The Hastings Standard Published Daily WEDNESDAY, MAY 12, 1897. THE BANK APPOINTMENT.

Hastings Standard, Issue 320, 12 May 1897, Page 2

The Hastings Standard Published Daily

WEDNESDAY, MAY 12, 1897. THE BANK APPOINTMENT.

For the cause that lacks assistance, For the wrongs that need resistance, For the future in the distance, And the good that we can do.

There appears to be a goocl deal of guessing with respect to the appointment of the general manager of the Bank of New Zealand. Mr Tegetmeier, of the London office, has been finally appointed to the post, and has left London for the colony. But Mr Tegetmeier was not the first person to whom the position was offered. The Evening Post a day or two ago announced " on authority" that overtures had been made to a prominent official connected with a leading Australian bank doing business in the colony, but the paragraph was badly worded, for ifPimplied more than was really the case. For, as a matter of fq,ct, when this paragraph appeared, Mr Tegetmeier had had the appointment conferred upon him and was on his way to New Zealand. The New Zealand Times, in its anxiery to go one better than its contemporary, characterised the statements of the Post as a canard. The Ministerial journal has recently proclaimed independence, and that may perhaps account for its slipshod utterances. That the appointment was offered to a leading official of another bank is certain. From information that has come into our possession « we believe the Premier offered the position in writing to Mr Hallamore, the Resident Inspector of the Union Bank of Australia. The offer was declined, and it is stated that Mr Seddon had a personal |interview with Mr Hallamore and urged him to accept the position. Here again Mr Seddon met with a refusal. We believe Mr Hallamore's objections were based on the fact that with the power of veto held by the President, the General Manager of the Bank of New Zealand was a nonentity, and could do nothing without the goodwill of the President. It was a position in which Mr Hallamore rightly declined to place himself, and when he absolutely refused to transfer his services from the Union Bank to the Bank of New Zealand, Mr Tegetmeier was cabled for. There was no canard about the overtures made to another bank official as insinuated by the Ministerial paper. There has also been a suggestion that Mr Henry Mackenzie is to be appointed to the London office of the Bank of New Zealand in succession to Mr Tegetmeier, and we think it will be found eventually that this is so. There is a skeleton in the cupboard of the leading officials of the Colonial Bank, and they cannot afford to allow that skeleton to wander at large. The cupboard must be kept securely locked, and no doubt Mr Mackenzie is able to aid in the process of concealing the skeleton. By appointing him to the London office this end may be secured. It may be wondered how such things are possible with a body of directors such as the Bank of New Zealand now possesses. While this is natural enough, it must not be overlooked that while the directors apparently control the bank that control is merely

a fiction, for they are bound and gagged by the Presidential veto. The President of the Bank of New Zealand is the pivot of the whole management. His veto overshadows everything, and it is that supreme power which, if not rightly used will wreck the bank. The question for consideration is whether or not Mr W. Watson is a person competent to be trusted with such a power. We think not. His connection with the Colonial Bank and with all we know of the scandalous mismanagement of that institution has caused a feeling of want of confidence in Mr Watson; and although it may be proved that his career with the Colonial Bank was without blame, still, until that is proved, the distrust with which the Colonial Bank officials are regarded will cause his every action as President of the Bank of New Zealand to be misconstrued. Mr W. Watson has gone to Australia, and strangely enough his fellow passenger was the disrated Mr H. Mackenkie; and we should not be surprised, for the reasons already stated, if this fact is touched up into something reflecting on the President of the Bank of New Zealand. It is the outcome of distrust. The people are suspicious of every move, and it is this that is hurting the Bank of New Zealand.