BANK OF NEW ZEALAND BILL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5697, 16 October 1896, Page 5 (Supplement)

BANK OF NEW ZEALAND BILL.

After the totally unnecessary strain of a continuous Bitting for nearly twenty-four hours, the House of Eepresentativea has passed through all its stages the Bill designed to more thoroughly safeguard the interests of the colony in the Bank of JNew Zealand, and to restore public confidence in the management of that institution. The scheme adopted is, on the whole, satisfactory. We recognise the desirableness of a change in the personnel of the Bank President and General Manager, and of a strengthening of Grovernnienfc influence on the directorate. Generally speaking, we approve of the proposed increases of salary to the General Manager and Directors. It is imperative that the State should make every effort to secure the' best available talent for the management of the bank, and so far as employes are concerned, the sure way to do this is to offer generous remuneration. Considering the very excellent service that has been rendered by the present Diree- . tors of the bank, it does not appear that increased. payment is necessary in the case of the Directors ; but the majority of the gentlemen now in office are certainly well worth £400 a year each, and it may be desirable not to make too severe a demand upon the patriotism of future Directors. We cannot approve of the compromise by which it was agreed not to insist upon all banks doing busiuess in the colony making out their balance-sheets in a form to be prescribed by the Governor-in-Council. It is greatlj to be desired that the Bank of New Zealand's balance-sheets should in future be on a model that will enable the general public to understand the true position of affairs, and there could be no injustice in applying the same rule to all banks doing business in the colony. No one thinks of objecting to the Government compelling friendly and other societies to keep their accounts , in a certain way, and we cannot sympathise with the super-sensitive regard for banking institutions which is shown by some members of the House. Another rather weak concession to . the banks was bhe modification of the clause under which they are required to hold assets in the colony equal to threefourths of their liabilities. We are glad that the House insisted upon making the Disqualification Act apply to members of Parliament who might wish to become Directors of the bank, and resolved upon striking out the clause that proposed to prohibit advances being made to any company in which a bank director or officer might be interested. The working of the Disqualification Act will prevent the growth of direct political influence in the bank's affairs, and the provision is, therefore, a wise one. The suggested restriction upon the discretion of the directors in granting overdrafts to themselves, or the bank officers, was, to a large extent, justifiable by the past history of the bank. The true remedy, however, is to choose good and honourable men as directors and officers; not to place harassing and unworkable restrictions upon business. On the whole, the debate on the Bill appears to have been conducted in an excellent spirit by all sections of the House, and tho.mea-

sure itself- is generally sound and calculated to advance the interests of the Bank and of the. colony.