Mr. Seddon was the first to congratulate Parliament and the country. “This Parliament,” he said, “has been equal to the occasion, and that the colony has been saved from disaster. I feel sure that what we have done is in the interests of the country, and that the results will be beneficial to the people. The colony may also congratulate itself on what has been done.”
On Saturday morning, therefore, the colony was made aware of the fact that in a few hours the Government had arrested a crisis, which had been dealt with before the people generally knew what was happening. Immediately all alarm passed away. People gathered round the doors of some of the bank’s important agencies, and there were withdrawals, but they were chiefly from the accounts of small depositors. The promptitude with which the demands were met reassured even the most timid, some of whom had made their way into the premises to ask for gold for bank notes.
The Press of the colony united in praising the courage displayed by Mr. Seddon and Sir Joseph Ward. One of their bitterest critics said that the colony, as well as the bank, owed them a debt of gratitude for their promptitude and boldness in facing the emergency when they were suddenly called upon to do so. Newspapers that had severely criticised Mr. Seddon and his colleagues without stint praised them for the first time in a manner that left no doubt as to the appreciation with which the courageous action was received.
The Banking Act, as it stands on the Statute Book, provides for the increase of the bank’s capital by the issue of shares to an amount up to £2,000,000, guaranteed by the State. The shares were to be called in at the end of ten years, and cancelled on payment of the principal sum with the accrued dividend. The rate of dividend was not to exceed 4 per cent. The guaranteed shares were known as “A” shares, and were to have preference over all ordinary shares in regard to both capital and dividend. The issue of the preferential shares was secured on a liability of all the shareholders in the bank. Promises were made that if any money was payable under the guarantee, all the assets and other property of the bank would stand as
