WELLINGTON.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXII, Issue 255, 6 October 1882, Page 2

WELLINGTON.

(From our own Correspondent.) CBy Telegraph.) Friday. I am in a position now to state the exact results of the half year's operations so far as two items of revenue are concerned. I notice that certain papers have drawn a comically deduction from my intimation a few days ago that the quarter was expected to show well and to be fully up to tlie estimates. From this it has been sought to deduce that there is a deficiency, for which my telegram was meant to pave the way. To this I have only to say that in telegraphing- on this subject I simply give facts and figures, careless whether they tell favorably j or unfavorably towards either side iv politics; however, it is much pleasanter to convey good news than bad. and so I am glad that I am able to give a very satisfactory account of the first half of our financial year. And first as to Customs, the most important item of all, important not only as the largest, but still more more as affording a trustworthy guide to the real condition of the colony as to prosperity or the reverse. It will be remembered that when the Customs last year yielded over £1,-170,000 or £120,000 in excess of the estimate many people said this was a mere temporary spurfc due to exceptional causes not likely to be persistent, and when Major Atkinson in his last budget estimated the Customs for the current year to bring in £30,000 more than this enormous sum, or a million and a half in all, he was said to be over sanguine and to be over estimating the probable revenue with an eye to New Zealand's credib in view to fresh borrowing 1 . Well, we now can judge the value of his calculations and here are the corrected figures. In the month of Scptorntcmber 18S2, Customs produced -.£140,092 as compared with £137,1 70 for August 1882 (an increase of £2,922), and as compared with ■K. 11 8.862 for September 1881 (an increase of £21,230). So much for the month. Next as to the quarter. If all the quarters were equally prolific on an average, it Iwould be convenient to estimate the average of each at a fourth of the year's total, viz., £375,000, but experience demonstrates that there is a marked difference in this respect and that the June quarter of the year (the dead winter quarter) is a dull one for trade. Thus, although the Customs for ; the first quarter of the year, namely, for the! three months ended 30th June, fellsome 1 £28,000 short of the average estimate; thus calculated this was not at all a bad result as : the various quarters go, and so nobody was! disheartened, feeling sure that if the winter 1 quarter did as well as that the spring and summer quarters would certainly turn out! all right, and so it has speedily proved . The ■ quarter just expired yielded no less than 1 £410,427, or more than £41,000 in excess 'of', the proportionate estimate for that period,! and being at the rate of £1,665,000, so when! we come to the half-year's return we find I that this large excess has not only alreadyswallowed up the winter deficiency on the proportionate estimate for that quarter, but ; has still a substantial balance to the good; in, fact; the Customs revenue for tho half-i year amounts to £762,577 which is! £12,577 in excess. .of the proportionate estimate for the half-year (that is to ! say half the total estimate for the complete, year.) That would, of course, represent an excess of £25,000 for the year if the remaining half-year- do not give better results, but judging- from experience I should say the excess is much more likely to be over the £50,000 than under it. You see from these figures that my favorable forecast has been more than fully verified. The other item which alone is yet complete is the beer duty. This amounted to £5293 for September, 1 882, which is £1000 more than the preceding; I month, and £750 more than for September,, 1881. " For the quarter the duty produced £13,597, and for. the. half -yeaE £27,825. The estimate for the whole year was £60,000, so if we assume that the first, half would yield as much as the second the result would be £2174 short, but as we all know that people do not drink so much beer in winter as in summer, and therefore that the summer and autumn_ quarters are greatly the most profitable, it is plain that the figures above given are very encouraging- indeed. I may say that the actual estimated yield for the first j half year was only £25,000, as against i £35,000 for the second (or beer drinking) I half, thus the tax haiqjeally given £2000 to I the good instead of falling short. I think ' the colony may fairly be congratulated on • these agreeable results of the operations for ! the first half of the current year, and I have every reason to believe that Stamps and other items will show almost equally well, < although railways are undoubtedly a little ? behind at present. ', I believe I am warranted in stating that ; it is the intention of the Government to 1 take! almosb immediate steps' toward the ! initiation of the direcb steam service as! authorised by Parliament last session. Un- ! less anything should intervene to prevent! this being done, it is probable the advertise- i ment calling for tenders will be issued next j week.' It is contemplated that the advertise- j ment shall appear simultaneously in Great Britain, and New Zealand, possibly also in Australia, with a view to e,nsure the utmost fairness in competition. The advertisement will first be sent home with instructions to the Agent , General to acknowledge its '■ receipt by cable directly it reaches him, and ! immediately on a cable message being received to this effect from Sir D. Bell the advertisement will be published in the colony. Ministers, of course, are limited by Parliament to a maximum subsidy of £20,000, and I understand they hold themselves bound not to ex- ' ceed that sum, bujb'l believe they have reason > to anticipate that no serious difficulty will i be experienced in arranging for a very satisfactory service on these terms. lam not in ; a position to say more than this at present ' but so much at any rate offers a promising look out for the chances of the service so ' much desired by Canterbury and Otaeo at all events. , 8 ;