Evening Post. FRIDAY, AUGUST 30, 1895 THE BANK DEBATE.

Evening Post, Volume L, Issue 53, 30 August 1895, Page 2

Evening Post. FRIDAY, AUGUST 30, 1895 THE BANK DEBATE.

i ? The general oharaoter of the disousßion on the Bank Bill will not, we think, raise the House in the estimation of the oountry. A great deal of valuable time is being wasted in quibbling and in utterly useless and fruitless discussion on points of procedure and matters of form. 'The Premier's oonduot as Leader of the House is as injudioious as it could be— it is a curious mixture of bounce and timidity. He is bounoeableand blusterous where he ought to be courteous and conciliatory, and he is timid and vacillating where he ought to be firm and deoided. To his in judiciousness in stroking members -the wrong way, and deolining to comply -with reasonable requests, muoh of the -waste of time is attributable. Mr. Ward's -manner is in strong contrast to that of his 'Chief. It is courteous and conciliatory, but -we regret to say we cannot add oandid or , trustworthy as to either foots or figures. The House will have cause for repentanae if it aooepts and acts on the statements of the Treasurer. They are no-more reliable than I -were the assurances, given by him last year -that he knew all abont the position of the 3ank, and that the 42,000,000 guarantee ¦would make everything right without losa •to the colony. As to Mr. Wabd'b oal•oulations regarding the future proßpeots ¦of the Bank if the Bill passes, they are «bout as valuable as would be speculations 'based on the number of chickens a hen setting on a nest of addled eggs is going to -produce. Such profits as the Treasurer anticipates will never be realised. If nothing ¦else prevented it. the manner in whioh pnblio ¦oonndenne in the Bank mnst have been ¦shaken by the disclosure that as ihe result of 33 years' operations during the best days *t the oolony, when profit-making was muoh •easier than it is ever likely to be again, it has 3e*t all its capital and ahows a defioienoy as ¦well. Thisdisclosuremustinjurethe prestige of -the Bank and its business at home and abroad, and although it may be possible to show that the loss is due to nou-reourrent oauMs, the public does not atop to reason or refleot. The majority °f people will probably prefer to do business in future with Banks having a better record. Thoroughly trustworthy and oapable as we believe the present management of the Bank to be, it would be idle to build expectations on the belief that the Bank of New Zealand will ever again hold in public confidence the place it has held, now it seems most 'unworthily, in the past. It will take a long time and a severe strugglo, under the most favourable oiroumstancea, to regain even partial confidence. This faot seems to be overlooked, althonjjh its significance was emphasised laßt night, when the Premier's reference to goodwill was met by the remark that there is no goodwill now — it was once valued at two millions. Many of the adverse oritioisms on the proposed soheme have been pregnant and weighty— some of an impor. itant oharaoter absolutely unanswerable— but there has been a lamentable absence of practical and practicable suggestions aa to any better means of faoing the difficulty which now exists as the .natural and inevitable result of the hasty manner in which the Legislature last year, relying on Ministers ob ignorant . as members, although too self-sufficient to acknowledge their ignorance, was led into taking the burthen of the Bank of New Zealand upon the shoulders of the oolony. The speech made last night by Captain Rttssill we regard as the most important of the debate, and the one most worthy of consideration. Captain Kussxll is naturally not disposed to view the polioy or action of the Government favourably. He has no connection with, or prejudices in favour of, the Bank of New Zealand. If he conld honestly do so, he would take % totally different view, but he i* constrained by ¦foots to recommend the scheme embodied in the Bill as the better one in a ohoioe of ¦evils. He does not pretend to regard it as satisfactory or perfeot, and, in faot, admits that there is no atsuranoe of finality in it; but it is the best that can he done under the oiroumatanoes. At any rate, it will give a long day before the final crash oomes. This is exactly the posi-

tion. In this want of assurance of finality lie's the greatest and most fatal objeotioy to the scheme. How oan either the oolony or the Bank prosper while the shadow of farther coming evil, however distant, lies over both p Would it not be more advisable to dear the future by facing the consequences, however painful, at onoe p This is the crux of the position. We fear our legislators have not in some oases the courage, and in ethers the honesty, to face the difficulty manfully so aB to settle it once for all. Tinkering and patohing it now will only lead to more serious trouble in the future, but the mind and oapaoityof the New Zealand Legislature, as now constituted, does not rise beyond tinkering and patobing. Members firmly believe, however they may differ on other points of political theology, that " sufficient to the day is the evil thereof." In this muoh ill-used text they find as muoh comfort and consolation as tho old woman did in " that bleßsed word Mesopotamia."