The Clutha Leader. BALCLUTHA: FRIDAY, JULY 27, 1894.

Clutha Leader, Volume XXI, Issue 1044, 27 July 1894, Page 5

The Clutha Leader. BALCLUTHA: FRIDAY, JULY 27, 1894.

A very significant comment on the Treasurer's claims of surpluses, the repletion of the Treasury, and tho general prosperity, is to l»o found in the Land Tax Bill introduced by Mr "Ward ana forced through all its stages on Wednesday night. Under this bill the tax will be payable in August instead of December as hitherto, and, as the Treasurer explained, it is absolutely necessary that the tax should be collected thus early in order to provide funds for the payment of L 600,000 interest due in London at the end of October. Thus the settlers will have to pay land tax twice within 8 months in order to meet the dire necessities of the Treasury. And this too in a year of the most severe depression over experienced in the Colony. The bill was very strongly opposed in the House, and it is ?. strange circumstance that not one Government supporter attempted to reply or uttered a word in support of the bill. They simply, at the command of the whip, recorded their votes in favour of a measure which compels the settlers of the country to pay the land tax twice ovpr within twelve months. This should tend to open the eyes of some to both the political and financial state of affairs at Wellington. &~ There has not yet been timr> for a careful examination of the Financial Statement delivered by the Colonial Treasurer on Tuesday evening. It needs no careful examination, however, to sec that the statement is a very bold one. Sir Julius Vogei was considered a very bold and a very rash financier, when he proposed that the Colony should borrow L 10,000,000, its expenditure to rxtend over 10 years, or at the rate of L 1,000,000 a year. This proposal, however, sinks into insignificance compared with the proposals of tho Hon. Mr Ward, which, if given effect to, will this year increase the responsibilities of the country by about LG,000,000. Ministers have all along declared their policy to be a policy of non-borrowing, and yet during the past year they have succeeded in increasing the public debt of the Culony by L 730,000, and the floating debt ,by means of new deficiency bills by L 117,000, making a total increased indebtedness for the year of L 847,000 — a sum very nearly equal to Sir Julius Voxel's million n year. Or the money to be horrowed there is a sum of L 1,500,000, 500,000 to be applied in aid of the settlers. Such a scheme has long been ndvocated ; the present proposal will be. popular in many quarters, and if it should be agreed to and carried out with due care may prove of great advantage to the country. But there are certainly many dangers connected with the scheme that require to bs very carefully guarded against. For example it is to be carried out under a lending board to be appointed by the Government. To judge by numerous precedents Ministers will reward their followers by appointments to the board, with the result that "only the right colour need apply." Should this state of matters eventuate then the scheme will prove an utter failure and disastrous to the ratepayers. Should a nonpolitical and throughly efficient board be appointed it may prove, a success. There are other dangers and difficulties, but these we cannot refer to now. — Anothpr of the budget proposals is to raise L 1,000,000, 000,000 on colonial consols. The bonds will be for L 5, and the interest not exceeding 4 per cent. Should this scheme succeed it may seriously interfere with the deposits of the ordinary banking institution?. But as these banks pay at the rate of 4^ or 5 per cent, we expect those who have been frugal and have hoarded up some savings will prefer to add to their savings the most they can procure in the way of interest. There seems therefore every probability that the consols scheme will be a slow acting one, and that some time will elapse !>efore thp Treasury funds will be much augmented in this way. — We have no doubt that the budget proposals will be highly popular with a large section of the community, who will rejoice over the prospect of a temporary boom whatever may be the ultimate consequences to the permanent settlers of the country. Although some of these proposals will be vigorously opposed by a number of independent members of Parliament they will of course have the support of the dovernm^nt followers, and these are more than sufficiently numerous to carry all before them. We may therelore take for granted that the Trea-

surer's Financial Statement will lie approved \>y the House. A mild, fictitious boom may result,l>ut thoughtful people will ask— how long will it last and when it vanishes, what then 1