BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.

Evening Star, Volume VII, Issue 1945, 30 July 1869, Page 2

BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.

(FROM ouk own correspondent.) Napier, Friday. News from Taupo states that the King will not countenance Te Kooti’s plans. The Arawa chiefs are in position at Puterangi, 150 strong. Heu Heu Ims fled from Te Kooti, and gone to live amongst Europeans,

THE BUDGET. Wellington, July 29th. Mr Vogel rose at half-past seven o’clock this evening, in Committee of Supply, to make t' c annual Financial Statement. He was received with loud cheers. He began by asking the indulgence of the Committee. He then commenced his statement by referring to the existing system of keeping the accounts under the Public Revenues Act. “ This system ” he said, “ lias been in force for two yews, and has proved a fai ure in everything except in the more ramd compiling ot the accounts. It d ies not properly regulite the imprests and advances, nor bring them into account in the year’s transactions. For example, in 18(58-9, in addition to the amounts vote : , and to L 40.000 gr«nted for Defence purposes by a special Order in ( ouncil, there were previous advances to the amount of LIB,OOO, and L 27 • 00 of unauthoiised expenditure. By the operation f the Pu lie Revenues Act, large sums spent during the ye,.r will appear by the accounts no f to have been spent. The system of control is a mere fa-re, The Contro ier releases large sums whch pass to the Paymaster-General, and may be employed as chance or design dictates. The present system

takes no effectual heed of liabilities. If the Assembly means to control the expenditure, it must insist upon liabilities in excess of the votes nob being incurred. The Government propose to forbid any liability being incn red without special authoiitv. Advances under imprest will be greatly limited, aud charged within the year. As ttie accounts have now been ordered to b made up, they wifi show all advanc 'S, and get rid of the great sha nof pretend'ng that money which has left the Treasury has >'ot been spent be s\ si em ■>f control will be amended. There will be no separate account of the Paymaster- -eneral. All payments will be out of one account, and wdl b > pre-a dited At present the Controller releas s tens of thousands of pounds without knowing for a long time what becomes of the money. The four brunches of the public account are merely nominal divisions. All stand at one account in the Bank, and the Controller aud C.e Treasury are not agreed as to how much belongs to each branch. If we want to overdraw on one of the accounts, we require the Bank manager to make a fictitious entry |to its credit. Changes will be proposed, enabling the House to judge when and ho v the appropriations are exceeded, and a Board of Audit will perform the duty of controlling the issues, aud auditing both the revenue and expenditure. The accounts of 1868-9 will compiise the expenditure brought to final charge, imprest advances, and liabilities contracted during the year. “Consolidation of Loans. The Imp"rial Government have consented to allow the Sinking funds to be invested in coloni *1 securities. as proposed by me in 18*57. Mr Fitzherbert neg-elated the full amount of LI, 114,000 under the Public Debts Act, and L 2,723,250 of Bonds were converted, of which L 1,400,850 w<-re Colonial, and L 1,322 ,400 Provincial. The present annual charge of interest and sinking fund of Consolidated Loan is L 179.220. According to the Crown Agent’s calculations the profit by the consolidation would be L 537.600 in 28 years, tne present value of which is L 137.000, less L 38.000 for expenses. According to my calculations, the profit is this : —The annual saving is Lll.oßl for 28 years, the present value of which is L1G5,000, less expenses The actual profit is, therefore, somewhere between L99,u00 and L 127.000, after paying the expenses of the consolidation, in addition to the impioved credit, a longer period for that loan, the introduction of a convenient system of redeeming the nebt, and the release of part of the ac umulating sinking funds. A sura of LSOOO was given to the Crown Agent as remune ation. The settlement of account with the Imperial Govemmei t, by mutual release, is due to the great patience and perseverance of Mr Fitzherbert “ Estim .ted Revenue of 1868-9. The Estimates < f last year were very accurate. The total revenue was estimated at Ll, 000,500, and the actual receipts amounted to L 1,005,933, as follows:—Customs, L 805.929; Bonded Warehous s, L4,GBG ; Stamps, L 60.042; Post Office, L 45,561 ; Telegraph. L 18,350 ; Miscellaneous, L71.3G3. The revenue from the telegraph shows an increase. New lines will shortly be opened between Wellington, and Wanganui and Auckland, and the Thames. A uniform charge for tele grams wiil now be made, whatever the distance. The Customs receipts also show an increase, chiefly at Auckland, where the amount of increase is 1.63,000, being at the rate of 50 per cent. Dunedin also shows a small increase. Among the ports at which a decrease.is shown, Hokitika is most prominent, the amount of the decrease there being L 41.000, or 30 per cent. The total increase of the Customs revenue is L 10,600. The gold production decreased during the year t 'the extent of 02 000 ounces. Auckland, however, increased 67.000 ounces, and Otago also increased slightly. At Nelson a decrease is shown in the export of fl x.

“Expenditure of 1868-9. —What I have said about the system of keeping the public accounts must be remember'd. Thus, though the appropriations were L 998,525, there was a gross expenditure, including advances, unauthorised and refunds, of L 1,436,259, being an excess of 1.433,232. Of this 1.375,000 is for interest and sinking fund, L 179,974 for advances of previous year brought to account, and L 195,007 exc ss of expenditure. For Defence the actual expend ture was L 266.391, besides advances of 1867-'' brought to charge. The mo ey legally available was L 195.981. besides a special order of L 40,000. 1.27 409 was spent without authority. In addition to this the outlying liabilities for Defence are I 69,000. “ Trust Funds.—The credit balance on the 30th June was L 242.360, of which L 50,000 Avas invested in Con olidated Bonds, and L 146 000 in Treasury Bills, the balance being in cash at the Bank. Thus, the Trust Funds were operated on in aid of the expenditure, the Controller holding the Treasury Bills. The Controller therefore decides the extent to which the Trust Funds may be operated on. “ Sinking Funds.—The Act of last session will be amended to allow the sinking fund on the uncan vert l d porf ion of the Colonial Loan to be invested at home. These sinking fun s will be released fr m the control of the Commissioners, but it is proposed that the accumulated fund shall be invested in New Zealand securities. As to the. Provin cial Sinking Funds, under the present Act the am tints released are paid to the Consolidated Revenue, and a corresponding amount is written off the provincial liability. The Government disapprove of this, as drifting the colony into fresh borrowing without the Assembly being fu'ly aware of it. The alternative is to hand our proceeds of released sinking funds to the provinces, which null accordingly be proposed to be done.

“Provincial Overdrafts.—All these ■will be regulated, and the provinces will be allowed to arrange with their Banks for overdrafts not exceeding one-fifth of the previous year’s revenue, the colony not to be liable, and the over-draft at no time to exceed this limit.

‘ Provincial Loans. The Government look forward to more hopeful times. To shut out the hope of public works would be to deny any future to the country ; but in the present state of the credit of the colony, and till its finance is on a more satisfactory footing, t would be unfair to a:low fresh liabilities. The condition of some of the provinces, however, cannot be ignored. Marlborough is insolvent, the settlers will mot tax themselves to continue their separate Government, and the Government only see the course of re-uniting it to Nelson. A general Bill will be introduced, allowing friendly negotiations to be entered into. Southland’s position is not satisfactory, but > he Government desire very much to enable it to retrieve itself. Southland will be advised to sell part of its territory, aud unless some unexpected good fortune happens

to it, it will have to re-unite itself to Otago. The case of Wellington is also special, borrowing as it is at an exorbitant rate of interest. The state of Westland’s finance also causes the Government anxiety. A Treasury officer has been sent there to repot t. “ Loan for North Island. —The open ng up of the island by roads is necessary to -olve the Native difficulty. The revenue cannot afF>rd it, and a loan will be asked for. t<> be charged on the North Island. In order that no reversal of such a charge may be made, the provision charging the loan on the N’o’ th I land is not to be reversible by less than three-fourths of the v'tes of the members of the House of Representatives, and this condit : on will b • perfected, either by an Imperial Act, or by an Order in the Privy Council fot bidding the Governor to assent ro a repeal. The Act authorising the lo n will g’ve an alternative power t > borrow nith deferred interest of, say, from live to fifteen years. Such a loan would probably be attractive on account of the vast sums seeking investments for terms of years. The Imperial guarantee will not be asked, but a permissive Act enabling trustees to invest in the loan The money is not to be raised at once, bu the Assembly is to direct each year what and how the money is to be spent. During the present year authority will only be asked for L 50,000, and authority will be asked, if found preferable, to raise that sum by Treasury Bills. One member of the Government, however, the honorab'e member for the Mataura (Mr Dillon Bell), while approving of the policy of roadmakiu.% does not concur in the loan being raised.

“ Duty on Grain and Flour.—The Government will propose a small duty, to continue while the price does not exce d a fixed maximum. The duty is estimated to yield about L 14,000. The Government do not assert the abstract doctrines of either protection or free trade, but propose the duty because the fiscal policy of Victoria seems to force this course upon us. “Financial Helations of the Colony and the Provinces. —The various tables presented to hon. members on this subject wi I be of interest. Out of seven millions of revenue raised within the provinces since the year 1858, three millions have passed to colonial purposes and services. In that time, L 1,490,000 has been spent on General Government services, and the provinces; fir provincial appropriation, have had L 2,600 000, exclusive of land revenue. Canterbury and Otago alone have yielded over three millions of revenue in eight years. Even Taranaki has given the General Government L 57,000. These things should be considered before destroying existing institutions. Two years ago we made a revolution m our financial system, and scarcely a year tdapsed before we made another. The partnership between the colony and the provinces does not add to the taxation, and the Government will not propose any organic change, for, at any rate, the partnership makes it the interest of every province to aid the General Government in reducing the cost of the services which are proviucially charged, and an alteration would not promote economy, however otherwise desirable.

“ Provision for Outstanding Liabilities.— Of all the difficulties b> fore the Government, the one of making clear the exact financialstate of the colony is the greatest. Distinct provision will be asked for two classes ol liability. First, for services rendered up to 30th June; and, second, for services permanently voted, but the money for which is not available. Looking at the Bank balances on the 30th June, and taking into account the L 60,000 overdraft, there is a deficiency ; —that is, there is L 44,428 of cash to meet the overdraft of L 60,000. The estimate of liabilities on the General account is LI 10,234, and and on the Defence account, so ;ar as they have come in, L 69.000 ; but as there is, even yet, no precise knowledge about Defence liability, authority will be asked for any further amount that may be proved due, The liabilities on the General account include new Government House, telegraph extension, lighthouses, and other ferrices for which

appropdation was made out of the LI, 114,000 loan. Southland debts to the extent of L 6.000 additional have to be provided for, and there are some I.abilities for provincial ch-rges, but these will be paid out •f the provincial moieties of the Consolidated Fund. The total then stands thus : Outstanding liabilities, L 59.284; engagements to be fulfilled, L 67,932; overdrafts under Public Revenues Act, L 69,000, making a total of L 217.216. To meet which there were at the credit of the Government:

Bank balances, L 103,167; on Consolidated and Special Funds, L 6090 of Treasury Bills, renewable; LI 1,000 old Treasury Bills, unissued ; L 12,000 in the hands of the Crown Agents, and' ther smaller sums ; and, lastly, the L 150,000 Treasury Bills just authorised, Pue Douse may ask why the issue of these Bills was necessaiy, with so much money in the Bank. The necessity was clear : there were heavy payments of the current year to be met, such as L 70.000 for remittance home, L 17.000 of Wellington Bonds, and other amounts. I he available assets may be stated as Xi 282,957, against the L 217,216 to be met, leaving a balance of 1.65,750. available for the expenditure of the current year, 1869-70, after paying off all liabilities and the over-draft. The assets include all available balances under the permanent loans, and the floating debt, in the shape of Treasury Hills, is L 378.000. “ Estimated Expenditure for 1869-70, — The Civil List is L 27.500 ; Permanent Charges, L 284,089 ; do on Provincial account, L 157,416 ; Domains, L 2480 ; Public Departments, L 40,890 ; Law and Justice, L 51,808 ; Postal and Telegraph Services, L 134,334 ; Customs, L 40,470 ; Native Services, L 21,407 ; Miscellaneous, Special and Temporary, L31.51G; Militia and Volunteers, L 27,669 ; Armed Constabulary, LI 18,000 ; Contingent Defence, L 32,000 ; making a total of L 969.587. Iu the Postal Services, the increase is consequent on the cessation of the Panama line, tuough there is a saving on the permanent appropriations 0fL50,000. The miscellaneous expenditure shows a great decrease. By the amalgamation of offices and other measures, savings will bo effected. Last year part of the Defence expenditure, as well as many -other expenditures, came out of loans and extraordinary revenue. This year the whole expense will appear on the Estimates, and the Government will not advise the House to grant money for defence to an extent that would involve bankruptcy. “Ways and Means.—The existing financial system charges against the Provincial moiety of the Consolidated Fund a part of the appropriations. The Estimates on General Government account are L 617.114, and on Provincial account L 352.453, for which latter the Provincial moiety provides. The estimated revenue for 1869-70 is as follows : —Customs, L 816,000; Bonded Warehouses,

T*» 000 • Stamps, L 66,000 ; Post Office, L4B 000*: Telegraph, L 25.000 ; Miscellaneous, L 72,000— making a total of L 1,032,000, to which has to be added, Duty on Grain, L 14.000, making together a total of LI 043,000. The Government believe these Estimates moderate. One hi If of the Consolidated Revenue will be L 523.000. Then there is L 40.000, the amount of sinking fund that will be released by the conversion of Colonial debentures into consolidated stock, and the balance above stated of I 65,750, making the aggregate of ways and means L 628.750, against an expenditure on General Government services of LG17,114 A surplus is thus left of Ll 1,000, which will be increased by L 6,000 further debentures to be charged to Southland, or a toi ai surplus of L 17,000, which it is hoped will be a more favorable result than the House had expected. As a measure of precaution, since some of the money has to he got at home, authority will be asked to issue Treasury Bills for between L 20.000 and L 50.000, to be used only in case of need. The proposals here made do not involve organic changes, but will relieve the Colony from a complicated condition. For the firs time, provision will be attempted in more than name for the service of the year. Only one liability is unprovided for —viz., the detention of the 18th Regiment; but this will not come in for payment during 1869-70, and its amount is of course uncertain. “Annuities and Life-Assurance. —The Government have cordially taken up my proposal, and will introduce a measure to give it effect. “ immigration.—The Government invite consider tion of several conditions on which assisted migration should lie dealt with, and though they cannot see their way to ileafing with the subject this session, they will invite specific proposals for carrying out immi gration and settlemei t, in order to lay Dies, before the Assembly next year. It is not for the North Island only that national efforts to promote immigration should be devoted—they should apply to both Islands, under a comprehensive plan. It must be remembered that, while it is the interest of the colony to get the best class of immigrants, it is the interest of the Imperial authorities to rid the mother country of the worst. The duty of self-defence in new settlements, and the clear exemption of the Government from compensation risks, will be the guiding principles in whatever plans the Government may propose. The attention of hon. members is invited to the annual Estimates now placed in their hand-.” Mr Vogel concluded hia speech by again asking the indul- { tence of the Committ-e, and sat down amid oud cheers. A vote of LSOOO for Marine Survey was then moved pro forma.