TOPICS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 136, 5 December 1912, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY

There waa a surprise packet, as Sir t Joseph Ward would The Bank nnd describe it, in the the Public. speech of the chairman of tho Bank of New Zealand yesterday— namely, the proposed increase of capital. The bank's business is growing even as the demand for money everywhere is increasing, and in seeking power to raise further capital for presumably profitable employment the bank will only be doing what some other important kindred Aus« tralasian institutions have clone already or may contemplate doing. Of course, it is a very good thing in a young and small country such as this is to have a bank of the dimensions of the New Zealand in its midst, to have given birth to it, and to realise its lusty growth and development. It will be readily admitted, no doubt, that it now needs more capital, even as' a growing boy requires larger clothes made with reasonable provision for expansion. Some people, however, / see ih ' this proposal to raiße more capital the unexpressed desire on the part of the bank to cut the painter which connects it with the Government. If this be so, they argue, then it would clear the wfty for tho establishment of a State Bank as Australia has done. And then the State institution could start de npVo, as in the Commonwealth, with the interests of no shareholders to satisfy, no goodwill, to buy at a fancy price. Such a proceeding, if the wisdom of the establishment of a National bahk be admitted, would obviously be in the interests of the taxpayers. There is a large body of public Opinion that would prefer to see more banking competition rather than the enlargement of existing institutions. With regard to the questions asked at the meeting yesterday by Mr. Alexander Macintosh, there seems no reason why the chairman, cautious and prudent as he is, could not have answered them there ahd then. Mr. Macintosh said he had previously intimated to the chairman that he would ask these questions. As similar questions are put almost daily during the sitting of Parliament regarding Treasury transactions, there does not appear to us to be ahy reason for My. Kennedy's extreme reticence on this matter. Scathing comment was properly made yesterday at Auckland A Villainous by Mr. Justice Edwards j I Practice. on the action of a I _ constable who had ques* tioned a prisoner and noted his replies for use in evidence against him.. This is not an isolated case of unjust interrogation of arrested persons. The British tradition is that when a man is taken into custody he is warned not to say anything which may be Used in Court . against him. We are very sorry to ! notice that this old-established custom is not always respected in Australasia. Occasionally the police appear to prefer the American method of rigorous examination prior to the formal trial, tso that they may go to Court armed with a " confession." It is not unusual to have a statement produced, "signed by the accused."' In short, the accused has been persuaded to plead guilty in advance, and has set his name to a statement compiled by a detective or constable. This illegitimate method is not an innovation of this year or last year. Cases have occurred during a period of years to an extent not suspected by the public. It is a scandalous abuse which must be checked. New Zealanders prefer British to American processes of justice, but here is the " smart " American scheme of pre-judgment creeping in. We hope that Mr. Justice Edwards will not content himself with the strong protest which he uttered yesterday. His words should be vigorously impressed on the Justice Department, which should haßten to check such a travesty of justice as 1 tho one reported from Auckland. The announcement of Mr. J. W. Poynton's intended reeigMr. Poynton's nation of the SecteChange of taryship of the TreasOffice. ury and the Chair.iianship of the Advances Board ha* been received with widespread regret. Mr. Poynton has been nearly twenty years in the Public Service, and during that term he has 6howed himself in various capacities to be a capable, painstaking, and conscientious officer. Had lie been, we must not say less conscientious, but less iseimtive, it is probable that he would not have felt called upon to ie*ign. Bub unless we misread him, Mr. Poynton's is one of those sensitive natures 'which feel very keenly the weight of responsibility and cannot entirely throw aside the burden of official cares oh the stroke of the official clock. Though it is regrettable that the inability of his health to Btand any longer the strain of an exacting position is the cause of Mr. Poynton '« resignation, we are glad for the credit of the> Government that the etep was entirely voluntary. Mr. Poynton s eervico has been o£ that unostentatious kind which keeps clear of the lime-light, and ono of the rare occasions oh which ho has figured prominently before the public eyp was when he chnmpioned the integrity of the Advances Bonrd against the charge of subservience to political influence. It was a bold step for n public officer to challenge fclio public statement of the Minister in charge of his Department, but whatever ma-y be-

thought of the remarkable findings of the Committee which dealt with the malIpi 1 , it cniMot be denied that in v refienting the imputntions as he did, Mr. Poynton took tho only course that Was consistent with the wlf-rospect of an , honoutnblo man. He has now asked to be relieved fiom his present duties in order that he may have the opportunity of regaining lub health in the lets arduous position of a Stipendiary Magistrate. Mr. Poynlon's many friends will be glad that the request lias been granted, and will hope to sec him fully restored to health in n position which he filled with entire satisfaction on his h'fst entry into the Public Service. Everybody who is outside the dust of party battle will regret Foolish the intention to make loyalists, tha Federal Government House, Sydney, a bone of contention in the law courts. The de» cision of the Citizens' Committee to die in the last legal ditch no doubt seems to its authors to be a, very courageous one, but to most other people the courago will appear to be of the brand that &ni- ( mated Stevenson's cow. In the first place, it is hardly likely that a Vice* Regal residence over which the State Government has always exercised the rights of an owner, whose ownership i» indeed the foundation of the expiring deed of lease' to the Federal Government, can be proved to be, even in law, the property of the Imperial Government. And, secondly, even if the Citkens 1 Committee succeeded hi court it is hardly conceivable that the Imperial Government would be grateful. One cannot imagine that Mr. Harcourt is anxious to augment his burdens at the Colonial Office by intervening, as a nominal owner, between the Federal and the State Governments 5 and it is most unlikely that Mr, Asquith will shelve tho Bttfkan question in order to attend to the housing of the Governor-General in Sydney. As to Mr. Lloyd-George, he has a big problem of rural housing to solve in his own country j and, moreover, it is improbable that this Welsh Radical would settle the question in the way that the Citizens' Committee desires. Another factor to be Weighed is that, even if the committee's lawyers convince the judges, they will not necessarily eonvinco Australia. On the contrary, the mock warfare that is being waged will probably reflect unfavourably- and undeservedly—on the Vice-Regal institution itself, and tend to expedite the elimination of the six redundant State Governors. If ahyono stands to gain it is the State Labour Ministry, whose discontented followers will be cemented by the fatuous persistence of its enemies.