"THE" COUNTRY'S FINANCES.

Press, Volume L, Issue 14956, 1 May 1914, Page 3

"THE" COUNTRY'S FINANCES.

j PROSPERITY AND PROGRESS. ! ' MILITARY MATTERS. j The Hon. James Alloa, Minister of i Finance, Defence, and Education, arrived in Christchurch last. from tho south. Speaking to a representative of 'The | Press," he t,aid that there was nothing J in the political situation just at present to call for special remark. He had great pleasure in sayinc; that the coarrtrj-'s finances wero in a very good state just at present. Thb revenuo for the past year exceeded that of tho previous year by £495,000, and the surplus was no less tha.n £'-127,01)0. Thic was a gratifying .statement to bo able to.make, and tne more so as ho felt that the figures.ho had given were calculated on a thoroughly sound basis, and in this respect- the surplus might ! be said 10 be the roundest surplus the j country had cvr«r had. Every item in I tho revenue showed an increase, except j the territorial revenue, and this was £64,000 short, but the reason for this ' \>;j.s that the present Government had ' transferred the cash from tho land ! sales to the [.and for Settlement i account, and had not added it- to the ! rovenue, as had been done before. He ! thought the Government's way was the j sounder of tho two; but if ho had | added it to the revenue it would have l shown a £30,000 increase, instead of I t-hf decrease mentioned. I He attributed tho satisfactory stale iof affairs to tho general prosperity of ' tho country, and the good government j it, was under. Considering the disad- : vantages which they had laboured i unckAvith the strike and the small- ' pox eoidemic, he thought they woulu j coneratulate themselves on the present ; position. ! " Mr Allen, referring to military mat- ' tors, said he was very pleased at the : wav tho parades for General Hamilton : had been "carried out. There had been ' minor mistakes in drill and thmes ot '■ that sort, of course, but he was bound ;to say that the general arrangements ' wero'verv :rood. and had been carried i out without a hitch. Personally, he felt that the military training given to the youth of New Zealand was doing them good. He had seen the Dunedin troops when narnded for Lord Kitchener, and he had been the'men march into Ma-tarao camp yesterday, after a hard clay's -work, and ho was certain that ho noticed a very marked improvement in the general ohysique ot the men as compared wjth the time when Lord Kitchener was here. All the arrangements of the Matarae camp had been carried out splendidly.