATE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 242, 6 July 1908, Page 6

THE BANK AND THE STATE.

The advocates of a State Bank in this country should be proud and happy people just now. About a score of members of Parliament met on Friday, and after discussing the Bank of New Zealand and banking reform genorally sot up a committee " to formulate resolutions regarding banking and currency," to be submitted to the Prime Minister onWcd- ' ncsday. Banking and currency are much under discussion in America and Great Britain at present, and it must be gratifying to the British and Amorican bankers and statesmen who are endeavouring, without much success, to soh'o the " gold reserve" problem, to find that some of our legislators are coming to their assistance. Messrs. Barclay, Hornsby, Gray,, Ell, Flatman, and the other members of. this Banking Roform Conference have no public reputation as banking experts, it is true, but in this Surprising age he would be a pedant, blind to the lessons of history, who would insist that banking is a science, and that only banking exports can speak with authority on banking questions. There is such a thing as intuition, and we strongly suspect that this' is a case of it. At. any rate thero h ground for hope in the significant fact that the Banking Reform Conference, of. whom we. havo mentioned the weightiest members, are only taking about threo days to prepare their " resolutions , regarding banking and currency." Had they decided to tako three years, .woshould have known them to bo fossilised pedants, clinging tojthc outworn theories that have made banking the dull and stupid business that it is. To I 'speculate upon the important resolutions that tho Conference may issue regarding currency reform is useless, as it is always useless fij speculate upon the works of intuition. : But it is possible, especially in view of the fact that many of-the mombgrs aro " Labour " members,- that wo shall have an authoritative endorsement of tho Labour Conference's plan to enrich everybody, pay off tho Publib Debt, and build all our public works free of cost to tho taxpayer, by issuing State 1.0.U.'5. It ij hinted, also, that tho Conference intends to show the Prime Minister how to increase the State's interest in tho Bank of New Zealand, and'indeed the Conference appears to contemplate the consummation of Mr. Ell's dream of a State Bank. The. shareholders cannot contemplate without concern any proposal to convert tho Bank into a' State institution, nor will the public view with-' out the deepest misgiving the addition of banking to the functions of tho Stato. It was only to bo expected that the prosperity of tho Bank would attract tho attention of our Stato Socialists, who are ever ready with schemes of expropriation. Tho acquisition of the concern by tho State would be bad for both tho Bank and the State,-for financial and political reasons. But, even if they had not tho Prime Minister's assurance that they have rights that even the .almighty power of Parliament could not .ignore," shareholders have little to fear from the Banking Ecform Conference. The best guarantee that they are not threatened vith disaster is the list of the Conference experts, and the fact that some members of Parliament are ready to pass resolutions on any .subject jiist now if they think that by doing so they can capture a few votes at the coming elections.