BANK OF NEW ZELAND.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXIV, Issue 189, 12 August 1890, Page 2

BANK OF NEW ZELAND.

CHARGE MADE BY MR SAUNDERS,

The following is a verbatim report of a passage in Mr Saunders' speech of Saturday week containing bis charges against the Bank of New Zealaud, which have excited so much interest and :.alk in the lobbies: •-

" I say that uo man ought to have auy right to sit on those benches, or fco administer the government of this country, and undertake to deal on our behalf with the Bank of New Zealaud, unless he was entirely free from all restraint and all obligation to that bank, I know it has been said to-night, and I regret to hear it said, that the Bank of New Zealand would use its influence improperly with any mem-

b:u* of the Government. I think that when oiuii) a man iB placed in suoh a position as s-jiue r-f tbo mombeis of tbis Government are

fti'in:- - ...! lobe placed in with regard to the b.udt, and beoome under a deep obligation in their t'ausactions wilh that bank, we oan really hardly know how far thoy ara influenced by feelings of dependenoe or gratitude. Nor can they even be sire themselves that such feo. ings have no influeooe on their Ministerial duties. However, it is a very painful pot-Hion, and I may illustrate what I mean by a oircumstanca that, 1 think, bears vory strongly upon this oaae, and wbich, I think, will show you, sir, and this House that I have the best reasons for Baying that 'he Bti-.V if New Zealand is not above uaing its influence wben it ib in a position to do so, It is about 11 years ago that I thought myself a wealthy affluent man one day, aud the next day I had not a farthing ml. in tho world. Fortunately I was iv no ore's tlebS, and I owed nothing to the bank. But unfortunately one of my sons was iv some det-ree oonneotsd with the bank, and in h .ia.) degree under iti thumb, 1 t hink it was un some occasion in this House wheu a question c_ino befora ii iv conn.otiou with dio purohase of s.mio of our district railways. Mr Driver was in tne House at the time, and

was Supposed to lepresent the Bank of New Zealand. He came to me, knowing my oh-curastano-s— how deap my sympathies were for my* son, and how muoh that son was just ther. a', the meroy of the bank -ana* told me that tbo b-mk wish-.d me to voto in a c-vtain direction. 1 said to him that if I had to vote in tha directum the bank wished I would resign my seat so-morrow, as I would never betray a oou' stituency by my pretending to represent it when r- ally I only represented the Bank of New Ze.il -ml. The ii.ocb d ■>• I saw ab ub 20 notes cune into tbis oh.-.mber. Oie waa handed tome, and the r*sb were handed round the House. I opened mine aud found it was a message to the same effect— that the bank wished me to vote in a certain direction, aud I never felt bo muoh humiliated. I sat down to consider whether I ought to resign my seat or not ; but I never considered for a moment whether I ought to obey that note or not. This shows in the mo3t practical manner that the bank is not above using its influence. If it was worth their while to stoon co low for my insignificant vote, is it likely they would bring no influence to bear on Ministers which shou'd put hundreds of thousands of our money into their hands 1 How unlikely then is it that the Government, the majority of whom seem to bave been under some obligation to tbe bank, were the members to act on the part of the country in the same independent manner as they should have done. I want to know nothing more. I believe that three members of the Government either are or have bjen in the hands of the bank, and if they are not in its hands now, they are out of its hands simply through obligation to bhe bank, and they are not in a p sition to sit on those benches."

(Presa Association,) Dunedin, August 11. Mr Driver writes to the Press that Mr Saunders' insinuaiion tbat he attempted to influence his vote iv regard to the diatriot -aihvays purchase in the interests of the >i V if New Zealaud is absolutely false, and wuuout justifioarion by faots or oiroum-. stances. He intends to bring an aotion.