NEW ZEALAND'S DEBT V. CANADA'S.

Auckland Star, Volume XIX, Issue 149, 25 June 1888, Page 2

NEW ZEALAND'S DEBT V. CANADA'S.

(To the Editor.)

Sir,—ln your leading article re Financial Reform Association's table of Comparisons, after quoting the amount of New Zealand, Victoria and Canadian public debts respectively, you remark as follows :^-" Of course we must bear in mind, when considering theso figures, that railways and other revenue producing services Which have in Canada been left to private .enterprise, are assets thab ought to be taken to credit of New Zealand indebtedness." Now, sir, what about Canada's public works and revenue - producing assets—railways and canals which you have entirely ignored) the property of the. State ? Sere aro a f ew : _ Intercolonial Railway (not the Canadian-Pacific), Riviere dv Eoup to Halifax, cost §40,000,000; Welland Canal, 51 miles in length, $7,000,000; Rideau Canal, 126 miles in length, $4,380,000; St. Lawrence Canal, §8.550,000; Otawa, Canal, $1,500,000 ; Chambly and St. Our's Lock, $550,000 ; Burlington and Desjardins Canal, $560,000: total, $62,540,000-^ £12,508,000. Most of the above canals (notably the Welland) havef since been enlarged and improved, the cost Of which is notTincluded in above.-^-1 am, etc.,

R, Lynn Williams,

[What we desired to point out was thab these comparisons may be very misleading unless the elements of difference are clearly shown. In 1886, tho railways in Canada covered a length of 10,150 miles, but bitty 1,185 miles were owned by fcfife Government. Its telegraphs are the property of private companies. , In NewZealand, With its small area arid pbpulation, the railways owned by . the Government on the 31st March, 1886 (the figures ate larger now), totalled 1,721 miles. When the expenditure represented by these figures is divided pro rata over our population and that of Canada respectively, it Will readily be seen at what a disadvantage NeVv Zealand appears in bald statements of the respective debts of the two countries. The effect on their relati vedepartmentalappropriations is even more striking. For example out of a total expenditure of £1,916,837 on the New Zealand Civil Departments of Government for the..current year, £690,000 is required, by the department of,.working railways. This sum is; of course, balanced by a corresponding revenue. The Education Department also takes £348,974, which is returned directly to the people in the shape of services rendered. Under the Canadian Provincial system, the cost of education is differently distributed. Such facts must be borne in mind when comparing the debts, revenues, and expenditures of different Governments.— Ed. E.S.]