The Oxford Observer. PUBLISHED WEEKLY SATURDAY MAY 19th, 1894. STATE BANK.

Oxford Observer, Volume V, Issue V, 19 May 1894, Page 2

The Oxford Observer. PUBLISHED WEEKLY SATURDAY MAY 19th, 1894. STATE BANK.

.The necessity for the establishment of such an institution is more apparent eve*£ t ,"^a^, c' THe.' jottehess of the v large mon,ey t firms m Melbourne having be-" come exposed has created £ ai g;eneral uneasiness amongst small investors m particular and they are naturally enquiring -how can 1 invest- ra .liferssavings with some certainty of not being pillaged by financial starpers. VWelj, we-do^knbrw really, But" this much- we do know, that large financial in^jitutions; can ,^0 ]Wo \ ;jo&%y onj|lieir op^ifajip^s Jfor ; y^atrs tection. /There i is no (fevern 1 " meht MnduisifonM: : iiispecti6n> ;|Cf^a^i^Directorate; bManee sheet/"^the< 6utlobk:>of extr^tolj^aty?pt6sperit^ %i .the jdis^t^s^: a^^large^ir^e^ig^ of ishaje^olclers- ?witl^ visions of wealth, and^ woe betide the few doubters

who have had the courage to question the 'stability* of the rotten structure. We have said there is no Government inspection, then how are we to know thai; an institution is sound except on the ipse dixit of the Directors, and wo have had plenty of opportunities lately of what sort of materials Directors are made of. v, lf Financial institutions were as useful as.-, they pretend to be, we should not complain so much, but the fact is a small man who wants an advance to assist him m an honest industry will get a flat refusal, whereas a well connected sharper will get an accommodation to go into a mad speculation with the greatest ease. Many of our settlers are suffering disabilities by having to pay exhorbitant interest on money borrowed long ago, and it is very easy to prove that they are paying twice as much as they have any right to do. Say a Farmer m 1882 borrowed £1000 at 5 per cent, when wheat was from "4/9 to 5/- per bushel; now if he retains this money till the present time, now that wheat is only from 2/2 to 2/5 per bushel, he has to part with more than double the quantity of wheat that he had to do m 1882 to pay the interest, which practically means that he is now paying 10 per cent interest on the capital which he borrowed at five. The capitalist has got the best of it every way, his £1000 has not decreased, it has actually increased m value cent per cent because the purchasing power of the interest that he receives is double what it was m 1882.

4 We dont blame the capitalist tie has .perfect right to. roalse the best use of his mpney just as. we have to sell our produce m the best market that we can get for it but the fact is we are paying too much for our loans which m the end spells ruin to the industrious farmer and trader and it behoves us to consider how we can find a remedy for the evils complained of and we hold that a State Bank of is&ue is the Only plan to extrica|t^ purselves from the/ evils we are suffering, brought about by reckless honTOwing- and extravagant expenditure. . "Coming events cast their,shadows.before them;" And the,;, shadows, are, g,old- gets, dearer, produce gets cheaper,, the- labour supply congested and its congestion daily increasing, constantly decreasing purichasing power of the wage earner and as a consequence a falling off m the volumne and profits of trade reaching" from' the small storekeeper to the Merchant Prince. • Now if a State Bank was established"issuing notes^negotiable .m the /Colony nobody would doubt their face value any more than they do a postal note Tbiif m ; these'daysv'bf Mfid booms and reckless speculations we are never sure of. the value, 'pi a banknote it qe^tainljrbearia: Jon it's face a promise to pay^o'n Idemand;;but hbw do%o^ kitbV t|at any. "particular ;,bankr liasi inbt issued thousands of pi?omis? es mpre o: tTian"' itvcoM^Bossiblv j • b tate papei would- aflierayCTbe; som.ethijigs^eyeii -^m* ;^ar Cfounhy suffering 1 '■i&Qfi^'^iigi 4iresfc7piM#tuiies, -M^he'itte is mere waste paper Lbadi even^at thiat^'f < <.*\;~ -I ,^ ;

i It may; be objected that *lfce currency^ so created, Woltfja^e of no value because of it's hay-

ing no purchasing power outside the Colony, granted, but if. labourers are willing to accent it on our public worjks and tradesmen are willing to supplygoods (and they will be ) m exchange for State paper, what more do we want. ; ; • We dont ask the English creditor to accept the Colooial issue, we can still settle with him m the old way. But we are sick at heart from the evils brought upon us by outside borrowing and our resources are so great that we are perfectly justified m creatiug a National currency.