PUBLICATION OF REVENUE RETUENS.

Evening Post, Volume XLVIII, Issue 53, 31 August 1894, Page 2

PUBLICATION OF REVENUE RETUENS.

¦ ? When the Colonial Treasurer was pressed yesterday for information regarding the revenue, and it was complained that the present Government had departed from previous custom regarding the publication of Customs returns monthly, Mr. Ward retorted that it was not desirable to give financial information piecemeal. As a kind of reductio ad abturdum argument, he said if returns were given monthly they might be asked for weekly. Mr. Ward was apparently horrified at snoh an idea, but a more experienced politician and a sounder Liberal th»n he is has adopted the praotice of publishing detailed returns of the full revenue every week. In a recent address to his constituents the New South Wales Premier, Mr. Reid, contended that Ministers had no right to pretend to secrecy regarding a matter in whioh every taxpayer had so vital an interest as_ the revenue of the country, and he promised his constituents that weekly statements of the public acoonnts should be published, so that " every week in the public press of the oolony yon shall know as much as I know." The first of these weekly retnrns appears in the Sydney papers of the 22nd inst. It shows in detail under every head the reoeipts this year and in 1893 for the week ended the 18th inst., and for the r'iod from Ist January to the same date, similar return will, Mr. Reid promises, "in future be published every week. It " would," he added, " be idle to publish the " amount of expenditure every week ; the " weekly amounts fluctuate so much, and " cannot individually be taken as a oriterion. " Bat it is proposed to publish a monthly " return of expenditure, whioh will sbowthe " state of things pretty clearly. It will show how mnoh has been spent during the " month on account of the services of 1893 " and previous years, how much on aoconnt of the services of the present year as " voted, and how muoh in anticipation of if Parliamentary sanction. Then similar in- " formation will be given in the same return " for the whole year, Tip to and inclusive of " the month in question, and the amount "of the year's votes left unexpended. " It is thought that this information will

enable any person who takes an interest I in the public finances to see the rate of expenditure^ and to what extenfmoney is being spent in exccEß of provision made by (i Parliament. The figures, of course, will i( never show the facts to absolute accuracy, it because there is sometimes more expendi* ( tare in one month than in another; but they will give as good an idea as it is practicable to givo. Then the revenue return will enable the public to know pretty ej^ctly how the Treasury stands, and it i( will be possible for anyone who takes up .« S c reT _ enue a nd expenditure returns at the end of each month to contrast the v expectations of the Treasurer with the ( facts. It wa3 propoaed, Mr. Reid added, to moludo monthly returns of expenditure from loan and trust funds." Mr. Ward would do well to follow Mr. Reid's example. Ihe New South Wales Premier trnsts the • peoplo. The New Zealand Treasurer does not>

Our reports of the proceedings of Parliameut and tho City Council, and cf the annual meetiDg of the Star Boating Club, will be found on the fourth page. Among tho contents of to-morrow's suppls-mc-nt will be the following I— The Stolbn Baoillns, At the Front. Land in Baratonga, An Appeal to " Paddy Murphy " to Return to Lambton-quay, Superstitions About Marn,.a,ge?: i A Terribl ° Engine of War, Remarkable Strike at a Prison, Plain Talk to His Lordship, Rough on the Client, Feore in iiusiDOSSj Electric Dangers, The Biter Bit, Ready Retortß, News in Brief, Tit Bits, Wit and Humour, Ladies' Column, Temperance Column, Puz*le Column. Letters to the Editor, Ac.,&c. Up to to-day tho total number of criminal cases dealt with in the Magistrate's Court during the present year is 1596, as against 1511 cases in the corresponding period of last year. During _ the month ending to-day five petitions in bankruptcy have been filed "as against two in August last year. Tho total number since the lßt of January is 50. The draughts in the Cily Council Chamber last evening were so Before that tho Mayor gave permipsich to anyone in the room to don his hot. Several present were also obliged lo wear their overcoats. His Worship has promised to have covor3 made for tho venti« lators on the southern side of the building. Dr. Johnston, of Feilding, who has taken up seotlou 35, block 11, Apiti, wrote yesterday to the Land Board with reference" to .the deficient improvements on the land. His letter concluded: — "I shonld be very glad if you would recognise your position and leave me alone, as your correspondence worries and annoys me beyond measure. " The Board decided to take no notion for twelve months to compel him to effect the deficient improvements. Councillor Fraser is anxious that enquiries should be made by the City Council regarding the working of an apparatus in uso in Halifax, England, which burns up all the rubbish, consumes the fumos, and provides power for olectric light purposes, so as to ascertain whether the system can be applied to the Destructor in Clyde-quay. Councillor Penty stated at last night's meeting of tho Council that he had in his possession the information required. Tho Land Board has given permission to Mrs. Louisa Hancox, of Wellington, to withdraw her application for 400 acres of the Waimarino Block, and has also decided to refund her the deposit money. Mr. Justice Richmond delivered judgment this morning in the case of Locher v. Howlott and others, a cUim for the specific performance of a contraot in connection with the purchase of some land in the Mangaone Survey District, and damages. The defendant E. W. Gotch was ordered to transfer the property to tho plaintiff, K. Locher, on payment by him to the mortgagoe, N. C. Young, of the balance of the purchase money due by Lpoher to J. Hewlett. Costs were given against the defendants. If the money is not paid within three weeks judgment was ordered to go for the defendants. Mr. Treadwell received judgment for tho plaintiff, Mr. Hannen for the defendants Howlett and Touug, and Mr. Poynton for Gotch. Tho Australasian Branch of the Royal Humane Society has awarded a certificate of merit to Mr. J. D. Tripe, of the Wellington Branch of the Bank of New Zealand, for rescuing Mr. G. J. Famo from drowning near the Queen's Whaif on the 19th of February last. The certificate was presented at the annual meeting of the Star Boating Club, of which Mr. Tripe is a member, last evening, by Mr. Edward Pearoe, President of the Club, who in doing bo said that it did tho recipient honour to have deserved the distinction, and he hoped others ou similar occasion would emulate his excellent example. The certificate was presented to the club through His Excellency the Governor, who through his Private Secretary wrote that ho was pleased to hear of Mr. Tripe's bravery. Mr. Tripe received the certificate amidst loud cheering from his fellow clubmen. The Stipendiary Magistrate yesterday afternoon gave judgment in the Magistrate's Court for plaintiffs in the following civil oases :— G. W. Dutton v: H. Thomas, £1 Is 6d ; W. J. Scott v. J. M. Cleland, claim .£B3, judgment for 10s ; City Corporation v. Mrs. Standen, jE6 8s 4d ; F. Terreni v. S. Mason, .£8 Is 3d ; R. Hudßon & Co. v. G. Bradley, 1 .£4 17s ; G. King v. J. Ashton, 12s. The plaintiff in tho case of B. L. Atkinson v. it-a. ill Angi «¦ claim for JES 6s, was nonsuited. . "* Before the ordinary business o£ the City Council waß proceeded with .yesterday evening, the Mayor announced that the Drainage Bill had passed through all its stages, and would becomo law as soon as the Governor's assent had been given. He thought the Counoil was to be congratulated wpoh tho snceeßS whioh had attended the Bill, ln'ispito of the opposition to the measure. The opponents claimed that they had been able to securo great advantages for the ratepayers, but a carefnl study of the Bill as introduced by the Council and as finally passed would show that the result of the amendments wore more in the direction of agreeing with the original intention of the Council than otherwise. He could safely say that it was the intention of the Counoil to exercise the powers given to it by tho Drainage Act for the benefit of the oity generally. It was not the intention of the Counoil to deal hardly or harshly with any ratepayer, but if any special reason arose for severe treatment then the Counoil would not fall short of its duty. He only hoped that tho ratepayers generally would receive the Drainage Apt in tho spirit in whioh it was promoted— it was promoted for the welfare of the City of Wellington. (Hear, hear.) In reply to Councillor Petheriok, whs asked if there was much difference between the original Bill and the Bill whioh had passed, his Worship said that tho rate of interest had been reduced from 6 to 5 per cent., and tho term for payment by instalments had been extended from six to ten years. On the other hand, it was optional for the Council to allow the payments to be made by instalment or not. As originally promoted the instalments were compulsory. - Another alteration was that the Counoil could not borrow more than .£25,000. On the motion of the Mayor, seconded by Counoillor Harcourt, a vote of thanks was passed to the Hon. Dr. Grace and Mr. Duthie, M.H.R., who had charge of the Bill in Parliament, and to Sir R. Stout and Mr. H. D. Bell, M.H.R.'s, for assisting its passage. A complete plant for the utilisation of the by-products arising from the slaughtering of Bheep and cattle was sent to Sydney per s.s. Hanroto by Messrs. W. Cable and Co., to the order of the Young and Districts Chilled Meat Co. Hitherto the entrails, blood, &c, of the slaughtered beasts have been either thrown away, or very orudely and expensively treated for manure, but by means of the machinery manufactured by Messrs. W. Cable and Co. the whole of this offal is to be converted into a manure powder as fine as dust in less than two Sours from the time the killing- takes place. The plant consists of a huge steam-jacketed dryer, 30 feet ldng, and weighing over 10 tons. Into this all the offalWs to be thrown by means of an ingenious and automatia feeding arrangement, and delivered out at one end thoroughly desiooated. It will afterwards be automatically" riddled, disintegrated, Borted, and bagged. The whole process is so simple and efficacious that a man and a boy oan operate upon the offal from 2000 sheep per day with very little difficulty. In addition to the above, Messrs. W. Cable and Co. shipped one of their compound tandem condensing engines, of 55 i.h.p., to drive the manure plant. It speaks well for the enterprise of the Wellington, firm that it is capable of manufacturing and supplying the sister colonies with such high-blasa machinery. The firm has snpplied the Belfast Freezing Works, Canterbury, with a similar plant, and is also manufacturing one for the Wellington Meat Export Co. The weekly meeting of the Wesleyan Literary and Debating Society was held in the Taranaki-street class-room last evening, tho Rev. W Baumber in the chair. A debate on " Our Educational System— is it on tho whole satisfactory P" took place, Mr. J. H. Haslam leading in the affirmative, and Mr. T. D. Kendall in the negative. On the vote being taken it was decided that the present educational system was not satisfactory. Next Thursday's meeting will be devoted to elooution. St. John's Burlesque Company produced the nautical burlesque " Black-eyed Susan " for the first time in the Opera House last evening. The names of the characters in the burlesque are the same as thoße in the original play, but there all attempt at similitude ends. However, there is» a lot of fun in the burlesque, in numerous songs and dances of one description or another, and as the audience laughed heartily at the absurdity of many of the situations, the presumption is that the performance gave them satisfaction. Miss Florrie St. Claire was a natty Susan, and Miss Ada Lempriere a eauoy William, whilst Mr. T. C. Callaghan was a capital Dame Hatley— this trio keeping the piece moving all the time. They were enoored frequently for their songs and breakdowns. The Connor Bros, gave a clever tumbling act, and were loudly applauded. The burlesque will be repeated to-night, and to-morrow afternoon "Aladdin" will be played for the behoof of country settlers and I ohildren. The Procession Committee in connection with the Eight Houtb Demonstration met last night in the Trades Hall, Mr. A. Collinß being in the chair. It was resolved to advise the General Committee to allot prizes for an industrial display by private firms, a trades display along the line of march, a display for advertising purposes by private firms, and also prizes for the best tandem team, the best-dressed pair of horses, and the beßt butchers' and bakers' carts. We ate indebted to Mr. W. Jupp for a paokage of the seed of the mammoth radishes grown by his brother at Taranaki, one of whioh was on exhibition in the city a few .months ago. Eatable radishes of this kind weighing as muol^as 91b have been grown in Taranaki. The Walter Bentley Dramatic Company's season in Wellington opena at the Opera House on Monday evening. His Excellency the Governor will be present at Wednesday's performance.

It is the intention of Councillor Levoi to move an follows at the next meeting of the City Counoil : — "That the second schedule of Vehicles Amendment By - law, 1890, referring to direction of horses' heads whilst on stand, be altered, and to read in future — That the direction of horses' heads shall be the reverse side to where the wind is blowing from, or the railway." The Secretary of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce favours ns with statistics of the imports of flour and wheat for the last two years, which are interesting at the present juncture, and show the trade to have been remarkably small. The details are as follows :— Flour — 1892 : From Victoria, 140 centals ; South Auskalfaj 70 dentals; Hong Kong, 2 dentals. 1893 : Victoria, 102 cental ■< ; other places, 7 centals. Wheat- 1892: United Kingdom, 22 centals ; New South Wales, 7 centals ; Bengal, 10 centals. 1893 : United Kingdom, 5 centals ; United States, i cental. Total, 365J centals, or about 16 ton6— say 2 tons wheat and 14 tons flour- in the two years. This year, on ing- to shortage in the local harvest, it is understood that more importing is being done. Messrs. J. Nathan and 3. P. O'Meara, Jnstices, presided in the Magistrate's Court to-day. Two fixbkoffending inebriates were fined. Three small well-clad lads named Thos.- Green, Ernest Uoodger, and Sydney Smith pleaded Guilty to the larceny of a number of small articles from the stores of the D.1.C.; valued at 15b. Inspector Pender informed tho Bench that the police found the stolen articles Bedreted. Mr. Hulke, headmaster of Newtown School, gave the boys excellent characters, both in and out of school. The delinquents, received a lecture on the enormity of their crime, and were discharged on Mr. Hulke undertaking to give them a sound thrashing. Benjamin Winoh and Thos. Daws were complained of for having driven their vehicles fast round street-corners. Winch was ordered to pay the cost of the casd, whilst Daws was fined 5a and 7s costs. William Laming, a young lad, charged with throwing stones to the danger of Eliza Paki, was cautioned and discharged. Francis Cullura. first officer of the barque Asset, charged on remand with attempting to commit suicide last Friday by firing a revolver, a ball of which grazed his left side, waa discharged, no evidence being offered. W. H. Smith and Thos. Pell were proceeded against by Corporation Inspector Doylo for leaving their express waggons unattended longer 'than was necessary. The defendants were cautioned and dismissed. A meeting of the Committee of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was held yesterday afternoon, Mr. J. G. W. Aitkon being in the obair. The Inspector reported that the following cases had been enquired into since the last meeting s— Two of cruelly handling poultry in transit, three of working horses with bad.soreß, two of oruelly beating and one of kicking at horses, and one of keeping a cow in a poor condition. It was decided that the Inspeotor should again interview the City Council on the subject of overloading drays end the unmerciful beating of horses on steep gradients. It was reported by the Secretary that the proposal of the Society to have fixed stopping-places for tram-cars and omnibuses at the town side of the Basin Reserve had practically been agreed to. Mr C. H. Black's resignation as Hon. Treasurer was received with regret, and the thanks of the Souiety for his past services were passed to him. It was decided to ask Mr. John Duthie) jun., to accept the office. Mr. A. S. Patersori, with Mr. Mao Duff Boyd and other ladies and gentlemen who assisted him at his late lecture, also received a vote of thanks for their services. The Asylum authorities desire to thank Mr. W. Jupp and the members of his band for the entertainment givon by them the other evening. At this week's meeting of the Onslow Borough Council (Councillor Dormer in tho chair), a deputation of Wadestown residents asked for assistance in metalling a portion of Wade-street, whioh has been formed and drain pipes laid down by the residents. Tho Council granted £5. Several ratepayers who complained that their properties were too highly valued, were informed that the time was past for making objections, and tho valuations must remain as they were until next assessment. A letter was read from Mr. Eowe, asking the Connoil to repair the portion of Crescent-road, Khandallah, running past Wb property. It was decided that when this portion of the road was formed and metalled, as had been done with the other part of Crescent-road, the Counoil would take it over and keep it in repair. Mr. Pollen wrote complaining of cattle straying on the road^ at Khandallah. The Clerk was instructed to give written instructions to the Roadman to impound all horses and cattle found straying on the roads. Accounts amounting to £97 7s 6d were passed for payment. The weekly session of the Star of Wellington Lodge, 1.0.G-T., was held in the Exchange Building last evening, Bro. Ansley, C.T., presiding. One new member was ad"mitted. The Harmony Committee carried ont a singing contest, which was decided in favour of Bro D. Robertson. The other competitors wero— Bros. Willacy and Martin and Sisters Biohards and Everitt On account of the open social entertainment next week, the Lodge adjourned for a fortnight. There was a numerous attendance in the Wesleyan ?ohoolroom, Thorndon, last ovening, when the Eev. J. Crewes lectured on " Keminisoenoes of Eminent Men." Several lantern portraits and other pictures were shown, the portraits and piotures of localinterest exciting enthusiastic applause. The illustrated looture on " New Guinea," announced to be given lnst night by the Rev. J. Watßon in the Petone Weßleyan Church, was unavoidably postponed, owing to the steamer by whioh the Rev. Watson was a passenger not arriving as expected. A fair number had attended, and in lieu of the lecture addresses were given by Rev. T. G. Corr, Messrs J. Jones, and T. 1,. Strand, whilo musical items were contributed, the Rev. T. G. Carr and Miss -Hollard acting as organists. The Criterion Vaudeville Company, which includes the Fredo Family of acrobats, begins its Wellington eeaeon to-morrow night at the Criterion Theatre, Manners-street. The manager promises to give away a oash prize evory night. The chorus and full orchestra of the Musioal Festival will meet this evening at 7.30 sharp. Job, E. Liudberg, the Cheap Draper, Cubastreet, presents our readers with an inset announcing a reduction of from 33 to 50 per cent, for the last seven days of his sale, and invites inspection. This week's Canterbury Times contains many articles of interest, in addition to a full supply of general news, and is altogether an excellent number. In these times of depression it is well to know where to get good boots cheap. A. Lindsay, of Lainbton-quay and Cuba-street, announces that he is forced to get rid of his large stock of boots und shoes, owinp to large shipments coming forward, and is holding a big sale for a month, everj line being reduced to the lowest. Attention is directed to the advertisement of the Metropolitan Permanent Building and Investment Society, which sets out the profitable indans of investment afforded by the Society's subscription shares. The Secretary informs us that over 150 new shares have been issued during the last six months. Our Wanted column contains an advertisement of genuine reductions in boots and shoes at B. Hannah and Co.'s boot stores to-morrow and following week. Jupp's Band has been engaged to play at the riding gallery in Willis-street to-morrow night, it being the last night. The management of the New Zealand Clothing Factory calls attention to the arrival of spring novelties, whioh have just been opened. In our auction columns will be found the preliminary announcement of an attractive sale of household furniture, the property of Mr. P. Nathan, which has been removed to Thomas' Hall, and will be sold next Thursday/ at 1.30 o'clock. Fuller particulars are promised in tomorrow's issue. The sale will he conducted by George Thomas and Co. Town<iend and Paul -will sell to-morrow, horses, &o. Fnncis Sidey and Co. will sell to-morrow, furniture, &c. A- G. Taint and Co. will sell io-mocrow, horses, 4c. ■ W. F. Shortt will sell to-morrow, jewellery, books, &c.