The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, and Echo. MONDAY, AUGUST 20, 1900. THE BUDGET.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXI, Issue 197, 20 August 1900, Page 4

The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, and Echo.

MONDAY, AUGUST 20, 1900. THE BUDGET.

For tko causa that laetei assistance, For the vrsng that needs rwistenw, For the futura in tho distance, And ths Ecod that vo can do.

Probably not since the days of Sir ; Julius Vogel lias a New Zealand Treasurer brought down a financial Statement more removed from the commonplace than that delivered in the House by the Right Hon. R. J. Seddon on Friday evening. Covering practically the whole field of our financial politics, it proposes changes of a more or less drastic nature in every direction. The burden of taxation is to be indirectly lightened by the removal of import duties, largely those on the necessities of life; railway and postal concessions are to be made; and the position of both the investor and mortgager improved by the.reduction of the mortgage tax. Despite these and other mino?- allowances, a more vigorous railway construction policy is outlined, and defence, education, railway equipment, and roads are to receive more liberal treatment. Beyond this, provision is suggested for instituting homes for inebriates; and the permanent adoption of a liberalised Old Age Pension^ scheme is foreshadowed, although the cost under the Pensions Act for the current year demands an appropriation of £200,000. These are the leading features of the Statement; but matters of almost equal moment, such as reciprocity ,in trade, closer relations with, the Islands, mail services, cable communication, and increased activity under the Land for Settlement Acts, are referred to, though in the case of the first three in somewhat indefinite terms. It is certainly an ambitious —some will say over:ambitious — Budget. Ample justification is to be found for a departure from the (in comparison) commonplace statements of former years in the remarkable elasticity of the colony's revenues, and promise of continued 'exceptional .prosperity. A glance at the finance for the year ending with March last •leaves no reasonable grounds for doubti on this head. The estimated revenue of £5,249;600 wtfs exceeded by £330,786, and was £393,957 more than the actual receipts of the previous year. In arriving at a surplus of over six hundred thousand pounds, the Colonial Treasurer has added a sum of £119,232 (very indefinitely classed as 'other receipts'), £G3,57 V 3 of the, year's estimates unexpended, and a .balance brought forward of £45,861. Avoiding the discussion involved in the system of including- air the surplus moneys voted /nd unexpended, and a balance" brought , forward, and ignoring the- £119,232 classed as other receipts, the excess of revenue over expenditure, affords sufficient evidence •of the buoyancy of our colonial finances. The charge is very often preferred that such a surplus is the result of an intentional underestimate of receipts. The accusation is often not entirely groundless; but in this instance no impartial critic could well support such a charge. The full measure of prosperity at present enjoyed by New Zealand called for some modification in the financial system of past years. The question that confronted the Administration was, in what directions concessions might be made with most benefit to the public. The manner in which the problem has been solved, as outlined in the Financial Statement, will, of course, arouse much discussion, but in many respects its excellence will ensure universal support. The remission of duties on a number of the necessaries of life, and on the-ma-chinery needed for many of our industries, is the most important concession. Its effect will be universally felt, and for the nearer attainment of the ideal of a free breakfast table the Government will receive the thanks of many. Of hardly less wide application

will be the benefits derivable from the inauguration of universal penny postage. That New Zealand should be the first of the Australasian colonies to follow in the footsteps ofl the Mother Country in adopting this postal reform Mr Seddon may well claim as a subject for congratulation. It is a fitting reform to mark the commencement of a new century. Not secondary in importance to these proposals is the suggested doubling of the expenditure on railway construction, appreciable reduction in fares, and vigorous policy of improvements in, and additions to, rolling stock. The provision of a colonial scale of pay on a liberal basis for our public school teachers will be welcome, more especially in large education districts like that of Auckland, while, the definite assurance of ample funds for technical education is'an important feature of the Budget. The vote of £5000 for a new sanitorium at Rotorua is a colonial work of special importance to Auckland. The reduction of taxation on n\ortgages will be of more' general advantage than might appear at first glance, as it is in the interests of the borrower rather than the lender that it will tell. The recognition of the ability of the colony to institute an efficient internal defence warrants the large addition to'th'e vote under this head. The selection of the most widely beneficial concessions is a difficult one, but in the programme, of which the above is synoptic of the main features, the Government have, we believe, made a judicious choice. A more debatable matter, and one which deserves the most careful consideration, is the borrowing policy outlined. The necessity for borrowing is, of course, indirectly the outcome of the proposed concessions and increased expenditure in various directions. The Government propose expending during a period of about twelve months some £1,700,000 of borrowed money. This is a large sum, but the Colonial Treasurer very plainly intimates that it would have been much larger had conditions been more favourable when he says, "prudence demands that we should only ask for sufficient authority to meet pressing demands."' He also states that the Public AVorks Fund in future will have to-be almost entirely .provided by borrowed money. The prospect of the rapid augmentation of our public debt that such a policy, entails requires. the' most carefvl' consideration, and it is impossible here to do more than refer to the fact that, it involves th.c gravest .issues. It is certainly an anomaly for the Colonial Treasurer to point out. that "indiscriminate borrowing leads to squandering and inflation, and booms caused by a large expenditure of public money end in disaster," and a little farther on to apologise for the smallness of borrowing authorities amounting to £1,700,000. Taken as a whole, however, there is very much that is admirable in the Financial Statement, and little to cavil at. We venture to believe tbat its reception will be unusually favourable. ;";