THE FINANCIAL CONDITION OF THE COLONY.

Press, Volume XXI, Issue 2399, 14 April 1873, Page 3

THE FINANCIAL CONDITION OF THE COLONY.

£From the •• Evening Post."] : The "Gazette " just issued contains statemerits of the Treasury accounts for the finaAcml^b^r^, , 1572. We observe in them the same absence' V § clear and [intelligible baethod which has eff so of, remark.Jt is possible "tor' anyordinary student of public accounts to extract I: from ;;! them a* ' distltM••-»vSew ' of. the state : - of • the public '■ flnaseess j Some results may, however, be arrived at, i which are worth the. attention of our readers. Mr Vogel'* estimate of the ordinary revenue df the coiony for the current year was as follows :— v v i_.....--<.*■-- --v>-- : " Customs —including * Customs:i'k..i J/V.VS <"«V. v... £820,000 ! Bonded stores 4250 ! Fees unde? Marina'Act&j kc< : ~i.>y. io,ooo Stamp Duties 80,000 Poßtal..v':- ::; .+.,•;;:>., ~. V-A. r 50,000, Telegraphic j.,., ..,: ■ ... >~ ... '. ,33,000, Judicial]fees^and•'fines ... ; ■ ... _32,00P . Fees on registration of land ... 9000 Do v do V. v 7,..._ .i 13,500 Do ' do,. births,. &C..,. 300Q Feesbn IsSueof Cfown *"8500 ailscellaneous ... ~.. . ... 2750 .„■ j ;.;■. : ;.%;" , IO^pOQ... I __ £i,ore,boo : ' The actual .receipts for the, respective qT©TteTB, September and /DecebiVer, are as . fbHowal— v; '. ";.^'^ :i " i .-;'"' ;-■""■ '■■'■] ■.»•.„- . > Sept. v Dec. Total. Customs ... £202,925 £181,7 52 Stamps v.-.-;'t -18,394 16,072,- 34,466 iostai ' *::; " 11,754 ' 16,493 22,247 _tfe*rt9*'".ii" J - J '' 1 MB4' 8867 18.301 Judicial ... 7824 5854 13,678 , . r , ! and other - !: - I-- • t fees ... 7590 5912 13.502 Incidental r.T 4542 7089 ; Total ... £493,958 ' Assuming tHrevSaUereceipteto,continue at the "same'vr-te remainder of ihe financiaryear ,(an% We sanguine as to more faTorable rraults), the total ordinary revenue will amount ; only to £987,916, beihg r £BB,Qb% short ! bf Mr VdgeTs estitnate. We are, heterthtelesa,' struct With the statement in the tnat on the 28th DeiembeTtbeire were standing to the credit of tbe Oohsblidatodfund the f6llovnng balances, viz :-H .■"..''': v ' ' ,; ' ';". "' '""'.. Iri the public account x>f the 'coloiry ... ... ... £64,673 2 4 And in the 2tfeW Zealand • Public. Account Fund 5 ;.. 102,056 0 .10 | Total apparent balance to tbe credit of the Consolidated Fund ..V "■.'.'. 166,729 3 2 At first sight this seems to be a reassuring fact.:' But examination leads us to an unsatisfactory conclusion., ~ How, as to tbe payment' ; 6f interest on our loans? The total amount chargeable against the Consolidated Fund. foV'interest" during the year ending 30th Juufe; 1 1873,' is aHollows :— Colonial *.■.■ i ...£301,559 2 5 Provincial... ... 187,982 0 0 (See printed estimate). Properfcion chargeable to ©on- ■ ■- ' i BnUdfttpd —Fund- (aa-pet Financial Statement, see p. 20) ot interest on Public Works Loan £21,500 0 0 ' £511,041 2 6 , Of this amqup*. balf» £255,520, must be reckoned as falling due (at all events, must --be as oa the" half year's revenue ending December last. But on looking at tbe accounts now gazetted, tbe only -mounts debited to the Consolidated Fund in respect of interest for the current year, are as follows:— In "the September quarter £488 In the December quarter ~. ••- 37,746 38,234 Leaving : a balance of interest chargeable to the current halfyear to be brought to account, which t seems to have -. been overlooked, of 21/,286 This calculation includes the proportion of interest chargeable against the provinces, which is in the first instance paid by the ; colony, and carried to the debit of the pro- »: vinces in account with their capitation ! allowance. But of the capitation allowance amounting to £208,561, we see nothing in the accounts before us, except a i Payment to Provinces ... £780 8s 4d r It is evident that tbe provincial capita- , tion is eshausted ia taaking provision for

the provincial interest, and, is therefore omitted (improperly, as we think) from the account. In order to obtain an accurate view of the state of the Consolidated Fund, it is necessary to look at the expenditure authorised by the Appropriation Act, and to see how fat the appropriations tally with the actual expenditure. The total expenditure authorised by the Appropriation Act under classes 1 to 8 (excluding liabilities and engagements) was £399,924, of which we may reckon one-half, viz, £199,962, as chargeable against the last half-year's revenue. Experience has shown that the actual expenditure is, as a rule, in excess of the appropriations. In the accounts before us, the actual expenditure nnder the head of Appropriations ia— September quarter £63,822 December quarter .... ... ... 94.924 Total ... ... 158,746 There remained, therefore, at the end of the year, unsatisfied liabilities on account of appropriations, amounting to at least 41,216 * £199,962 It is evident that some such balance of liabilities must have remained unsatisfied on tbe 28th December, and which will, of course, appear in the next account. Instead, therefore, of the balance of £166,729 3s 2d apparently standing to the Credit of the Consolidated Fund on the 28th December last, the true state of the account will be found to be -somewhat as follows :-- ' . v r Cr-r-Apparent balances as above #166,729 Dr—-To interest charge- : to be brought to account ... ...217,286 To outstanding liabilities on account of ap- * z proprjations *.. : : ... 41.216 285,502 . Leaving the Consolidated Fund, Dr... 91,773 258,502 To this must be added the amount chargeable this year against the Consolidated Fund for redemption of treasury bills, £46,000, half of which at least ought to have been provided out of the last half-year's revenue, making a total apparent deficit on the consolidated fund for the half year ending December last, of £114,273. We note further on the expenditure side of the account the following discrepancies : Mr Vogel, in his financial statement, gave particulars of outstanding liabilities and engagements at the end of the year 71-72, amounting to £236,909 6s, viz. - Interest and sinking fund ... ...£109,369 Reserve fund... 14,540 Miscellaneous services ... ... 13,000 Deficiency Bill ... ... ... 100,000 £236,009 ;In the account before us we find, under the head of Liabilities and Engagements of 1871 and 1872, In the September quarter £40.132 Do Deficiency Bill and overdraft... 100,000 lb the December quarter ... ... 139,430 , - ... , r £179,562 From which it would appear that the liabilities and engagements for the year 1871 and 1872, already paid, exceed Mr VogePs estimated amount by upwards of £43,000. It is probable that further liabilities on this account are outstanding. Turning to another point. The subject of imprests is one which has occupied the attention of every colonial financier. An imprest is an advance by the Treasury to some officer or/accountant (who holds the money under liability to account for it), but for which, as yet, no account has been finally passed. Under this head an indefinite amount of waste and loss (perhaps worse) may lie hid, and it haa been the ayowed object of every Treasurer to get rid of, or at all events minimize, this branch of the public expenditure.; No. one. has professed himself more earnest' iri this work than the present, dolbnial Treasurer. Changes have been made in the system of payment from the IJreasury expressly with the view of promoting this desirable result. But in the present accounts we are startled at the amount to which, the imprest expenditure has grown. " " j The total imprests outstanding on the 28th December, 1872, amounted to no less a sum them.4292,205 ; on the 30th June preceding, the amount was £67,522. The enormous growth of~impres_rduring~the last half-year demands explanation. . j The money raised under the Defence Loan Act appears to be all but exhausted. The ~amounts received during the September and and December quarters were as follows : — September .....;; ......... £160,737 December ..." 17,000 | '""* ' £177,737 ~ The amounts paid are as ' j follows : — ..■--_ September ... 101,587 December:.'..; 11....; .'."...'i 44,570 :. T — 146,157 . £31580 ; But against this apparent .balance it is evident that there are outstanding tiesTheL Defence expenditure for which proVision was made by the Appropriation Act amounted' to £ 150,000, of which one-half woirid be payable'within the last half-year, viz, £75,000. The actual expenditure included in -the accounts before us is as follows :— September ...... £19,711 December ... 41,722 ! V-2 -"-■■:..• ' ' : r 61)433 Leaving Outstanding liabilities under i the Appropriation Act 13,567 75,000 A balance not exceeding £18,000 would thus appear to be all which remains put of the defence loan money already raised available for carrying, on current expenditure. As regards the Public Works and Immif ration Loan Account, it would be idle to ttempt to ascertain its real position from the accounts before us. There seeme to be a ' cash balance in hand of £547,348, but against this are to be set the various liabilities under railway contracts, &c,' which are or will within the ensuing half-year become chargeable against this fund. Nothing seem to have been charged againt this account for interest payable nnder the Appropriation Act at the rate of £120,000 or on account of Read Boards at the rate of £50,000 a year. These charges, will no donbt, come to account at the end of the financial year. As a general remark, we would Observe that it is much to be regretted that in presenting a view of the public accounts to the end of the year, the Treasury should have omitted to furnish ns with a simple and intelligible balance sheet, such as ordinary men of business are in tbe habit of compiling 60 as to represent tbe true condition of their affairs. Such a statement would have greatly resisted the General Assembly in dealing with the public finances in the ensu- <• ing session. The duty *of compiling such a statement may, we think, be f iarly imposed on the Audit and Control Department.

As a warning to Shakespearian murderers we extract the following from a London contemporary :—" Mr Smith the celebrated Shakspearian open-air actor has come to grief through impersonating Macbeth in the classic regions of Canrobert street, Bethnal Green. Wildly brandishing a wooden sword f>nd shouting " Lay on Macduff, and damn'd be he that first cries hold, enough." His challenge was answered by a ruthless policeman, who, heedless of the dramatic unities bid the valiant general "Hold his row." True to himself and to the text, the tragedian struck an appropriate attitude of horror, and shouted to the constable " Approach thou like the rugged Russian bear, the armed rhinoceros or the Hyrcan t^ger; take any shape but that." Fate, however, in the shape of a police magistrate, ultimately rewarded Mr Smith's histrionic ability with a week's imprisonment.