Colonial Bank

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 6266, 30 September 1891, Page 3

Colonial Bank

[PER PBEBB ASBOCIATION.J

Dunedin, This day.

Mr McLean, at the meeting of the Colonial Bank to-day, said that in these days the declaration of a 7 per cent, dividend ought to be considered very satisfactory. He had seen difficulties experienced by some of their neighbors, and it must not be thought that this institution had escaped scathleps, but their method of dealing with the difficulties had been differtmt. The Parliamentary returns of land held by the various institutions and companies in the colony showed that this Bank preferred to face its loss rather than be hampered with properties.. The result had shown the wisdom of their methods for severnl years. To meet these contingencies the Colonial Bank had to put aside money out of its profits to a far greater extent than any shareholder supposed. Their way seemed dear for the future, so far as human foresight could guide them. New Zealand was not likely to go backwards, and although it might be impossible to have in the future complete immunity from bad debts, still he was sanguine that the directors' policy of control, and the care of the management, was such as to, reduce the risk of loss with which money was procurable in England, necessitating it being forced out here to earn profit, and in a manner not consistent with the principles oi prudent banking. This Bank had limited its, English deposits in proportion to the business doing in the colony, preferring that the business should gradually increase by deposits within the colony, bo that the people interested, being conversant with the management, would repose confidence in the institution to a greater extent than could be expected froro, strangers. English deposits, when taken largely, were liable to he withdrawn when the colony got into temporary disrepute with Home investors. Though the Bank's onward progress might be slower by limiting the English, deposits* it was surer, and under this policy the institution had grown as quietly and prosperously as its supporters could wish. This was essentially a New Zealand institution, as it had no register outside the colony. Their 200,00,0 shares were held by 1415. proprietors; of these, 13,27, holding 182,414, were residents within the colony, while the remaining 88, holding 1756, were residing outside the colony, but some of them only temporarily. They were all interested in the colony. He thought it proper to refer to this matter on account of a statement in Parliament that the capital of all our Banks was held outside the colony, and to show how little this statement applied to the Colonial Bank. Their deposits — with the exception of £600,000 held in London, being the limit up to which they were booked there —were all New Zealand deposits. Their fixed depositors numbered 7,5,3., and including those in London, averaged £294 each. Seeing how much they were bound up with the colony, and as now it was the only Bank directly managed in the colony, it was natural they should look to the Government for a share of the colony's banking account. After detailing the history of the Bank's transactions -with the Government, during which the then Colonial Treasure* had agreed to give notice of the termination of the agreement with the Government

bankers, so that the account might be dirided, and showing that when less powerful thun they now are, the Bank had

helped the Government in times of serious difficulty, the Chairman went on to say : — We have" placed the matter before the present Government, acd it was also brought up independently in Parliament as a proposal to divide the account among all the Bank, to which this Bank had not the least objection. He waß not Bure whether this might not be more in the interests of the colony. They could not complain of the Treasurer claiming him to look into the matter before deciding on the course to pursue. He could confidently say there were not ten members in the House who did not wish to see the account divided, and he felt sure that a sense of justice qu the part of both the Government and Opposition members for the extraordinary services rendered to the colony by the Bank, would before long bring portion i of the colony's banking account their way. He pointed out that this Bank had no politics whatever. Its doors were open for business of every shade of politics, and in his opinion there should be a renewal of the manager's instructions to his officers that they were not to use the Bank's influence in any political or public matter. While he considered they as a corporation should take no part in politics, he strongly urged the individual shareholders, interspersed as they were all over the colony, to use their in-

fluenoe towards bringing the Bank the portion of the Government business to which they were justly entitled.