THE Waihi Daily Telegraph WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE WAIHI MINER MONDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 1904

Waihi Daily Telegraph, Volume IV, Issue 1156, 28 November 1904, Page 2

THE Waihi Daily Telegraph WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE WAIHI MINER

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 1904

Uoro shall the Vtom tho I'eoplo's Right muntaii Uimwcd by mfiiwnoo mm nnbrlbod by grin j Hmo patriot Truth bar iflcnmis iirooopts dm. Plodifcd to Rolijion I.ihortj, »nd L»w

Tlib' Borough Council deserves the thank? of the public, and especially of the workers, for urging an improvement in the mothods of the Post Office Savings Bank. We havo already pointed out that depositors cannot withdraw on demand, but have either to wait for throe days after the application is made or pay for a telogramto headquarters. At a recent meeting of the Council a resolution was passed urging the Government to make an alteration that would do away with this hindrance to the prompt payment of wilhdrawels.and the Government has rnplied that no alteration can be made, the excuse being that if the concession is i;ivon 01 her places will ask for it. The Council has again peiitioned, with what result remains Kibe seen. Wo do not suppose the request will bo granted, at Iwt immediately, for in any matter tending to the public convenience Governments are hard to move, and the Government of this colony is no excsptian

But if the Bgitation is kept up there is a possibility that something may be done at some time or othor, It seems the Post Office Savings Bank is run under what is dignified by the term of "system." Under this " system" there are only six offices in the North Island from which money is paid on demand. The rest are conducted in the same way as the one at Waihi—a weary wait of two or three days, or the price of a telegram if the money is wanted under that time. The department is afraid to alter the " systora." It lias beon'been in force since the days of the Waijangi Treaty, and in the eyes of the Government is too good a relic to interfere with. It is the one thing the Government and Opposition agree upon. They rail at each other on other topics, but the good old primeval "system" of the Post Office Bank has a halo around it that preserves it from alteration. The system at the other banks is different. They keep pace with the times. Take, for example, the Batik of New Zealand and the National Bank, They start in an," town whore inducement offers. They erect an office or rent one, install a manager and clerk, Btock it with a cash book and ledger, and are ready to operate. In business matters they are just the same as the head office. There is no waiting for three days for payments. Paymentßaie made on demand. They are not troubled with the traditions of banking a thousand years old. They are simply, up to date, and never receive petitions like the one passed by the Borough Council and sent to the Government. Why cannot the Post Office banks do business on similar lines? A special staff of clerks and a cartload of book are surely not essential to paying out money on demand. We suppose the same check is taken at theWaihi office of money paid in and paid out that is taken at any of the head offices, and we do know that the ceremony is greater. So there ap. pears to be nothing to prevent an alteration. It is not expected that the privilege asked for by the Council should be given to small places. A few years ago Waihi was an insignificant hamlet, but its progress has resulted in its growth to a township of five thousand people, and those having money in the Poßt Office are entitled to more consideration than they get. If other places apply for the ! facility, why not let them have it if they places of the same size and importance ? If the "system" stands in the way, let the "system" go. It is bad, and should go the way of all bad things, Three-fourths of the Waihi people are workers pure and simple, and it follows that the local Savings Bank does a good deal of business. The present "system" is not the way to encourage it.

Mr Petrio, Inspector of Schools, is at present in Waihi in connection with the Waihi Public High School examinations, Mr Petrie arrived horo on Saturday, Mrs Jons 0. N- Dahl desires to return her sincere thanks to all friends (or thoir kind sympathy during her rooent sad be' reavenent, also for the flower and other tributes of respect received, We are pleased to learn that Mr R Toomey, whose left leg was amputated at 'tho local hospital on Friday woek last as the result of the limb being affeoted withtubercolosis, a form of blood poisoning, in progressing most favourably, By advertisement elsewhere the local branch of the Hibernian Siciety invite tho parishioners of St Joseph's Church to a social evening in tho schoolroom on Friday oveningnext. A small charge will be made for gentlomen, but ladies will be admitted free,

Messrs, Spooner and Company, auctioneers and general commission agents of Tauranga, intimate !o the |publio of Waihi that they have during the summer season two furnished cottages to let at tho Mount (entwnco to the Tauranga harbour) and also two furnished houses in Tauranga,

Haygarth's Dramatio Company open in the Academv of Music on Wednesday next with Cooper's comio and sensa* tionaNrama "Hie Shadow of a Crime." The piece is reoogntsed as tho latest London Bnccess. The drama will be presont • cd for the first time in Waihi under sconio advantages, the scenery having been specially painted by Mr Alfred Infersoil, N

Arrangements bave been made for a popular afternoon on Wednesday next at tho Hospital grounds, starting a> 3 o'clock. Tea will be provided, but visitors are expected to bring oakos, etc, Tho ban! will render selections, and croquet and other games will bo indulgod in, It is anticipated that the funotion will bo kept up till about 7 p.m. A general invitation is given to adults,

General Stoessol's origin has boon much discussed, but the question seems to bo set at rest by a communication to ut Russian paper from his aunt, the widow of the lata Goneral I. M. Stoessol The defender of Port Arthur has been variously desoribed as being of Swiss, Hungarian, Jtwish, and German extraction. Tho lady snys:-" Anatoli Michaelovitch Stooi' sel is a full blooded Russian. His lather, a brother of my husband, who was also an officer, served in tho Uhlan Bodyguard Regiment, and was orthodox, His grandfather was a Lutheran, also a hero and a participant in the war with Napoleon, in 1812 He «as Lieutonant-General Ivan Sioessol Thus, you see, the family of tho Sioosbols is an old Russian family of soldiers,"