COUNTRY'S FINANCE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 102, 23 January 1908, Page 7

COUNTRY'S FINANCE.

« J—r ■■ INTERVIEW WITH THE PREMIER.

'REVENUE. INCREASE, £481,042,

-. FORECAST FOR THE YEAR.

The .Premier. (Sir Joseph Ward), in the course of an interview last ovening, gave a representative of : The Dominion sorao in-teresting-figures. rogardmg the financial position off New* Zealand. - ■■ ".Tho revenue of tho Dominion continues to ' display. wonderful elasticity," said Sir Joseph Ward, "as tho following Treasury ligures will show:— :."For., tho nino moliths onded December 31, 1907, • tho' receipts amounted to £6,307,102, 83 against £5,826,060 for.the corresponding period: of tho- previous year—an, increase of £481,042. h.. For tho increase, the railways Ventre sensible for £118,795; the Customs for. .£127,'405;. stamp?, etc., £120,605; and land tax'£69,888... . . • "On comparing the revonuo of the year with that,- of. 1906,- the. results are:—For twelve njonths ended December, 1907, £8,880,117, and,;:for: ,1906,' £8,196,776, an inc'reaEe ofi £683,341;T0 this increase the railways Contributed £221,130, Customs £152,071, stamps £152,034, and land tax £75,127." , . ■ COMPARATIVE FIGURES. Tho Premier then .supplied, the following tabulated details:— Revenue for. tho. year ending December 31, J907, a I compared with that for the year iended December 31, 1906:— . . . - . Yoar Tear . . , . ... 1907. , . 1906. Increase. £ £. .C. Consolidated Fund Ordinary-ireVehiiff:"' '• ' ; ' Customs ... 3,063,4-15 2,916,374 152,071 Stomps (including Post and. Tole- ; -graph-., cash re- ; ceipte) v. . 1,492 333 1,340,299 152,034 Land 'Tax ,f... .... 517,230 442,103 75,127 Income-Tas 278,883 254,816' 14,067 ■ Beer'. Duty. ... .... . 111,975 104,171 7804 Baihvaiye... . ... 2,740,191 2,519,061 221,130 Registration and other fees 118,082 117,370 712 Marine;- '-" ... ■ ... ,41,049 39,764 1285 Miscellaneous - • 234.765 ' 202,673 32,092 Territorial rovenue... 277,164 250,145 27,019 f - v ■ ■■■■■- • - ' - •; -Totals-*- :.. . .£8,880,117 X 8,193,776 .£683, ail , Sevenuo. for the nine months ended Decembor . ,31, compared with, that for the nine : Vmonths 31, 1906:— ' . •■v . :: ,• ■ Inc. -Dec. ' v ' • 9 months, 9 months, , ' 1907 1906 : Consolidated ... FiUid: Ordinary ■■■■ revenue: . ' Customs 2,274,081 2,146,676 ; 127,405 - Stamps,, (mclud- 1 cdtiiling' Post . and' Telegraph : " ■ (cashr.receipts)-1,109,32V 982,716 126,605 — Land" Tax, ■ - 498,566 . 428,678 ■ 69,888 — Income ~Tax ... 14,629 - 13,613 • 1016 — Beer.: Duty... 81,16S , 76,775 1 4393 - Railways r a ... 1,909,472 1,790,677 118,795 — Registration : /,".'an'd''other ! . . fees-....? ... 79,801 81,163 — 1362 Marine■ 29,493 29,310 158 — Miscellaneous ■ 134,017., 126,137, i .7880 — Territorial revenue -■ ... 176,549 150,285 26,264 — ' T'l. 482,404 v' ' Less. 1362 — <£6,307,102 ,£5,820,060 £481,042 A FORECAST. the first nine months of the yearhavo • now; elapsed,continued the Premier, "it»s really fcmoro'interesting;'to s forecast what tho : . : probable ;results ;.will ,b,e.i on, :!Ma,r.ch: 31, noxt : ,(thp.jojid,^p£-tie finapoial j;ear).jvTho estima...ted the year in the Budget was . set 'doirn 'at. Of this sum, ' "".£6,3p7;102 ,I hSs 'already been", received, /and I • in'adding'for the current quarter.: an ,'amount equal' to what was received for :; ; ,the.,':,March quarter of i.last' year, . viz., £2,573,614. This would, give U3 a total at ? tho .end of the financial yoar of or an increase.of '£650,116. And' ■. I'aiis^rqtty ; confidont that at the end of the financial". the, .increase will be even greater, than. that. I am probably justified m '.'putting ~'ifc ,-down - at from £70,000 to . £80,000. more." ' y ; ... V - V:i:|feViDESCE3'OF PROSPERITY.' therii..was ranarkablo J ;activity |alr oyer the country, and ho . proce'eded' r to''speak..of . the; obvious, evidencos .of .''.tne'j'jprpsperity of,.the, .country. In his about, the Dominion it was im-poMiWp'Mot.jto-sae:tbese evidences. "Tenor ' iwelvo . miles': out .'.of Wellington building operations are gqing .on, and in the city and subur.hs^tho^samo, activity is hoticeablo.'' In Auckland,'recontly lie found .just the . same thing!; occurring, and. in' Invercargill a few days ago, he was struck with similar activity. In Duncdiii 1 ho observed a large warehouse going up; 'and . tho Bank of Australasia, and thpi-tNow Zealand,, Express Company were erecting fine brick, buildings; Round about Diinedin, in ;every. direction, building was ,aiid sploiidid suburban houses wero j among the n'pw additions. .At ; Timaru, Ashburton, Oamaru, htj saw tho same thing. ( "Y6u only to jlook at a gathering of peoplo iu 'any portion of the country,", lie continued,; f'and you ;find all well dressed, and this:"is jliow qiiito a characteristic,.feature of the 'pebplo' or tho.Dominion, and has been for.'.a; number ,of, years. If thoy go to a gathering'of sports or races they havemonoy to .sp6nd,;.and aro sponding it. When you look , into; the avonues which tire , feeding the revenue of tho country you-i see tho indications- that account'for this extraordinary revenue." . .> 1 . V A, SOLID BASIS. . Ho that he r ivas not overpaintuig'.it when h« said,tha,t the country was in a'-remarkably satisfactory hnancial position.' It .fully . justified the confidence the people generally had in tho Dominion. It also emphasised' what ho had said in a general way beforo, ; yiz.—that in tho history of the country—at least Vjuring his public life — had they beon upon such a .solid basis as today... '..>J |, roiii; information'|he liad received, there,,was ,no: causp for tho fear that somo people had expressed as to the tightness of tho .money market, There was no scarcity the Dominion, and, in addition, he had .for some-weeks recoivcd information from ;high; influential quarters in tho Old Country -thnt they did not expect, even in .tho.-,face of American financial troubles, .thatjimpney would continue to bo tight or dearj in' London for any Ipngth of time. ■ His advice was that after March 31 it 'was expected money would bo plentiful, and that''tho rates pf interest would be very much .lower than now. ."Trade-lS good," concluded Sir Joseph ,Ward,~ 'and the financial position of the country is good. There we have it! Wo hkvo all the money for the services of the ■ country u janJ have had for somo time. In there is nothing whatever to justify (people in attempting to create a contrary jpiprossion, though I am as cognisant as, an'yppe of the importance of the Govern-1 ment of;a country looking ahead and exercising carefulness. And that policy has been steadpy-pursued by tho Government as far as thev financial requirements and the position df the Dominion itself are concerned." '"•Mr?- THE' MONEY MARKET, lfl' support of his statoment regarding tho ■ , condition of the, money market in New Zealand, , the Premier also submitted to a reporter: last'night cables that had passed between' himself and a large business house ; in' : Australia. The cable from the lattor, re--ceived? 011' January 14, was as follows:— ''■Are:you open to'recoivo largo sums 4 per cent/ debentures, par, payable and ropayaolo Sydney or Melbourne?, Interest payable at ejther place." The'same day tho reply was sent by the ; 3 jTremier:— I "Sorry cannot do business. Doing "j.'* vpry;much better." , ' The- firm' had written under later date that a fair amount of trust money was floating ahoiit .in Australia; and trustees no doubt 'had.;gome difficulty in finding gilt-edged security, "being forced to take less than 4 per coat, at tho present moment.