PUBLISHED EVERY BVENINe.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XX, Issue 6815, 30 October 1893, Page 2

PUBLISHED EVERY BVENINe.

GI3BORNE MONDAY, OCTOBER 30, 1898. A STATE BANK IN DISGUISE. The idea of a State Bank for this colony is not a new one. About a dozen years ago, there was a strong movement with this object amongst the Canterbury farmers, who complained that they were handicapped in carrying on their pursuits by the heavy interest rates they had to pay, for unfortunately at that period a great number of them were mortgaged up to their eyes. It was pointed out that whilst settlers had to pay from eight to ten percent, the Government could obtain money at less ihan half these rates. They asked that the good credit of the State should be utilized for their benefit. .Notwithstanding the fall in the price of agricultural products, the position of the Southern farmers generally has improved of late years, and there has been a considerable reduction in the rates of interest. A man, with good security, has now no difficulty in obtaining money at six or seven per cent. Although the idea of a State Land Bank has ceased to agitate the minds of Southern farmers, the subject has kept constantly cropping to the surface, until we are told the Government seriously contemplate taking up the question. A singular feature of the movement of late years is that the scheme is principally advocated by those who have no security to pledge to a State Bank or any other institution for advan- : cinq money. This inclines people with - cautious minds to view the proposal with no slight degree of alarm. Few doubt j that a State Bank, honestly and capably I managed, and kept completely free of i political influences, could be made to confer great benefit upon the communiy ; \ but one shudders to think of the conse- 3 quences if the institution were used for \ personal or political ends. Iv his recent speech at Feilding, the . Premier is reported to have said : — j "There was some talk about a State Bank, but it did not appear to be generally known that postal notea|could bo used as • a legal tender. Therefore, if anyone paid { mouey into a post office and received t postal notes, he could use them as money, t What the farmers wanted was cheap c money more than anything else. Power r should be taken to give advances to lessees s from the Government, who should lower t the rate of interest, which would be in 1 the interests of the people." For some time past, the Public Trust Office and J; the Post Office Savings Bank have been regarded as the possible nucleus of a State Bank. The operations of both offices havo been viewed with a certain amount . of disfavor by the ordinary banking con- c . cerns. The twe Government institutions were cutting into their business, and there ]j was no telling where the thing would end. The statement that postal notes can be a used as legal tender, would not be of much 1 importance if it came from an ordinary d person, but it is quito a different thing in y the mouth of the Premier. No sensible a person would refuse to take postal notes » as money. They are quite good enough Cl as promises to pay without having the "' force of a legal tender. But the announceroent of the Premier may be taken to *| mean that the Post office has been con- „, verted into a bank ef issue by the seem- y, ingly unimportant Post Office Act Araeud- o i raent Act of last year. w The Wellington correspondent of 91

the Otago Daily Times, who inferentially professes to be in the confidence of the Government on the subject, says it is illustrative of the attention that is given by members to Bills that come before them, that tho measure passed both Houses without its real meaning being discovered. Something else is illus-trated-and that is want of candour on the part of the Government. Surely it should h.-ivo been the duty of the Minister who introduced the measure to give a forecast of its effect. Under the Act of lust session, L 5 and LI postal notes are exempted from tlio limitations of currency provided by previous legislation, and such notes may now be issued " in •*uch form as tho Governor, by OrderinCoimcil," may from timo to time prescribe. Thia means, says the Times correspondent, that the Government may issue a legal tender paper currency at any time, and profit by all the aspects of banking business to the extont of its note circulation. If the Government ia resolved to take full advantage of its new statutory powers, there will soon be a great change in the nature of the note circulation of the colony. Payments to civil servants and to contractors would send tha Government paper money right through all the channels of trade. No private monetary institution has such resources at hand for pushing this sort of business. The gold base would be represented by the Post Office Savings Bank deposits, whilst, of course, there would be the collateral security of the whole State. However, it is stated that Government only contemplate making a small beginning. The public are to be gradually educated to the scope and meaning of the new project by an issue of Government bank notes to civil servants and co-operative laborers resident in those parts of the country where the banks have not established local offices, or where they are not easily accessible. The PostmasterGeneral is of opinion that thia would not directly clash with the banks, and would be a great convenience to that section of the community requiring ready money on the spot. Tho belief is expressed by the writer in the Times that Mr Ward, being thoroughly alive to the sensitive nature of the banking business of the time, will be most careful to avoid any developments under the now Act that will have the semblance of competition, but it if stated with confidence that when the present financial tension has passed away tin small beginning, assuming that Mr Ward is retained in power, will expand to i policy of great magnitude and of tht highest importance to the State. Th< banks will not be called upon to face Stat< competition until they have pub theii house in order. Mr DeLaiitour addressss the electors o Waiapu to-night in the Theatre Royal, com mencing at eight o'clock. A well-known Sydney solicitor is reportec to be missing. He is understood to bi heavily involved. The position of Sheep Inspector in tin Hawke's Bay district has been accepted bi Sir Norman Campbell, Bart. Mr Charles Gray has been returnei unopposed as member of the County Counci for W&imata riding. Blocks of land in Hangaroa, Nuhaka, an< Mata are to be opened for selection 01 Wednesday. Another meeting of the creditors in tin insolvent estate of M. Hickey is to be hel< to-morrow afternoon. George Jackson, known as "General 1 Jackson, lately an inmate of the Old Men' Home, has passed away. Mr Mcßride, merchant tailor, of Auck land, is again visiting Gisborne. He i booking orders at the Albion hotel. Mr Walter Wethered, who has beei visiting England, is a passenger by R.M.S Orizaba, which reached Albany (W.A. yesterday. Sergt. -Major Moore, Inspectorof Factories is bringing actions against three local store keepers for failing to give their employes tin statutory half-holiday. The cases come 01 for hearing on Friday. Government have at last acceded to tin request of the Motu settlers, and wil establish a weekly mail service betweei Gisborne and Motu. There is to be a pos office at Mr Smith's house at Rangiri, am another at the accommodation house a Poututu. Charles Nilson, a Norwegian, attemptec to commit suicide at Wellington by eating the heads of two boxes of matches. He wai taken to the hospital, and is expected t( recover. He had been out of work for som< time past, and had been drinking heavily. The following private telegram was re ceived from Mr Bonnetfc to-day : — " Doctoi say 3 that there is positive danger to healtl unless I retire from election contest. Sorrj to have to comply, as things looked so hope ful — this end particularly." The New Zealand Land Association (Limited) has received the following London commercial cablegram, dated Oct. 28 : — Frozen meat : New Zealand mutton. — There is a rather better demand ; quotations unchanged since last cablegram. Lamb market quiet; prime New Zealand lambs are worth 3;|d per lb. Tallow : Market has a drooping tendency ; quotations unchanged since last cablegram. The township of Hangaroa, as yet unpeopled, is a picturesque little spot on the bank of the Hangaroa river, and has been prettily laid off in an octagon shape. Streets run from the various sides to a point in the centre of the octagon, in which there is a round hillock, where it is suggested, a band rotunda will some day be erected, from which sweet music will be discoursed to future generations, An Ormond correspondent writes that Mr Carroll stated at his meeting on Saturday that there had been only 700 convictions for drunkenness in the colony last year. He asks us if the statement is correct. We have not got the returns for 1892, but the New Zealand Official Year Book gives the following as the number of summary convictions for drunkenness in the Resident Magistrate's Court for each of the five years ending 1891:- 1887, 5372; 18S8, 5402; 18S9, 5152 ; 1890, 5677 ; 1891, 5118. The Holloway Dramatic Company, which is well and favorably known as one of the best stock companies in the Australian Colonies, opens a season of six nights in the Theatre Royal on Friday evening next- Mr J. E. Petherick, the popular avant courier, is making arrangemento for the season, Ihe repertoire of which is to comprise the following dramas : " The Workman," " The Land of the Living," " My Jack," " Judge Not," •' The World Against Her," aud "The Shamrock and the Rose." Away up at Motu lives a Crown land selector who owed the Land Board an instalment for rent, and he received notice of the fact. He wrote to the Board stating that he had sent it by a stranger to pay at the oiftce. However, as the individual in question had not done so, he supposed he must pay again. He asked that the matter stand over until the next term was due, and then he would send the two terms' rent. He lived forty miles from a post office, and a tramp of that distance did not have much pleasure in it at this time of the year. In future he would not send his hard earned money by strangers who forgot to deliver it. —Napier Telegraph. A Christ-church paper says :— On Wednesday evening a lady and her son went for a drive, and on the road met an old friend of the family. They told him he might, if he liked, repair to their residence and amuse himself in the library until they returned, and the invitation was cordially accepted. The servant girl, however, took a very different view of matters, especially as the young man entered the house by himself and shut the library door after him. She immediately appealed to a neighbor who called in another neighbor. The latter, by suggestion of the servant girl, carefully loaded a gun which had nob been in use for nges, and carefully the trio marched back to annihilate the supposed burglar. It took a great deal pf persuasion on tho astonished young man's part to disabuse his assailants of the idea that he had entered the house with felonious intent, and the man with the jun has not smiled since,

Victoria has spent nearly £100,000 in snagging ttie Murray River. The Hawke's Bay Herald says " the gheep-ahearing machine is with us, and has come to stay." The Rev. L. M. Issit has determined to devote another year to advancing the cause of the prohibition party throughout the colony. Patti has at last owned up to 50 years. In a recent interview she ingeniously says that she has been singing since '61, and she finds the public " just as eager " to hear her a3 when she was 18. The Duke of Westminster has spent over £1,000,000 in re-building Eaton Hall, which is now considered to rival Chatsworth as England's finest house. Two large seals were caught the week before last on the beach at Wangaloa, Otago, by settlers there, but one eventually got buck to the sea again, after having frightened the life out of one of the settlers by shaping up in a boxing attitude vrheu about to be attacked with a spade. A Wairarapa paper states that a block o about 1600 acres in theHorowhenua district, adjoining the Levin township, has been purchased by the Government through Mr Donald Fraser. It is intended to dispose of 1000 acres in 50-acre sections, and the remaining 600 acres are to be used as a State farm. A strange incident is reported from Gisbornp, (says the Auckland Herald). It appears that a resident had hatched out a quantity of trout ova, but they rapidly diminished in number, though none were to be found dead. He watched and caught spiders eating and hunting them. After killing the fish-hunters he covered up the troughs, and was pleased to notice that there was no further decrease amongst the trout. The Patea Press says : — We mentioned a short time since that delegates from Te Whiti were about to visit this district with a view to converting the local Nativas to the "Te Whiti " persuasion. The first meeting has already taken place, and was held at Manutahi, when about 120 were present. The attempt to obtain conveits was, however, a cold failure. A sharebroker named C. E. Broome ha 8 committed suicide at Brighton Beach' Melbourne. He left a letter for the sergeant of the police asking him to send off certain telegrams announcing his death, to hand a letter to his wife, and to use his influence with the coroner to prevent a post mortem.. He also asked that his body should be buried at sea. Auckland Herald reports A transaction in land which tells a curious tale in respect to the unearned increment. A block of land within sight of Auckland, opposite Kawau, of over 2000 acres, for which an upset price was paid into the Government Treasury 38 years ago £936 8s sd, and which has been in the market for two years at half that price, has at length found a purchaser at £400. Will the Government refund the undervalued property tax upon £800, which it has been pocketing until last year ? The statement of the bankrupt Albert Pritchard shows a deficiency in the estate of £90 2s 9d. The assets consist of a house valued at £70, two colts, and c pack saddle valued at £9. The creditors, all unsecured, are : W. King £89, R. Johnston and Co £2, Hyland £10, W. Morgan £2, H. M. Porter £3, S. Stevenson £3, J. ErskLne £3, estate of S. Parker £7 Us, J. Whinray 18s 6d, Christchurch Press £6, A. R. Muir £1 10s, W. E. Akroyd L 4 los, R. Colebrook L 35 8s 3d ; total L 169 2s 9il. The Palmer-Beaumont Concert Company appeared at the Theatre Royal on Saturday evening, and gave one of their high-class entertainents before a fairly good audience. The concert was a great musical treat, and was highly appreciated, each number being loudly encored and graciously responded to. The concerted numbers were rendered to perfection, the voices harmonising beautifully. Both the lady soloists (Mrs Palmer and Miss Sterling) possess fine voices of great range, and were most successful in pleasing the tastes of the audience. Mr A. H. Gee (baritone) has a capital voice, over which he has complete control, and which when heard immediately strikes one as having been carefully trained. His rendition of Sullivan's " Thou art passing hence " wag a grand piece of music, to which he did the greatest justice, the expression and enunciation being perfect in every respect. Being recalled, he rendered the " Village Blacksmith " as an encore. Mr Beaumont has a very good tenor voice, and contributed greatly towards the success of the concert. The flautist (Mr Lemmone) and harpist (Mr Barker) are both talented artistes, and were most successful on their different instruments, more especially Mr Lemmone, whose performances on the flute created a great deal of admiration. ' ' Pianissimo" writes :— Sir, — Kindly allow me space in your valuable columns to speak of rowdyism. I went to the Theatre Royal on Saturday night in company with others to enjoy a musical treat, but the enjoyment was greatly retarded by the unreasonable disturbances which took place during the performance, and generally at the most critical part of the music. What can be done to put a stop to this rowdyism, Mr Editor? Can you suggest a way? I think somebody should be stationed in the gallery or thereabouts to watoh, and make an example of one or two, which might have the desired effect. If these people are incapahle of appreciating such excellent music, why do they not stay away, instead of going and spoiling the enjoyment of tl ose who are trying. A great deal of commiseration is expressed at Home amongst persons who understand South America, at the probable future of the unfortunate persons who have emigrated from Australia to Paraguay. As to supposing that the emigrants will get away from "capitalistic domination" by transferring their allegiance to the President of the Paraguayan Republic (writes a London correspondent) they will fiud that they are getting out of the frying pan into the fire. In Australia they had some share in the Government of the country ; in Paraguay they will have none. And if they begin to talk socialism, or come to advocate Henry George's single tax, they will find that they have to do with a people who have a keen appreciation of the rights of their own property, even if they are careless about that of other people, and their arguments are likely to be cut short by a bullet or sabre thrust. Those of the emigrants who are lucky enough to see Australia once more will never again disparage it s institutions, and they will prize the freedom they enjoy under the British Hag.