EASY MONEY!

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXIII, Issue 12092, 3 November 1933, Page 5

EASY MONEY!

EFFECT OF GOLD “GRAB” WHAT GOVERNMENT STANDS TO GAIN PROFIT OF £1,000,000 Strong protests have been sent to tho New Zealand Government by Australian trading banks, ivhich have branches in the Dominion, against the action of the Government in including the clause in the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Bill relating to the. gold reserves of the banks a provision that the gold l shall be taken over at par value, and that any profit made' on its sale shall be paid into the coffers of the Government, states the Melbourne “Argus-” The Australian manager of one of these' hanks pointed out’ that the coin and bullion reserves of the banks in New Zealand amounted to £5,076,000 at par, and that only £500,000 represented silver arid copper. The New' Zealand 1 Government did not want the unprofitable silver or copper, but audaciously went only for th e £4,500,000 of gold If the gold were sold at the price ruling at present, the Government could make a profit of more than £1,000,000 which rightly belonged to the banks. The gold .holdings of the hanks were not only a reserve aga'nst their note issues, but formed) portion of their general reserves against their liabilities, including their deposits. If the assets of the banks, which had been used to purchae the gold, had been invested in sterling to strengthen the reservo position of the banks, there would have been no thought lof depriving the hanks of their investment. He expressed the hope that “this act of brigandage” would not be permitted to disgrace the statutes of New Zealand.