THE COMMONWEALTH BANK

Evening Post, Volume XCVIII, Issue 114, 11 November 1919, Page 8

THE COMMONWEALTH BANK

EXTRAORDINARY DEVELOP-

MENT.

(FROM OIK OWN CORP.SBFON»ENI.)

SYDNEY, sth November. The extraordinary success which has attended the establishment of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia is apparently the exception which proves the rule in State enterprises It is a shining example, in a most dismal host of failures, of a State-controlled trading establishment being a success almost from the moment of its birth.

The bank came into being in 1912, and at the end of that year had recorded a loss of over £14,000. It started absolutely without capital, having only ail advance of £10,000 from the Treasury to meet preliminary expenses. Six months later that deficit had increased to. £46,000, and the croakers croaked in happy unison. But the tids turned suddenly. In the-second half of 1913 the bank made a profit of £1500. In the next eighteen months, bringing it up, and well into, the war period, it wiped off the whole of its deficit and put £2000 to reserves. The war was an absolute Godsend to the bank. All the Government's huge financial transactions rendered necessary by the extraordinary condition of world affairs were done through the Government institution. Profits positively leaped up. The reserves nearly doubled themselves every six months. . The total reserves were just over £2000 in June, 1915. Four years later, in June, 1919, they were just nnder £2,000,000. A profit of no less than £458,000 was made in the six months ended 31st December, 1918, and in the succeeding half-year they were £388,000.

The appearance of T. J. Ryan, of Queensland, in Federal politics, and the possibility of his ultimately becoming Prime Minister, is greatly alarming those moderates who wish the Commonwealth Bank .well. It is believed by those who know him best that Mr. Ryan, once he gets power, ..will make ducks and drakes of this now richly-endowed and profitable establishment. It is feared that he might use the bank to finance his wild schemes.