THE BANK OF NEW SOUTH WALES

NZ Truth, Issue 602, 30 December 1916, Page 4

THE BANK OF NEW SOUTH WALES

Report and Balance-sheet for Half-year Ending September, 1916

"Cambist" on previous occasions has drawn attention to tho fact that the above bank is the only purely colonial managed concern which has any special interest to as here. Its head office is In Sydney and its enormous transactions are directed from that city. In this country we have no banking institution which is conducted upon purely business lines, and which can point to the same methods of administration. As regards New Zealand banking, we have not a chief officer at the head of affairs hero, who dominates th« Oust* ness of his institution m the same manner as does the head of the BANK OP NEW SOUTH WALES. Men of first-class abilities are very rare m i^»ifiTi]r circle*. Tbsre lawe been some very sever* developments m the past, but there are still more serious problems to be faced m the near future. The first matter that will obtrude itself upon the people* no matter how stupid they may be m all flnanfvtoi affairs, is the currency methods which wffl be Imposed upon us by the complications which are fast developing out of the wfid extra* vagance of the war. Not one of tb«. banks trading here baa yet committed itself to a pronouncement on this question. The b<wt that has been attempted, m. «. very minor key, 11 is true, has fceett by tin Chief Maaacar of the Bank of New South Wales, Very Bttle has been said by that gentleman, but tt la, Kke all Ms utteraaoes, WOBTHT* OP VBKT CLOSE ATTENTOOEHr. In the vataable reporta Issued by the great bank now under review, Vbm spoken word is valuable, for It is backed by oompetent generalship, and m Its head there is th» evtr-tntnkm* bndn. which has the foresight and precautionary tendencies requisite Cor sottad banking. Knowing the importance of these factors m the banking business, "Cambist" Invites tbo doe* attention of his readers to all that »«««>"«♦»« from the Bank of New , South Wales, The most prominent feature about tbte ! bank is the large capital pa** tm. This tens the pubUo that the instttotion regards itself as | SELF-RBLIANTTO THE VUUUEST EXTENT. In this respect it can bold Itself free from political Jerrymandering*. By so doing it has been able to sound a note of warning at times to the polttlc&l parttea which are a more or less evil m these young countries. "Cambist*' would romaxic that ftnaaeJal affairs are as much m "the matting pot" : as are political matters. <Both ole- j ments of social evolution are on their trial. The people need to give greater attention to money matters tttan ewer they did before. There la more money now than ever. There is more money j to be made than ever before, Beat of all. there is more need than ever i before to purge these young countries from the blight of Tories, and to become truly democratic ( The chairman tells the shareholders that tibe new capital has come m wen. He Informs thorn that the legtstaOan of the Old Country has prevented th» i bank getting m its proportion ..pit new i capital which it would otherwise bay« done. For that reason only £298,820 more paid . capital is on the balancesheet The paid-up capital is, therefore, £5,?05,320 at September last. It WUAj SHOW A. IiABOB XKCBHAKE m the next balance-sheet, and this writer would not be surprised to find that the wholo scheme was carried through very shortly, raising the paid capital to £4,000,000. In a previous address by the chairman, he stated i Umt the now capital would be Invested In the war loans, so that for the prosent; at any rate, the new money does not appear to be required for the business of the bank. The war is going to cause a considerable lock-up of capital and It will be fftr&nge if the effects of this should not be felt at some time or other. Notes tn circulation bavo increased In round figures £86,000 slnco Uu»t ! year. The amount current at date is £455,620, and these are mostly circulating In Now Zealand. Australia !fl ; better placod, as It has a Bute Usao of paper money. Thla conntry Is so much In tho irHp of exploiters and commercial robbera that tho unrepresentative Parliament has undertaken to guarantee the bank notes. The j Bank of New South Wales, of (Mmrse, ! benefits with thft others m this ar- j rongoment The chairman makes \ lliiht of tho matter, as he refers to tho fact by itaylng that thin Is ft "umnU factor" In Ujo bank's "business na a whole." However tho matter may be : regarded, the fact remains that tho Government of thla country has given a State duty into tho hands of a money monopoly. "Cambist" considers that tho credit ot the Bank or New South Wales lit raore than sufficient *ecurity for a paltry £500,000 of note* current, but, at the Btune tlmo, he dealrojj to j point out that what Is nmall to-day may davolop Into something larger m tho nc.tr future. TrfE PRINCIPLE INVOLVED Is bigger than a htUf-mJlllon currency, II is, m fact, nothing more or lea* than (ho buttrofwlnK of a banking monopoly which has (rood nml bad featuron that require attention. The Dunk of New South Wales do<»s j not show the ifcposita lit detail, that l$ t Lhc frru deposit n and Ihd (ix«<i inter* etii-bcnrtiti; clashes, Tho total Btv<*n for this half year Is £38,525,G?3. v f*um considerably lfc*» than twelvo months ago, and oven more r««luce<l when compared with tho rttn>rwt (mi out In tho March bninnc6«»h*«i. Tho reduction upon iho totals nhon-n twHvo months OKD ii> no l<M»c than £ 1.370,000, Th« tk-crcsac for tho last p\x mouths U» £2.003.5 M, floth of th^«rt movement* toll u« that there j rnuat hnv<* b*«n i*omfc heavy tranwar- \ turn* !o account for the volume. Tl»* j <"h»irtii;»n ioUs un t;»:il ih*- t'ammon- j w«*»Uh tiov-fnmrni wsjj « , l»«*avy <ira\vi>r. n* v wn« ur*<»>£r enormous fun.X i'j c<ituu->'tiut4 wish military «<*. J>»-rsrJi(tirv, Thru, iijjitJH. th«! tltf|»«*h totsb.wito hail »;)..tir<y wjtJ{;njf|/wr Sn« vftfltnutcc :iUic<t-<i hu^« «unm m the' 'war Ju»n UL«tt#/:. On tho whol«. ia v#ry Kpod >xpt(uiai(on is given ft»r all that tbo account* dJ*clo*<!!. and. w^iat It

more, the explanation on lb% face of thtTiya ■/■ . . IS A TRUTHFUL ONE. If one goes back t0 '1914 (the date of the first war balance-sheet) the decrease of deposits is only a matter of \ £300,000 m the fixed deposits, but, as { already pointed out the details do not say what amount has been drawn from the other deposits. This hiatus m the accounts has one good effect. It shows that the policy steadily advocated by "Cambist," vix, full details, ehould be followed by all banks, no matter how M tfc* baafca will not V**>- *H vast amounts left on deposit. It is only "WMt.^% to find that the owners of the money will seek investment elsewhere. The Bank of New South Wales has, therefore, helped to cause the hnge craooosa of Urn» Qov» ommenfs war nnqrH^o. »M AnstraHa'a ease m flmtrx^ny land ■ and naval expenditure is a present benefit to the Commonwealth, and to the Empire M large. * The HahfllMes m w^^Hfen with the Wheat scheme of the Labor Government aro rapidly nnmlng oft Thla half-year they only total 64UUH aa against £!,»?<»»> m March, When tne wueat Is snipped, the ftiniMx cuts wffl clear ttself Cram the books of the bank, and at the same tfane pot profits m the pockets of the producer* No dass of society has more to thank Qm Later party fir than the farmer*. In fact, the farmers hare made immense gains fey tbefr aifialrs being administered by the enlightened talent wbioh Labor has supplied. Labor is first of an, practical, honest and capable. Monopoly, or QanMrvatlßm, etttor wxrt wm dot, to tim *«ng ntncf commercial robbery. The bills payable and other UablH. ties at *T,OMSa, ts an ttam that - SHOULD BB CAJBBFCXLI»T but, nafortonatoty. the laws In alt States aOow the banks to "monkey" with the fignres under *»»<«■ heading. Why on eaHK the becJcs are aUowed to jombJe up s« many different ttTPf m onegrotm, -0000181" does not wish to cay. AH tnat he ventures te remark is that he considers a a grave mistake to aDow the practieo of grouping to oonttno* As far as he can see, this bank m parOoular is at> strong inherently Utad it would benefit more by candor tikn by following the antiquaiod methods of the past Then why not give the detaUaT The decrease la JSXItMM on the year's Scarce, and we are told that most of this has been fttworbed toy the OmuuwmwwOth Bank, on whose account these funds were held. Zt is war money. Turning to the assets side of the balance-sheet, the total of the liquid items Is less than thai at March last. Tteere has been a drop of «5,977^W m the Anatraliaa notes held. Bills receivable are minus J3 4^0^61 at £M6l^lS. It would appear that the porohaso of war dobeatares has usod up the Australian notes, and that the ! aame cause m London has reduced the llgurea on tho second item mentioned. In the hitter case the bank has purchased Imperial war debentures. It •win b« soen thai the institution has done Its duty to the GTRBAT EMPERIAi, AND COMMONWEALTH DEMANDS. Finally, the other causes which have reduced the flguros In the flrsl iine, H ore concurrent with the movements m the deposit accounts, and tho 1 endings to customers, which will be noticed when dealln« with the advances. No matter what happens, the "Wales" keeps a strong reserve m liquid form, so that the hearts of those who trust m it, vis* the depositors, have good grounds "for tho faith that la m thorn." These reserves are over fifty por cent, ion Uj» UabJimes to tho public, Tnat | should make tha nerves of a financial nearotlo as steady "as a rock," It should be sufficient to put conildonce m tho heart of a trembling, thrifty rabbit ; The advances mado undor tho whom schema havo /ailon from £3,H7,'J37 In March last, to £599,416 at Unie. i Nothing better serve** to provo thai ! is agricultural money." In I making these advances tho bonks wor« I but lending money ngnintft gold, and I nothing .tafox con bo dono. Onco tiyrUn | "Cainblttt" must draw attention to tliu benont Utls has proved to tho fanner*, but there Is <U«o another rcuuiro | whid) should not bo ovorloolcoU. Tho fuTtnora havo boon rather romlos In their duty to the State. They havo I neither m Australia, nor m this country, cultivated largo enough ureas of wheat. Broad to too door for tha i \vork«rn. It 1b also too dear for thu I farmer*. Wheat m neodad t,o win Ui« | war aßiilnst fain Ino and CirnnrtiiH. It is to bo hojHHl thai tho farniurx of th.» Dominion will take noto of tho hint which "Cambist" gives to them on this point Workers and former* SHOIXLD CO-OPEItA.TR MOTlhl Advances oro this half yc<u* £27.C 49,720, as against £24.966.234 ia>it March. On tho year tho net lm*ro:u'«i is £1,300,000. Thi« «howa thin the bank Is not unmindful of tb« need* of Its customers. Production mn.a k i( on. JLot it bo hopod that tho morchunt does not bulk too largo tn this, v* m ruostly tha cast In bank advance* m the.™ new countries. In tho profit And loan account, it U found thai the prollta aro on tlm Kiibdued nJtlo. Thl« half y<?rtr they rtro but allffhUy mow than In^t, vtK.. X'2-(5,4-{B. ** against £247.5*>1. 'VUt, cum of £7SOO ha« b«©n written orf bank prerobjwi account, tunl «uch means a U<sy #urn hidden away for « rainy dny. The r«*ervo fund bus been added to by £&0.000. nntf now tiinntU »l £2,726,000. Th«» peu|>{<> of ,\nttrain*!!* havo r«uum to h«Uj vjit7 b;u-.« Jn Bpm« «w>rl ot COMMERCIAL VBNKHATIf ».V on ibee,« rwuH*. and "C*mt)!»i" I, (in h\n h«l off lo It filing e<-rt'.i,n thjic th«r« l» mud* poo<l hl<J(Jon avv.-> m tho tnlo that h«w not l»<.«.n t«.;<i. a« {0 f»lur« proUl«tute, whut ••> •, Ur un** ett worrying? I^lior. with u^ ;!>nnl<«> toll, and tb*r har4 knocks ♦■*j»rucneo wilt t"? nuit«? abM u» ;u>iw tUt-m. Tbfe jre»«rtU rndna^iir <>f th« hww'r, u»a the a^ns^ «« n*« thin en a« tiwy »r>. and ha h&n proved hlnwtf wont-.y "uf ttU-lfMSt" htny ha Unco fit tar «b«» coming fray. *ml tho }Wo,i U f proaporlty that industry will brio%