FINANCIAL STATEMENT.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 2158, 26 June 1889, Page 2

FINANCIAL STATEMENT.

' In the House last night j Sir H. dtkin* soof,- the Premier and Ooloolal Treasurer, delivered his financial ■tatemant, of which the following is a summary. Sir Harry commenced by ehsraoterlalng the tssk before. hlm : as being far more pleasant thattfhioh fell-to his'lbt on the last two oooallons upon ' whloblt was his duly' to present jibe budget 3 po the Houie: Oar trade is renewing, oar foreign markets have muoh improved, and our Indoatrioj, large and email, witn bardly aa exception, show increased aotlvlty and steady progress. The pplioy of retrenchraent and! stribt economy Uatbtloned by Parllsnieut io 1887, and since carried oat by the Qovetnment to the best of their . ability, had prddubed the result which, sooner or Jater ( was bound to follow; and he. had the^pleaaure, uuuaual for some yesrs Dsst» of annoodolog a ■urplusl ",' OuNSOLIDAXBD yUND JEXPBNDITUaiB JOH ] -, YBAB.IBBB 9^ .- , • The estimated oxpenditare for the year 1888 9, iooluding ,the votes 'taken apon the supplementary: estimate*, and oharged under special Aots, 'amounted to £4,084,054 The actual expenditure was £3,997;265 . There was, therefore, nqex;pedded of ihe amount : au,tboriied £106,789. One vote, public eqhoola, had been exceeded by near y £6000, and an under iaeua of nearly £7000 had occurred on other Education votes, bat chiefly on that i or suhool buildings, which for the fi st time m the oolooy's finance was oharged against the consolidated fund. When it was found neoe sary to exoed the vote for carrying on the public schools Government tot thinking it right to go beyond the large total voted, £379,093 determined, though with regret, t) proportionality diminish the amount to be spent on buildings. EtYJGNUB POB THE YEAE 1888 89.

The total revenue estimated to be received during the year 1888-89 uas £4 162 400; the aotual amount reoetved

was £4,055,034. so that the revenue as estimated In tbe Financial Statementexoetded the actual receipts by £107,366. The Oaatomi duties yielded less than the estimate by about £55,392. The railways also yielded less than tbe estimate by £38,865, but this was counterbalanced by a reduction In the expenditure of a still greater amount, bo that the net revenue received w*s £360,016, Instead of £338,162, *a estimated. Stamps, through an error of the estimate, yielded less by £14,329 than was calculated ; Registration and other fees fell, short by £8273. An exoeptlonal item of revenue was £18.000 profit earned by the Public Trust Office/ This' had extended over a series of years but bad only now been passed Into the publio aooount.

LAND rUHp BtPENDITUEB AND BBVBSUB, The estimated expenditure of the Land Fund was £127,433 ; the aotoal expenditure proved to be £119,496. The expenditure was, therefore, less than the estimate by £7927. The estimated revenue of the Laud Jfund was £119,000 j the actual receipts were £108,007, being £10,993 less than estimated. The amount received fop lat d sold for oagh was £11,008 more than estimated,/ while the amount receivadfof deferred payment land wai £22,001 under the estimate. Thin defioienoy was ohiefly due to payment of instalments not having been enforced m consequence of the promise given by Government when the Fair Xetxt Bill waa rejeoted by the Upper House. There was outstanding on March 31st a sum of £46,51§. Government had had the holdings revalued, and steps had been taken. to enforoa payment on the new valuation, leaving for Parliament to decide how the baUnoeo ware to be dealt with. More settlement had taken place upon the Grown Lands of bonafide, settlers during the past year than during any yea? shrte 1881, There had baen 65,188 acres of lend taken np on the deferred payment system by 335 soleotoro, 204,643 acres on ££T! ual leM9 b * ? 6 5 selectors, and 7,0,98!? acres by 653 oashpurohasers. fUKAMtiUL IWSUJtTS OJT XHB YEAR I^BB. 89. Ihe total ordinary revenue renal vad 2 65 ' 030 ' "* * 16 «*S 283$ expenditurg amounted to £3.977,365. iUere wa», thereforo, a surplus for the year of £77,769. This surplus lnolnded the primage duty, amounting to £46,132 } and he bad m aooordanoe with the deolared intention of. the Government and the fraplled sanction of tbe Hoaie, paid off £50,000 of defiolGnoy bills, being part of the billa for £128.600 Issued last year to meet the balance of tha defiolenoy on the Slab March, 1888, which was uoj, provided foe by the debentures lasned In March, 1888. .

THK PUBIIO DEBT. The groaa public debt on the 31st Marob, 1888, w«b £36,758,437; on the 31 v M»rob, 1889, v was £38.375,050, bat deducting t&e staking funds acoraed, now amounting to £1,39j,389 the net dabt waa £36,079,661, «a agaiaat £35,545,610 last fiuauoial year. There were old loans paid off and new loana raised, this resale of the ye At 'a operation on the loan account being an addition to the permanent debt of £1,616,613, bat on the o.hac hand it ia material to note that by far the greater part of this turn, though borrowed, wai not spent but retained m hand to the amount ot £1,?67,Q9Q on $• ftit tf M ph

last The fc-if.l amount of debt paid tfi was £722 587. Tke loans raised we<| the North 1a and Malu Trunk Railway loan, £1,( 00,000 ; the loan authorised m 1888, £1,000,000 ; debentures created for increases of Sinking Fund m 1888-89, £263,200; for Government loans to looal bodies, £75,000 ; and for State forests, £1000. The new loans amount to £2,349.200. and if la daduoted the amount pald.off : £722 587, a total of £1,616,613 remains.

TH3 PDBLIO WOBK3 FUND.

No 1 Account — Out of the million loan raised m 1888, £600,000 was allotted to this acconnt the credit of whloh subject to repayment of a temporary advance of £l 60 i ooo* amounted to £722,81*. expenditure during the year amounted to £240,258 on pa 4ic works, and £28,758 f*r~ expenses of raising loana.^Tlre^prfa"^ 1^ cipalitemeof expenditure were :— Rods, .v £104 631 ; public buildings, £34.592 ; lighthouses, harbor works and defences, £52,593, ; and ,. telegraph extension, £12,047 ; the amount expended on other services being £3639,4. No 2 lAcoouot ' (JWth IsUnd Trunk '

W4y.>H-The apeoial loan iof a mlliion was raiaed iaet year and moneys expended m anticipation- baing deducted there war" an nnexpeaded baiinoe of .£335,818. auHejct to outstanding liabilities at £28,192 ,:./. ;:.:,.--- v^;^,.;.-: '"•:.-i ? a

No 3 Acoount.— £soo,ooo of the million < loan-was credited to this acoount. The: ■•> expendifcare daring the year waa, iforT railways, £251,801, and dapartmeiitol - dxpcnees £12,000, leaving unazpended balance of £618,000, subject to outstaading Habflitieß of £164,394; BSTIMATo : D EXPBNDiruBB FOB THI TBAB ' 1889 90. ; The itotal estimated expenditure is, £4,239,321, being £4,117,331 ohar«eable gainst ordinary revenue,* and £122 000 against land ftmd. r )- ;:. .'.^

ESTIMATE BBVBKUB JOB THE YAJK 1889 90.

The total revenue for the 5 year ttoaK Premier estimated at £4,323,900, against * total ei^ehdlture of but exclßdiO^ tha land fond from both" aide* cjf the account a revenue of £4,187,800 waß ahown agaiost an, expenditure of fi4ill7,Bßli tKii* sVbal«ttice^rf * £70,469 at the end of the year 1889-00 if tiis anticipations are railisad, bat to thif amount heTrpuld add what* is left of last. , iyaar's^urpluß-of £77*609,^ ter paying off £5000 of the deficit of the' year tfefd*», v viz., £27.769, and get a surplus ofv : £93 288, of which about £55,000 iwiU b* 7 ; applied to the further fedaotiooiof floaUnjf debt, leaving a sum of £33,238 at the end 7 of the current yearl' : "'" ! -;' :Zyi :'- -n : -* '] PJSOKBRTY TAX, '"' c '"'"' '•' '' '■"- • In aooordanoe with the ..promise of last, 'session. Government had ' oarefuily c6tf« Bidered the question of the Property tax, and would m a few days iatroduqe *~~ nieaOTr:e to give effeot to modifications which they proposed tti make. Government proposed among other things to exempt all machinery and to slip w any owoet' or the Property Tax Commissioner to have properties rivalued under, reasonable re»ttjot!qns_wlthout awattiag'the triennial patlod, Thess remissions and the fall In the new valuation will oauae ao estimated lon to the revenua, of about £20,000, bat Qovernmont did not pr DpoHs to ■sic f ov aay new tax homing tbertf woald be luffioleat e!«'8tlolty In the gener 1 *! revenue to make it good. '.^ : : ' V' : ~ , .. ■■.;•:" r',THß xAMnri" . '' ". ";'.-yy "l'.'*. ' It ir«s too soon yeii io dedooe any Jar,;.'!" : ob even found any ntlafaotory •rgadaenn, m to the effects apon tr»de and Indaitry prodacftd by the tariff, bat It h»d been -■ oaooesifullQ produolng the revenue re* qalred of It, •*"• ' ■'-'■■ \ ■ ?OTAQO OXftTBAL XAILWIT; ? ' i Government had aome to the spnetaiifon : ' ; that this work could he earned bat without having recourse (io another loan, and a Bill to give tffjet to their proposal of at once continuing the line will be submitted for consideration of Parliament! j MIDI.ABD BAVUWJkY, I It was a matter for congratulation that | this important work, colonial m oharaoter, [ was now to be pushed forward with vigor; ;It was to the interest of both p*rts of the : oolony, not leas than cf the Company^ that it should be brought to a suoeesifal laaue. To the colony its success meant not only the completion of the mats trunk railway sgstem from end to end ef the Southern Island, including the connection of important oentres now isolatedw but also the permanent settlement of »: large tract of oountry, which but fot thl» < railway could only be settled very slowlf and with d ffioulty. A ■. * :.-Z

In eonolnaion Sir Harry Atkinson dwtlt at some length on the oondltlon ani prospects of the colony)' and said th4t : whilst drawing attention to many satl* faotory evideaoes of increasing produotioa and Improved values, he desired to point out that our publio expenditure will still ! require the most watchful care, and that It Is by saoh meant, aided by t»ubllo and private eoonomy, rathee th«a by largo publio expenditure, that the permanent prosperity of the colony will be aeooiecV