COLONIAL BANK.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10755, 20 March 1897, Page 6

COLONIAL BANK.

TO THE EDITOR.

' oir, —I presume it is the proper function of i the press to act as the highly-superior censor of { public morals, and to preach against immorality j of all kinds in the mo.«t serious, or even unctuous, fashion which their writers can command. Oa this theory (and even although I have a ' saeakiiig b>.a3 for occasionally following the principle of railing at others as you would have j otueis rait at jou) I have but little fault to find with your article of yesterday about Mr Henry j Mackenzie's c-xamiuation. At the same time I confess that lamiu a difficulty. It is not at all about the advances made to Messrs Rylev and Ward. There is but little to be said in palliation of !he fatuity of making these, unless it ba ! that in the one case the investment was thought I a fair cue consiiiemig what might be hoped for from a Minister of the Growu (»ome people j think that expenditure in ths various avenues of politic; maybe prudently mads to any amount), asd in t,he other that a <; fishar of men" could not pO3Sibiy do auythiog " fi-ihy," or that a saco?s?ial dispenser of the " bread of lift;" must aisd do well and maks money out of the 41b loaf. Ely difficulty is to dissever what the unfortunate director? could po's'ib'y do in past years other than they did with reference to the iuspecfcoc'a reports about losses. A great deal has beea made both in coait atid out of it of the "false" balance sheets, but so far as I eaa sea everj penny earned was used after payment of dividend to vednve had ilebts ; and, that being so, tha Oiily resources left were :—(I) The reserve fuiul ; (2) capital; (3) suspension of dividend, Sow, 1 am not goitig to' a.-gue that it is right to convey a w-'oug impression of the position of the bank, but I do say that there was nothing wroag, in shareholders' interests, for say the years 1593 and 1894-—i? not, indeed, up co the very last, —in the board not appropriating tie reserve fund, or propose to write something off capital, or e?eu suspend the dividend ; though I daresay this sight have been reduced to 5 per cent, without harm. My reasoa is that if auy of these courses* had been followed there would almost certainly have been a run on the bank, and shareholders would have been face to face with having to provide money out of their o«-a pockets to pay the deposits; while, .the trfot'e assets being necessarily placed in iiquioatiou, their realisation would have extended over an indefinite cumber of years. Aiid this would have been a very much worse isatfer for shareholders than the present 3fc&te of things. ' ! j I bold that in a going concern which has a i f»ir earning power ot profis, and which is j dependent for its existence apau its good credit j being maintained, it is perfectly legitimate tt> postpone cue liquidation of losses, to a moderate extent at any rate, in this hope and with the expectation of wiping them o-at by profits,* instead of making a "c.san bteaat" of it every tialf-year, and that it iv impossible at all timos j to make ''adequate provision." How would i you propose to make " adequate provisiou,' if ! you have not got it ? Would you advocate { fcuspeusiou of dividend it it seemed almost , certain that this would shake the foundations of s rhe bank and iiHimctely overthrow them ? j Would you advocate telling shareholders that ! there are £30,000, £40.000, or £50,000 of bad i debts uupcoYidea for, s.ii'l askiag them what they would recommend ? Would you advocate that directors should teil shareholders that the J inspector reports so and so, but that they are of S opinion thai; there is reasonable hope of profits being earned during the n«xt year or two sufficient to wipe the bad dt-bfc; off ? I say nothing about the goodwill or iad'eased value of buildings, because 1 include ail such considerations in tbe term " goiiij concern." Neither Ido 1 -cay anythiujc about the mp.uageraeut e> [ I the advances of the batik, bat am only cou- • j cerced to travet se the idea which seems to prej vail that if moderate losses—which are not i 1 iiiore thau may be fairly expectad to be made up ' I Gut ef profits in a year or two —are not provided ifor or disclosed at balance time, the balance . sheet is "false.1' ' A few mouths ago the Union Bank of \ Australia took £250,000 out of its reserve fund to meet losst:*. D;> you suppose that these losses were made since ihe preceding balance sheet was isaueo ? Is it likrly that they were more recftaS than one, two, three, five, or perhaps 10 yearn ? Yet nothing w&s aaid about th*m until, us 1 presume, thfcy t»ecfe evidently ' hopeless. Fortunately in this case the bank ! had a reserve fund. If they had not, whst y t I would have beea done ?—I «n, &c, 1 i Colonial Bank Shakeholdp.h. I Danedic, March 19.

— If a lion and a strong horse were to pull in opposite directions, the norae would win the tug-of-war easily ; bnt if the lion were hitched behind the horse, and facing in the same direction, it could easily back the borne down upen i?s hanuche"

OPEN LETTER No. V: A REPLY. TO THE EDITOR.

Sir, —If your correspondent who writes open. Setter No. V in this week's Otago Witness would only coma to the consideration of the question of unioa with a fair open mind, it would prevent him making statements about those ia favour of union which are naitber true aor charitable. Ia effect as says we are not honest in professing to regard it as a Christian duty to seek uuica with the Northern Church. And why ? Simply because we do not regard the call to immediate union as so imperative th*t we would b« warranted to ask the church to sacrifice oar churches and maasss and other property to brisg is about.' Our position is simply this, that for many reasons, which have bean repeatedly given, .we regard it as our duty to seek to put an end to the divided state of Presbyteriankm iv New Zealand ; but as the sacrifice of our churches and manses asd other property would seriously icterfera with our work ss a charcb, we think it bettsr to delay union, if necessary, until it can be accomplished with a less sacrifice than to hamper our work ss a church by sacrifieiug ail our property to bring it; about itnniediatsly, although that properly U in no danger whatever. Our opponeuts themselves speak of union as something which will come by-and-b'ye, so we think it would be better to wait for it than to hamper our church by unnecessary sacrifice. Now, Sir, csn any man of ordinary intelligence and candour Snd anyt'oiug either unworthy or inconsisteat in th*t position ? As other parts of your correspondent's letter stata to me to be distinctly disingenuous, I am compelled to doubt whether your correspondent thinks it is so himself. "His declamation about our unwillingness to part with our churches aad manses is mare stige thunder. He knows himself there is nothing in it. I will add that our leading opponents thould remember that their position in a church which, they say, tolerates incest, lays them open to a crushing retort, if we chose to descend to that gtyleof argument.'

In spite of your correspondent's assertions, I still believe the spirit and words of our Lord's Prayer (JoJin x?ii) hive su important beating on this question. If we were all in the spirit oE that prayer and coDScioas of oce.'itras of life and oneness of love and oneuesi of faith (sea Dr Whitelaw on John xvii, 20 23) with our brethren of the Northern Church, we would,approaeh this question with a strong bias in favour of expressing this unity and stieogtheniug ib ia a united church; and if we found such a uaion was nob practicable, we would give up the idea with reluctance. /Instead of dealing with the union proposals in this spirit, onr opponents persistently exaggerate every difficulty and with ingenious sophistry try to make difficulties of things which are no difficulties at all. They have also discussed the question in the church courts, and to some exoent in your columns, with a bitterness which stands in oaly too striking contrast to the spirit of our Lord's intercessory prayer. But in dealing with this part of the diaenssion our opponents are strangely Belt - contradictory. They cannot deny that the basis of union gives the present .ioctrius.l position of the Northera Church. They have not even a protesting minority against the Declaratory Act or marriage with a deceased wife's sister. Aud yeb in one brsafch our opponents ssy : There is no Christian dmiuion between us aad the Northern Cnuren; there is only territorial division ; aad in the next breath they say : Tee constitution or the Otsgo Church requires us to regard the doctrine of marriage of She basis of union (i.c, of the Northern Church) as a toleration of a God-foi'bidden aDd uisistuous marriage. Now bath thssa positions oi.u nob be true. Will your correspondents tell us which of the two contradictory positions represents their thought and feeling.

Jtcur correspondent;'* remarks about expenses are a fair example of the exaggeration of difficulties of which vre coaiplain. H-a spfiak3 of the assembly meeting at Auckland when Ue kaows very well thai the basis of uniou states that " Ordinarily the assembly shall meet alternately at Wellington and Dunsdin." He also iguores the i.«.d that the necessary expenses of the assembly of the united church (in salaries, printing, &c.) will be considerably less than the present expenses of our synod and of the tortbern assembly, combined. 'j'ae saving oa those items will go a good way to meet the extra, expense incurred in travailing.

Your correspondent also ssks how we know the inssembly is not- goiug to meet iv Auckland is well as in Danediu. We kuow this for tiso very aatisf astory reasous. The basis of union provides that oroir-arily the assembly shall rce'et alternately in Duuedin and Wellington, and a3 the northern breshrec are honourable raea we do not suppose for a moment that they would depart from this aftor the union even if they had the power. And, besides that, it woaid be so very inconvenient for the great majority of the representatives ot the united church to meet in Auckland that we cannot imagine them agreeing to go there except on very special occasions.

The representative.*} oi Ofcago aud Cacterbuty ■will form a large maiority in the assembly of the united church, and as Dunedin will be central for them we need not suppose they will violate the conditions of union to compel themtelves to go all the way to Auckland. As to your correspondent's insinuation that an attempt- is beiug j made to bribe ministers and elders'with the | prospect of a trip at the expense of the church, I cun only say if he ia not ashamed whea he sees his insinuation in print the Church of O£*go has good cause to be ashamed of him.

Your correspondent repeat-3 the statement th»t the union is partial—that exceat for ijeueral assembly and foreign mission purposes "everything el«e wiil remain as at present." I mast point oat, ai (l Unionist" has already done, that article 7 in the basis of union states that " the General Assembly sh^ll address itself without delay to gradually effect a usiform scheme for the support of the ministry and chutch extension." In the face of that I can orily ask : What does your correspondent mean by such reckless misstalftinents ?

As to what is said abous Mia attendance of Auckland representatives at the recent Ctiristchureh assembly, as this point has bser: so often* discussed I am relactaut to discuss it again ; bat I must say that I know a proniKiaut minister of the Northern Church who gave his assurance that there was a good representation of the Auckland men at the last assembly. Your correspondents' so-called etatoownt of Iscta iv proof of tbe position that we are not committed to the basis of union fairly takes away oat's breath. He tells us that at the synod of 1895, unleis it was the convener of the Union Committee, " all agreed that oar synod

March 19.

must be kftto us." Would you believe it, Sir, that tae report on ucica given in the proceedings ef synod for 18S5 shows that two out ol four recommendations giren to the synod by a conference held at Cbriatehurch, ate—" That the united church fsbaE consist of presbyteries and au assembly," and "that the synod of ths Ocago Church shall exist es a co-opsrste bodyl--for the sole purpose df conserving its legal rigats and interests in its trust properties." And fcae report says:—"Your .commutes heartily endorse this yaw of the question." Aud atter that the deiirsranee of ttie- synod was—- Esceive the repa-t:; accept ths conclusions of the Christchureh conference as the gronn-i work for maturing a seheiae of union; reappoint the lommittes, and m> sfcraeo _ them to formulate in cocjauctron with tne corresponding commitiee of the IScrtbern Church, a pactisable scheme of union to be presented to next*synod, -with a view to its being sent dowi to presbyteries and £es»!oos." Comment is neidleas. I leave it-to your correspondent to espsiii what ha means by asaking reckless raissiatjments of tisst sort; and &g little reliance is to be placed on his attempt to belittle the deeiaoa of last sj'nod by saying the majority of 77 :o 26 was goS by the question being "roshed through the sjnodia hot haste before members iad time to kfok at it aad understand it." . Previous discussions had mads us fairly familiar with the snbjecc. The basis cf union was laid bek>rß the synod at aa erasing sederunfc. When_we came to the article which proposes ta aiolish the synod the discussion was adjourned til next d:iy. Then the who'e of the forenoon sederun; and the greitjr part of the evesisg one weue given to the consideration Gf that one article.

What your correspondent means by dragging ia the deceased wife's sister again is more than I can understand. liast synod reaffircaed liberty on this subject by a majority of 30, and, union or no union, ii remains an open question in our church.. I am tired of exposing your correspoadeat's misrepresentations. The ramse which needs to be defended in that fashion must be in a bad way.—l ami &c . March 19

Vebttas.

DR HOCKEN'S BIUNiFICBNT OFFER.

TO THE .EUITOB,

-Sic, —The offer made by Dr Hocken at the me&tiug tee other evening to present Ms unequalled collection of bocks, pictures, and historical relics to this community is cmc whichshould be accepted with extreme thankfulness. It would be a lasting disgrace to the Beople oi Otago if'they failed x to appreciate the doctor's generous offer a\sd allowed it to slip, ss wai recently done by the people of Nanier when a liberal offer was made to them by Sir Cclenso. From all I have he?.id ot Dr Hockeu's collection, ths gathering of which has been the work ot a lifetime, it is quite unique and is practically priceless. No time should he lost hi responding to this handeoma proposal, and I wonld suggest thfct the mayor should call a meeting at an early date to consider what should be doae. It iwill be necessary to raise a coneidersbls ram, as not only must a site and building be provided, but some provision mnst be made for the future caie of the contents of the bnildicg. As to a site, no doubt many suggestions might ba made. Two that occnr to me at the moment are: thafc i brick addition might be made to the museum, or that a building might be erected at the back of the Town Ilall. Sir Fenwick's suggestion that the building raigct be erected so as to contain our Public Art G*hery is a good oca, for it is a shame that such a valuable collection of pictures as we posses should be allowed to remain m the shed m which they are, where the risk of fire is great. 1 think, howsrer, it would be a mistake to endeavour to combine the pnbßc library scheme with the proposed movement, though, if possiblß, the plans might be prewired, so that a public library might be adted to the building in the future. Too often in Duuedin public movements have been injured by diversity of opinion as to what form the-move-ment should take, but as such an opportunity as the present one can never recur, there should ba tio division of counsel concerning it. The jubilee of the province is a year away, but preparations for its celebration shoold not be left over teo long. What I would saggest should bs dace is that the foundation 6tone of the propojed building should be Hid with as much careiacny as possible on our fiftieth anniversary, and thai; a large cou versazione should be held in. the Agricultural Hall in the evening, admission «o which should be made as low as possible. If anything ot this sort is to ba done two coffiiaii;teeg should be formed—ona to have charge of tha proposed building and the other of the erenmg gathering. The latter need not be appointed till shortly before the event, bat the former should be formed at ooco, ss there will bs a great deal to be done in arranging the site, plan, and other details, and last, but most important of all, in raising the necessary funds. A good deal might be done .in the latter direction by organising a series of popaisr concerts or_other entertainments during the coming winter,"which would allow many to suppori the movement who might be unable to pat down their names on a snb«cripfcion list for £100 or even a modest half-guinea.—l am, tsc,

A CrBATEFUL CrriZEJT.