Bank of New Zealand

Dominion, Volume 38, Issue 74, 21 December 1944, Page 6

Bank of New Zealand

Sir, —It is most refreshing to see from the letter by “Satisfied Customer” in your issue of December 19 that the customers of the Bank of New Zealand are starting through your columns to air their views on> the question of the Government compulsorily acquiring the bank. I have been a customer of the bank for 25 years, and have had every assistance from the bank, without which I could not have brought many “private- enterprise” ventures to a successful conclusion. These ventures have not been for the purpose of fleecing the public, but for development purposes, and for lending capital where such has been required, and there is nothing I would hate more than being forced to sever my long connexion with the bank. Now is the time for customers to give the public their opinions ou this vital matter; it is no good waiting until the change-over has been accomplished. In view of the very definite views expressed by Government members in the House on the “private enterprise” system, how would it be possible for anyone believing in that system to bank with a Labour Government controlled bank? Did not Mr. Fraser himself in his last election advertisement state that “private enterprise” means unemployment? They 'were the exact words, and if they could be substantiated by fact, nothing more damaging to the ‘/private enterprise” system could have been said. I trust that the Government will soon let the public know their intentions in regard to the Bank of New Zealand, and so settle the minds of the many satisfied customers of the bank. I may say that the bank (together with the “private enterprise” system) has been the means of enabling me to acquire sufficient capital, when the time comes, to rehabilitate my three sons, who are still in the forces,'without any assistance from the Government.—l am, etc., R. H. SPENCER. Palmerston North, December 19.