The Evening Star. WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and Echo. SATURDAY, AUGUST 17, 1901. THE FINANCIAL STATEMENT.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXII, Issue 185, 17 August 1901, Page 4

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

SATURDAY, AUGUST 17, 1901. THE FINANCIAL STATEMENT.

For the cause that lacks assistance For the wrong that needs resistance For the future in the distance /vnd the good that we can do.

The Financial Statement submitted to Parliament, by the Colonial Treasurer hist night completely dissipates any apprehensions that may have beer, felt with regard to the condition of the public revenue. The actual revenue was £5,906,916, the largest amonnt that has ever gone into the. public Treasury in a single year. . The Customs receipts, notwithstanding remissions to the amount of £157,000, made last year, exceeded the receipts of the previous twelve months by £73,295, large increase;-, having taken place in the consumption of spirits, tobacco, sugar, and ad valorem goods. The revenue from the income tax exceeded the estimate by nearly £43,000, an excellent indication of prevailing prosperity. The railway revenue also exceeded the estimatej-y £140,241. The net result of the year's operations was a surplus ol! £532,504. With regard to the Public Works Fund, the receipts were £1,901,787, and tlie expenditure £1,809,021. The balance brought forward from last year amounted to £139,749, and the balance at tlie end of the year was £232,515. Included in the receipts was a sum of £500,000 transferred from the Consolidated Fund, and loans were raised locally at 4 per cent, on debentures having a currency till April 1, 1904. This was considered preferable to approaching the London market, advices being unfavourable to the notation of ft i 3 per cent, loan there at present, It ;is intended to continue to draw upon ihe local money markets until the ! financial condition in England becomes normal, and in order to facilitate these operations the Treasurer contemplates the inauguration of a .system under which investors can take up Government debentures for short, periods very much in the same way as they now make bank deposits. The proposals for the current year are framed on the assumption that ihe Customs revenue will be less by £70,802 than last year's receipts. An increase of £39,359 is estimated from railways, and £10.400 from land tax, arising chiefly from a new valuation. The loss from the adoption of penny postage, which was originally estimated at £SO,OOO, will not, it is believed, exceed £24,000. The total revenue for the year is estimated at £5,890,000,

and the expenditure at £5,703,814. leaving a balance of £132,180. last year's surplus £500,000 is to be transferred to the Public Works Fund, leaving £32,504 to strengthen the general account, so that without further taxation the revenue from existing sources will provide for the anticipated expenditure amounting to £5,703.814, and leave a surplus of £104,750, less any appropriations that may be made on the Supplementary

These figures, it will be universally admitted, fire eminently satisfactory. The Treasurer points out that, included in the expenditure for the current yea*, provision of an exceptional character, to the extent of £120,000. has had to be made, £50.000 being represented by the cost of the celebrations in honour of the Duke of York's visit, and £18,000 for the census. Apart from these items, the expenditure shows a tendency to rapid expansion. The charges for interest are annually increasing; education, defence, the Post and Telegraph Department, railways and other branches of the public service are growing in costliness with the in-

crease of population. Eeferring to the report of the Royal Commission on Education, the Treasurer expresses the opinion that next year he may be able to give effect to their recommendation of a capitation on the basis of £4 2/6, but the appropriation of £4 will involve an expenditure of £18,200 in excess of the amount voted last year. For technical education it is expected that the payments this year will amount to £14,000 or £15,000 exclusive of £10,000 or £12,----000 for buildings and apparatus. Old age pensions require an appropriation of £215,000, being an increase of £17,----708 over the sum voted last year. The Treasurer stated his belief that in connection with pension claims imposition is practiced, and evasion of the law to some extent prevails.

Dealing with the Public Woi*ks Fund, the Treasurer counsels moderation, especially in view of the stringency of the money market. He considers that the North Island Trunk railway is a work of national importance, demanding special provision, but details respecting the appropriations from this fund will not, of course, be forthcoming until the Minister of Public Works submits his statement. The expenditure provided for, however, is nearly £150,000 in excess of that incurred last year. Power will be asked to raise a loan of

one million pounds sterling; half-a-million will be transferred from the Consolidated Fund, and there remains unraised £800,000 under the loan authorisations of last session. These sums, with the balance at the end of March 31st, give a total of £2,531,515; out of which it is proposed to expend £1,950,000 during the year, leaving a balance to credit of £581,515. The Budget, happily, we think, does not contain any startling proposals. Power will be asked to start a State coal mine, but in view of the fact that the Government use 100,000 tons of coal every year on the railways, and are tlie owners of coalbearing lands, this project is justified, provided that it is kept within the limits indicated by the Treasurer, and does not signify an intention to embark generally in destructive competition with private enterprise throughout the colony. From the admission of failure in connection with the working of the Crown Tenants' Rebate of Rents Act of last session, we may hope that the disposition to bribe Crown tenants who have virtually acquired freeholds on terms most favourable to themselves has undergone considerable modification. It is undoubtedly better to make the conditions on which bush lands are offered for lease easy at the outset than to yield to pressure from the great body of Crown tenants after they have gained possession of the public lands. We believe that it would be sound policy to make free grants of portions of the Crown estate, subject to improvement conditions, in order to secure beneficial occupation. While such large sums are being spent to secure closer settlement on improved estates, more vigorous efforts should be made to settle the vast tracts of land which are now the property of the Crown, and in some cases money might be advantageously spent in preparing these estates beforehand for occupation. Disappointment will be felt by mortgagees that the Treasurer Iras not seen his way to reduce a tax which he acknowledges to be excessive, but it is satisfactory to know that the revenue has proved so buoyant that the large remissions made last session have not seriously disturbed the finance of the colony, and that a greatly enlarged expenditure can be amply provided for without imposing any additional burdens on the people.