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New Zealand Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 7161, 29 October 1884, Page 4

The half-yearly meetings of the Bank of New Zealand have come to be regarded as the commercial barometer of the colony, and it is -with no little gratification that we have perused the Chairman's speech at yesterday's meeting, affording as it does a clear indication of the lifting of the cloud which for some time has darkened the commercial atmosphere. While still giving evidence of continuing caution in the management of the Bank's business, the Chairman felt warranted in taking a hopeful view of the future, in noticing the symptoms of returning prosperity, and it is all the more satisfactory to find that such symptoms arise from general improvement in the financial condition of the colony, and from better markets for our staple products. It was not to be expected that prices could long remain at little better than cost o£ production, and while bountiful harvests in the great grain-growing centres do not en- j courage the hope of remunerative prices for our wheat growers, the influence of the cheap loaf in the revival of trade and in the increased spending power of the people begins to be apparent. One interest may still continue to suffer, but the evil will be minimised if there is a better market for our other products. - The result o£ the Bank's operations for the past half-year is creditable to all concerned. In spite of such times as we have lately experienced in some parts of the colony, it is indeed gratifying to find that the handsome dividend and bonus of 15 per cent, is maintained, and an increased balance carried forward to next half-year. And though the ratio of profit on the large amount of the Bank's resources is not great, the apparent ease with which the dividend is earned, even in times of depression, gives the best assurance to shareholders of at least a continuance of like good results. It is no little matter that the Bank for a long series of years should have been able to distribute among its shareholders £150,000 annually in dividends; and with the immense resources the Bank possesses any, even slight, improvement in the business of the colony must result most beneficially to shareholders, whom we heartily congratulate on their connection with one of the most successful of our local institutions.