AUCKLAND SAVINGS BANK.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 99, 26 April 1919, Page 6

AUCKLAND SAVINGS BANK.

[ The year's operations of the Auckland Savings Bank reflect the prosperity of | the city, and show that this old and : flourishing local institution is excellently ; managed. The facts that the net surplus I for the year is £15,527 and that the | reserve has been raised to £125,000 tes- : tify to the success of the year's business, they are less impressive than the figures relating to deposits and depositors. There were over 6-1,000 depositors at the end of the financial year, with a total to their credit of £2,531,000, excellent figufes for an institution that does not go beyond the city, and has to meet the competition of tlie Post Ollice Say- : ings Bank. The Government's figures j show that in 1917 the Post Office Savings Bank in the Auckland postal district, with 232 establishments, held £5,41(7,000 to the credit of depositors, _md that these banks received £3,317,000 from depositors during tbe year, as compared with the Auckland Savings Bank's _ 1,675,000 received in 101 S. The local bank makes a very satisfctory showing in this comparison. The average sum nt the credit of depositors has risen £10 during the war, and now stands at more than £39. The bank's deposits have increased by nearly a million in the same time, and there are now nearly 11,500 more depositors than there were four years ago. These figures tell the same story as the returns from the trading banks, that New Zealand has been very prosperous during the war, and that there is plenty of money awaiting' investment. The bank's lending operations have been extensive. It has over a million out on mortgage, and well over a million invested in Government and local body loans. The people of Auckland have a special interest in the institution, because it is primarily the bank of the small depositor; it is not conducted for personal gain, and local development has benefited substantially by gifts from its profits. They may rest assured that these interests of theirs arc in good hands.

In connection with the Anzae Day celebrations, an exhibition, illustrating events in the campaign has heen arranged at the Children's Department of the Central Library. The idea was to collect pictures which would convey an idea of the historic nature of the fighting on the Peninsula, and a goodly number are shown, depicting the historic landing, and other incidents in the campaign. A list of books dealing with the subject has also been compiled, and children may thus refresh their memories, of an event of great personal and national interest to young New Zealanders.

Unexpected difficulties have arisen in connection with the writing of the official history of the New Zealand Rifle Brigade. The work has been in progress for some time, but progress has so far been more arduous than was expected owing io a variety of causes. A circular has been issued by Licut.-Colonel W. S. Austin, official historian, urging all who are able to assist to co-operate in the effort to make the history of the brigade not only accurate and complete as a history should be, but also interesting from the point of view of the general reader. Those who are able are asked to send reminiscences of incidents, particularly those connected with operations, minor and major; photograps dealing with life in camp, at sea, in billets, or in the tiring line; trench maps used in operations, and any other information that might prove useful matter from France or England, to Colonel Austin. c/o X.Z.E.K. Base Post Office, Mount Pleasant, London, and that from transports or Xew Zealand, c/o G.P.0., Wellington.

The subcommittee set up by the Wei-1 lington Hospital Board to make neces-; aary arrangements in readiness to meet a renewed outbreak of influenza has reported that five buildings _f.ve been secured for use "as temporary hospitals, and that arrangements being made to secure suitable buildings in suburban districts. The president of the B.M.A. has assured the board that the doctors in the district agreed to give all assist-; ance possible, and suggested that they, be paid at the rate of £10/10/ per day,! or 5/ per visit. The Public Health De- j partment has been asked to supply a list of all available nurses, and in order to help the position clashes are being held at the hospital to train all workers who are willing to take a course of two! weeks in simple nursing. The Women's | National Reserve is being approached to I get as many of its members to under- j take this training as possible. Arrange-' ments are being made whereby the City Council motor expert can be "secured to I deal with all motor transport and am- j bulances with cases outside the hospital.

As a result of the determined agitation begun by the returned soldiers against the Bolsheviks in Queensland, Alexander Ijusjcnko, the leader of the Russians in Brisbane, and eight others have been deported. The disloyalty of the large alien population of Quensland is notorious, and the Federal Government has now determined to deal firmly with these revolutionary agitators. At the Police Court, Brisbane, Norman Jeffries, and a Ilussian, Steve Tolstohroff, were sentenced to six months' imprisonment for having carried the red Hag in a procession on March 23. Jeffries, in a statement, said that he adhered to Bolshevik principles, and would continue to do so in future. For the last three or four years he had been an agitator in different parts of Australia, and during that time had espoused the cause of the red flag and Bolshevism.