"POOR JOHN BUIX."

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVII, Issue 262, 9 November 1906, Page 2

"POOR JOHN BUIX."

According to his candid friends, John Bull has been in a bad way for many years, but someho-w he contrives to continue, existing, and in spite of bad trade and all the rest of it his income appears to be steadily increasing, whilst his appetite for liquid refreshment of the alcoholic variety diminishes steadily year by yea.r.

"Drink, we are told, is at the bottom of our "national decadence." If that is so, there are grounds for hoping that befoie many years have elapsed we shall cease to "decay" from this cause at any rate. In the case of beer, for instance, there has been a continuous decline in consumption since the opening of the present century, in spite of the rise in populatiop. We consumed 'over 36. million barrels of beer in the year 1899----1900, the consumption per head being rather over 32.-J gallons per annum. The quantity has steadily fallen till in the financial year ended last April only 33* million barrels were drunk, and the average per head had fallen to under 28 gallons.

There has also been a steady decline in spirit consumption. In 1902-3 the amount of spirits drunk represented rather, more than a gallon per head of population, whereas in the year 1905-6 the consumption fell to three-quarters of a gallon per head. The great growth in the aggregate wealth of the nation is shown by the income-tax returns. In 1905-6 incometax was paid on the enormous total pf £ 624,000,000, which compares with £487,958,880 ten years ago. The figures relating to the gross income brought under the review of the Department in 1905t6 are not yet available, but in 1904----5 the total was £912,129,680, as compared with £677,769,850 nine yeais before. From these gross totals, of course, there are large deductions allowed, but they are eloquent of the increase in the national wealth.

Though the ngures for last year are not yet available, it is shown that of the total amount of income-tax collected in 1904-5, viz., £30,966,404, 59 per cent., or appreciably more than half, came from "Profits from businesses, concerns, professions, employments," etc "Ownership of lands, houses," etc., contributed 25.4 per cent.; "Occupation of land/ 0.7 per cent.; "Government securities," 6.7 per cent; and "Salaries of Government) Co-operative and Public Company officials," 8.2 per cent.

Some railway figures may not come amiss whilst we are dabbling with millions, and the brain of the reader is more or less in trim to take in six to ten figure totals. . According to the Board of Trade returns for 1905 by the end of last year nearly f 1,283,000,000 was invested in railways in the United Kingdom—l 4* millions more thsyn in the preceding year. Exclusive of receipts from miscellaneous sources,, the railways had a revenue of over £105,000,000 in 'fares, while first and second class" yielded less than seven ___. lions. Some idea of the amount of

.I. - ■ travelling done in the country, may be gained, from th<£ fact that the number of passengers carried ,by the railways last year amoxinted- exclusive of season ticket-holders, •• to 1,199,022,000. .The . railways earnod '£56,412,000 in the- carriage of goodsv—£ 1,012,000 more than in the previous -year—and among them t_ey \ conveyed 35'_jOOO>0©0 tons of minerals and 103 m/ilion tons of general merchandise, the' total of both showing an increase of 2_ per cent. The working expenses pi the companies last year amounted to over £70,000,000, the 15 principal ! companies spending nearly 000,000 cm coal and coke alone. .

Signs of John Bull's decadence are not readily discovered in the Blue Books of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue and the Board of Trade returns quoted, at ai_y rate.