The Taranaki Herald. PUBLISHED DAILY MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 1835.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 6844, 24 August 1885, Page 2

The Taranaki Herald. PUBLISHED DAILY MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 1835.

Although trade is extremely dull, and tho universal cry is that " never was busiuess so bad in tbe colony before," we find the wealth of the people steadily increasing. It would bo ridiculous to doubt for an instant the figures published in the annual volume of statistics issued by the , Government ; therefore admitting them to bo correct, we feel that the depression now existing is only temporary, aud in a short time when renewed activity in business throughout the'comraeroial world takes plaoo, this colony will be in a position to participate in the prosperity to tho fullest extent. We first have tho banks doing business in JNew Zealand, of whioh there are six. The total liabilities of these institutions at the end of last year amounted to £10,691,599, made up as follows : — Notes ia circulation £971,908; bills in circulation £51, GG5 ; balances due to other banks £24,816. Deposits: Government • £864,401 ; not bearing interest £8,401,460 ; bearing interest; £5,877,852. The assets are stated to be £18,442,189,' of which £1,880,487 is specie; the remainder being set down as follows : Bullion or bars £142,601 ;

notes and bills of other banks £48,455; balances duo from other banks £45,228 ; landed property £452,635 ; notes and bills discounted £4,365,210; Government securites £524,038; debts due to the banks £10,581,874 ; securities not included under other heads £401,601. From the above it will bo seen that the capital of the banking institutions amounts to £7,750,540. The last dividends declared are stated to be as follows : — Bank of New Zealand, 15 per cent; Union Bank, 16 percent.; Bank of New South Wales, 17£ per cent.; Bank of Australasia, 14 per cent.; National Bank, G per cent.; Colonial Bank, 7 per cent. The total amount of the reserve fund at the time of declaring such dividend was £3,21)5,058. The returns before us do not furnish the results of the past years ; so in order to show our readers the progress these financial institutions have been making, we have compiled the following table of the total assets and liabilities of the banks trading in New Zealand during the last twenty years :—: — Assets. Liabilities. £ £ 18G7 ... 5,734,745 ... 3,838,220 1869 ... 6,231,416 ... 3,863,006 1876 ... 11,776,070 ... 7,221,399 1877 ... 12,992,104 ... 8,152,230 1878 ... 15,393,603 ... 10,031,009 1879 ... 16,054,295 ... 9,057,463 1880 ... 14,220,275 ... 9,550,177 1881 ... 14,863.645 ... 10,083,188 1882 ... 17.162J234 ... 10,015,273 1883 ... 17,794,761 ... 9.706,700 1884 ... 18,442,139 ... 10,691,599 From the above figures it is very clear that the depression we are feeling now is the result of a falling off in the business of the colony ; but it is satisfactory to find that a reaction has taken place and that tbe financial barometer points to returning commercial activity. The" next table — Post Office Savings Bauk — is, however, a more important one than even those referring to the banking business of the colony ; because it shows the savings of the labouring classes and the position they are in. The total amount of deposits paid into the Post Office Savings Banks of the colony during 1884 was £1,227,909, and the withdrawals £1,195,931, or £31,978 excess of deposits over withdrawals. The places where withdrawals exceeded the deposits were — Dunedin, £3718 ; Gisborne, £1622 ; Grey, mouth, £4733 ; Nelson. £2346 ; Oamaru, £558 ; Thames, £4917 ; and Timaru, £574. Tbe largest excess of deposits over withdrawals was made at Wellington, £17,872 ; and Christchurch, £13,375. At Now Plymouth the amount was £1722. In the New Plymouth postal district, which since 1880 has been reduced in " size, £83,264 was deposited in 1884, and £31,541 withdrawn, which was divided amongst the offices as follows :—: — Deposits. Withdrawal. £ H. d. £ s. d. N.- Plymouth 27,214 15 5 28,071 2 7 laslewooJ... . 928 -3 4 660 17 2 Opunaka ... 1,436 16 4 836 1 4 Parihaka ... 1,808 8 6 719 1 4 Stratford- ... 228 1 3 321 10 5 Waitara ... 1,647 15 3 932 14 5 33,264 0 1 31,541 7 3 Ilawera ... 6,517 13 5 5,024 610 Manaia ... 1,217 17 10 1,816 7 2 Man'utaln ... 1,337 15 0 365 4 3 Normauby ... 966 5 8 - 798 14 9 Patea ... 3,619 11 7 1,758 19 5 For year 1884 46,923 3 7 41,334 19 8 For year 1883 45,728 15 2 49,291 5 8 For year 1882 55,909 12 9 54,304 11 3 For year 1876 13,030 0 , 7 14,227 5 6 For year 1867 539 12 0 925 8 0 We have added on the offices which wero in 1880 transferred to the Wanganui district, in oi'der to make a comparison with tho past, which shows how this Provincial district has increased in wealth during tho last twenty years. It will bo seen by the above figures that in 1883 the business in the savings' banks fell off by £10,000 ; the withdrawals in that year exceeding tho deposits by £3,5G3. A reaction has, however, now taken place, and last year we find an increase of business done, the deposits exceeding the withdrawals by £5,589. .This all tends to show that wo have seen the worst of the bad times, aud during the ensuing year it is to be hoped we shall begin to feel tho effect of the change! The Post Office Savings' Banks have been established eighteen years, and year by year the business has increased, which shows the accumulations of the people more than anything that can bo written or said .on the subject. The Banks were first instituted iri^ 1867, and the increase since then has been as follows : — In baDknt end reposits. Witbdrnwnls. ofyoar. B. £. £. 1867 ... .96,372 26.415 71 197 1875 ... 657.653 729,759 727,295 1880 ... 804,441 780,504 903,765 1884 ... 1,227,909 1,195,931 1,499,112 These figures givo no idea of a depression existing, and- although we all feel the effects of the dulness of the times, it is evident a largo number of persons iv the colony are of a thrifty nature, and are not neglecting to put away a fow pounds for n time of need. The average amount standing to the credit of each open account in the Savings' Banks it is true is not so large as.iv the early days, when it averaged £38 93. Id. per depositor; but as there are no doubt a number of very small accounts, tho average ban been reduced to £22 16s. 3d. Lash year Now Plymouth headed the list with tho average amount of £29 10s. 7d., the" sum staudiug to tho credit of depositors on the 31st December being' £37,769. There is another class of Saviugs' Banks iv the colony conducted by private gentlemen, and establishments are open in the following cities :—Auckland, New Plymouth, Napier, Nelson, Sokitika, Dunedin, and Invercargill. The total amount deposited in these banks in 1884 was £427,646 19s. lOd, beiug an increase 6n the previous year by £52,767 7s. 10J. The withdrawals for tho same period were £874,196 9s. 7d, or a decrease of £101,251 17s. lOd. on 1883. We wero in hopes that tho Registrar would have iacluded Building aud Loan Societies iv his statistics by this time, for their revenues are certainly not a small item in tho accumulated wealth of the colony. Wo hope to see them introduced m ■future volumes of the Annual Statistics, or, if it is not too late, they might be in the remaining t parts, ,df • lliie. present' issue. '- So far,' llipn, af< we can gather from the statistics provided us by the Government, the cash

mutations up to 1884 have been as follows :—: — Banks— £ Difference between Assets and Liabilities 7,750,540 Amount in P. O. Savings Banks 1,499,112 Amount in Savings Bunks ... 427,646 Total cash accu mulations - up to 1884 8,677,298 Total Gash accumulations up to 1883 9,862,091 Totil cash accumulations fi up to 1882 8,988,908 1 otal cash accumulations up to 1881 6,329,971 Total cash accumulations up to 1880 5,819,089 There is no necessity, -we think, in going further back to show the progress New Zealand is making, for although the figures quote! are not anything like the accumulations of tho people of the colony, they are sufficient for our purpose, as wo are merely trying to show that tho colony, taking all things into consideration, is making very fair progress. We regret that the registrar does not go more fully into the particulars in this section of tho statistics, for it certainly is the most interesting portion of the volume. If he could give us the yearly profits of tho building and loan societies, the local insurance, gas, and manufacturing companies in New Zealand, the accumulation of the Friendly Societies, and other institutions which publish balance sheets of their year's progress, we are certain they would be instructive as well as very interesting. Had we all that information before us, we should be better able to show the general thriftiness and prosperity of all sections of the people, from the capitalist to the working bees of the social hive; but not having those particulars we must rest content with what we have, feeling sure that those who take an interest in tho welfare of the colony will not be dissatisfied with the result shown above of the progress we are making.