CONTROL IN STATE HANDS

Taranaki Daily News, 20 October 1933, Page 9

CONTROL IN STATE HANDS

NECESSITY IN CENTRAL BANK OPINION OF MR. W. J. POLSON. DESIRES OF FARMING COMMUNITY. GOVERNOR A STATE APPOINTMENT. (By Wire— Parliamentary Reporter:) Wellington, Last Night. Straight-out advocacy of a Statecontrolled central ban!- was mede by Mr. W. J. Polson, M.P., during the debate to-night on the Reserve Bank Bill. I don’t agree that there should be shai’eholder control of this bank.” said Mr. Polson. “I believe that control should be in the hands of the State.” He said there was a peculiar psychology about Great Britain due to the influence of the Bank of England and of the British people. New Zealand .had had State control in many institutions and he was satisfied that State control was sound in connection with the bank. At the same time he was anxious to help the Government as far as possible to do all to put the central bank through, provided it was a Bill based on service to people and not of any profit to anybody. The farming community was opposed to share capital, he said. He was prepared to agree to a certain capital, provided the control of the State was paramount and not interfered with. When the Bill reached the committee stage, said Mr. Polson, he intended to move an amendment giving the State predominance in directors and also creating the governor., a State appointment instead of an appointment by the shareholders. “I am not going to agree to allow control to pass out of the hands of the State,” he said. The farming community of New Zealand had had conferences, committee meetings and discussions about the question and they were unanimously in favour of the State’s maintaining control of its institution. Mr. Polson referred to the State-con-trolled banks in other countries and said that, though it was not a central bank, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia was an example of a State controlled institution which had stood up to all sorts of influences. It had stood up to the most powerful Treasurer Australia had ever had, Mr. E. G. Theodore, who had proposed a fiduciary issue. State control was recognised as sound in many leading countries. In New Zealand there were the Post Office Savings Bank, the State Advances Office and many other interests run by the State. There was the Bank of New Zealand, a State-controlled institution. Were they afraid that any of those institutions would act unfairly, that the interests of the State would be neglected, that anything would happen that would be unsound financially or in any other way.

“We know that that is not the case and that the board appointed by the State in this country could be trusted to do its job in regard to a central bank just as the board appointed by the Federal Government in the Commonwealth,” he said. “With the greatest desire to help the Government I still feel that it is necessary that an amendment should be made.”