THE BANK OF ENGLAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19963, 4 June 1928, Page 7

THE BANK OF ENGLAND.

GOVERNOR'S RECORD TENURE TWO NEW DIRECTORS APPOINTED Having been re-elected recently by stockholders of the Bank of England, Mr. Montagu Collet Norman has entered upon his ninth successive year of tenure of the governorship. "This, of course, easily constitutes a record," says the Statist. "If this office is no longer one calling primarily for routine work and one, therefore, which can adequately be filled by a rapid succession of directors, it is because he himself has multiplied the number and the importance of its - functions out of all recognition. The problems of post-war readjustments have called at one time for fearless decision, at another for tactful co-operation. Of these two attributes Mr. Norman has given ample proof, not only in the guidance of the financial destinies of this country, but in the important but unobtrusive role he has chosen to play in helping the disorganised nations of Europe along the road to financial stability. The moral leadership of the Bank of England during the past years of rehabilitation must in no small measure be linked with the personality of the governor."

Vacancies in the court of directors caused by the resignation, on the ground of advancing years, of Mr. Cosmo Bonsor and by the death of Mr. Spencer Smith, have been filled by the appointment of Sir Josiah Stamp and Mr. Charles Hambro. The Statist remarks that Sir Josiah Stamp's appointment marks a new departure in that he has no connection with the business of merchant banking, from the leaders of which it has been customary to elect the directors of the Bank of England. Sir Josiah Stamp has gained a world reputation as an economist of the first rank, whose works and pronouncements have always given evidence both of original thought and of a meticulous regard for accuracy and thoroughness. His vitality and versatility are attested by the fact that many years passed in the Civil Service did not prevent him from launching out into the industrial world and occupying at most prominent place in this sphere. .He became a director of Nobel Industries and was nominated to the board of Imperial Chemical Industries when this even larger unit absorbed the former company. Sir Josiah Stamp was also elected to the specially-created post of president of the executive of the London Midland and Scottish Railway Company and more recently became the chairman of this concern. The Economist also remarked that while the appointment brings to the counsels of the bank one who is as outstanding a figure in the world of economics as in the field of business, his experience as a member of the Dawes Committee — for whose report and success he is known to be largely responsible —has given Sir Josiah a special experience that will strengthen the board in its relation to some of the most important of current problems in the international sphere. The nomination of Mr. Charles Hambro, who is a managing director of Hambros Bank, restores a lone and valued connection between the Hnmbro family and the Bank of England.