FINANCIAL STATEMENT.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 7195, 22 June 1885, Page 2

FINANCIAL STATEMENT.

The following portions of Sir Julias'^ Vogel's Statement we were opmpeUed££;f to omit on Saturday through want -of^l Bpaoe,:— ' \ ''. ■-■l\-'[:,Q-os^ THB CIVIL SEEVICB. ;" ". ..^ „ ;'■ • '^S, Speaking on the subjeofc of the •pivii>jpl Service the Colonial Treasurer Baid :rlri^ It will be remembered that last session, ;yf,;^ or during the short previous, session, jfiy*&< predecessor, Major Atkinaon.held.jdutViJfl hopes of large reductions in the cost pf>v^; the Civil Service in oonneotion w,itfi.aj,T?S system of classification. A committee^ « of oivil servants had examined into^hja^fl subject, and had made confidential re- i-^ commendations. We have examined: ®^ and considered with the greatest cajre^iif; the observations and recommendatioas3^:||l of the committee. To most of the p-Sfil duotions mentioned we have given' effeotl :^|l In the Audit Department theV:phangeaj||fj| are not primarily dictated by'eoonojnyV^W?! but rather 'by anticipations ?fi^f^^ possibly increased usefulnes's/.x.i^B^pK'j came to the conclusion that the audit':of^ !^ railway way-bills was unnecessary in; face of the check upon those dooamenH4^ the department itself maintains, and,iheji^i Auditor and Controller-General defeirriacl^l^l to "our opinion. We further .debided^lifc that the general audit of the railwajs^^ could be left to the Hail way DepartmenVßS^l own excellent system, and that it woulctMl! be better to let the Customs Deparfc|i4fl naent do its own audit. As to these t^t^Ml changes a bill will be introdubed, ahii ti|fsl shall propose to refer it to the Pabl|<§S|ii Acoonnts Committee. They : will, : ' : -^^fe| have no doubt, acquiesce in bur. opinißn!P t M3 aa to the railway audit, and :'on? 't^llll whole also agree with us as^tp'- 'the^?J|^l Customs Department, ab6ut.--\^tac'tfj:|'Mw however, there is more .dpobtT^K^sii^^ regards some of the oHang'ea in the aud'ifc^||s| indicated by the committee we; : dQ}oV;£sM see pur way to adopt them. Witfi.dtnir^^p^ reductions suggested we have moatlypOßi;'^s|4-| plied, but they do not amount : 'tq > m'fickH^^^^ With regard to ?Epa^B^»^H 9(-e that in itself it is an opbratipnwhil^S^M directly^ paves. iexpenaiturei:^lMnl^^^B tested it in' h^lf a hundredid^riß^

I^^vIJJJJ^ 1111 ', 1 "' 1 , 1 " 1 ? 11 ,!, , , - in no way do I see that it vc-v ■means less money, except in the induce;!>^>inent it holds out to the best men to conthe, service. The subject is a large one, and it is difficult for me to Vdeal with It in the brief manner which I>i the committee, on an ocoasion like the has the right to expect. The s^:Givil Service is composed of two classes f?f^of officerer-the one requiring teohoieal : 7^" Knowledge of a hind not eaeily acquired, and ; a groove of mind of an essentially trained character j the other requiring ;".';* .merely the aoouraoy and experience of 'well-qualified olerks. Although one may - : feel the difference between the two, it is ■ . impossible to draw an arbitrary line Between them, because officers of the : ' ■ ordinary character, who have ambition and ability, are constantly stalking into the more advanced grade. The direction in which inducement has been given . in New Zealand has not been in. the < shape of assured promotion, but in that of more or less assured position, tending •to make the officers dread throwing up the .'certain advantages which they have gained. The knowledge that it is on . the security of their position that the officers have counted has had a tendency :to make Governments excessively reluctant to enforce retirements. We have - come to the conclusion that, a complete change in desirable, and that officers admitted in future to the service shall have the right to less retiring compensations, whilst all officers shall have .before them . -those more immediate advantages which tend to spur them on to zeal and excellence. The saving in the one will, we -■'believe, in the end compensate for the temporary increase in the other; for as I have said, classification 'means additional initial expenditure, the 'tinie is not long before, by reaching to /' the 1 top. of each olass, and by vacancies ;'- in the higher offices, reductions set in. As regards the condition of future entry to the service, we hold that as it is open to officers entering to accept or refuse them, there can be no hardship in fixing our own conditions. Those conditions, V we propose, should be a right to only • one month's notice or salary if the officer has been not more than eighteen k£ months in the service, and to only three months', after a longer service. To make .. the. Government independent of those ■'■■' considerations which always create re-. l- luctance to dispense with an officer's : /'"Berviees, we propose, further, that it v i shall be a condition of any officer's jointing the service in future, no matter in iwhat eapaoity, that 10 per cent, of his salary shall be impounded, to be invested at compound interest, and to be ; itgiven to him on his leaving the<Bervice, or to his repreaentatives on his death. ! ' - ; :&B regards the classification, we propose to deal with seven classes : the indus-trial-^-which will comprise the non-!olerioai—-the oadets, and five other classes, ranging up to salaries as high as £600 a year only. Cadets will have an annual increase of £10 up to £120, ; . but'they will not increase beyond £80 ■- .unless they pass the first examination. 7 Class I. will commence with salaries of f £l2o, .and there will be four annual .'rises of £5, 'and four of £10 each to . £180. Class 11. will commence at £190, and there will be four annual rises of £10 each to £240. Olass 111. will com- . mence at £250, and there will be six annual rises of £12 10s each up to £325. " Class v IV. , will commence with £840, and there will be four v annual rises of £15 each to £400, and t Class V. will commence at £420, and . • there will be five annual rises of £16 each ; , to) £500. We propose that this year the only effect, beyond the classification of the officers at their present salaries, and the rise in the iudustrial class, will be togive to Claaßes I. and 11. a bonus of . £5 to each officer, and that next year ■•; -the rises according to scale will commence with those classes on the salaries of this year without bonuses. For the next two years (not including the pre- -■■ sent year) we propose that the officers .;.<?£ Olassess 111., IV., Bnd Y. shall have ■!.[• bonuses of £5 on the salaries of this tejjrear, and that rises according to scale ;f^<ihall. commence the year following on B>pie appropriations of the previous year feywithout bonus. The committee will f?:- not, I hope, think these increases too " large when an officer who made an ; ' advance each' year, and was never ..'/ stopped , at the top ,of any /)- qiass, .would take nearly thirty-five ;< -years in reaching from £120 to £500 a v ■ year. . Taking the chances of detention Kat the top of each "class, an officer "Would be fortunate in running the .V gauntlet within forty years. I do not ■-V mean to say that it will be impossible v : for rises to be more speedy. It will be open to the Government of .the day to promote officers from one class to j ; .ajabther /before they reach the top of the p 'lower class. We do hot propose that ;;:• rike^ from olass to olass shall be by ex- * li^imlniaifionß. This we know is a favorite rPlan^ and we have well considered it, but iis^we^canhot recommend it. Examinations IfplqrCciglets are desirable.because they prove !|^that|he mind has been trained to obaer--s;| : ;vatioii and to acquiring knowledge ; but y examinations . for advanoed positions %? ' /no. guarantee whatever of the )'£i dapabiUty.and fitness of the candidates X?. for the positions for which there are f; ?: jrobanpies to fill. A.eapaoity to cram is £;>-', ap.t to be compared "with, the capacity ■ ■whioh the , heads of departments and ■.i^ "Ministers, can, detect by watching the ?•£ '• .general conduct of officers. The classifiS cation will not include the officers of the <f^ Legislature,, nor those of the gaols or $?': Vworking. railways, which already, have %;': their oyrja , systems of classification. ■There are some few other exceptions, tc l^.'whicli'jit is not necessary now to call %*: attention. The industrial claisificatiot if^V „■'. ■ xii.es commence at once. We eßtifig^Zmofce^ihe cost, apart from the rises ol to' which they are already entitled i^|at^ about £6500 this year ;. at abouj WZ^XQ>tiffl next year ; and thereafter ther< p^^iSayjibe about a like rise for a year or so |K> ; !fmd'.tneri?ai gradual reduction. Onth< »';V Whole*. the increases will not mucl ft; exceed .those, which are, aa a rule ?ti",c-spa?ino'dically made. In the end ther< Wl- -I?s; be- a considerable reduction on .th g£;' -: spasmodic increases, the new rule ifj. : V;of • entry into the service will greatl; Wir- promote futare economy. . isfe' ■'';♦''—• KBVBNUE OF THE YEAR. I|ti,;j,. The, estimated ordinary revenue o |fl;V >(the 'year,' with thes charges on Custom 'o.i'i and stamps I have indicated, and, wit lfsV|&: property tax, is £4,115,900. I.havt I>|l'vl ; thinki' sufficiently enlarged already o p tHe;pbanges. we propose in the revenuf Wvffianfcl-may] !pass on to the balance b< itef; : 'tweia'n^revenue" and expenditure. \ feWv'BESTO^'AS BETWEEN EEVENTTE AND f^Kjfe.-.-^.-'.'iv ■ ''•.'• \BXPENtoITTTBE. ypv/ij "The l ordinary ; expenditure of the yei y^ll&lready described amounts to £3,972,13! fe^vji^ have three. items to add to this, vis j^^|:£6SbO;fjEor.the proposed Civil . Servii IS^QMnaendmenti, .as; to 'which I may say, lipiij '-'"no*fc : ':pasßed in the shape proposed, son l^s7-at;least.df:it.must be asked for by wj Iplltdf Additions to salaries ; £75,000 whi< |l|ppl; r estim^a'te'is about the amount that w jl-^sjcome.in-for payment on account of su lfe"§Bidie» to^lofeal bodies ; and I propose Ifef^p|f^i^Q,O*pO plihe deficiency of 188 I^w,B"s^^e,^außt ..eithejr.j begin to pay^t t^^^enmen^/oSjox.tekplvetohmd. it, a d |^^oilij)nJifXß^p.uld;^uch regret. The |^p^it|i|^Hbpag|.» ; riip ;|;hei . expenditure ; other hand,:tht ■(■LW Wpeul? .^4;li 5,000, and the surpl r atVthe< beginning of t HPs&3fc*r S^fegAtageltlier £4,-135;79i, a If t Jeavinß^|urplu,B> on > the /year's trai V tfotiomfp£324sß,V,which is not x m\u like! pW^^fesbrb^-by|SupplementE H&\ ; E : XI i ENbITOBB.;VBg&i 4 Tlffir^^f^ieT^TOorefabout: which im P Staiit-cpnsideration'pf public woi |^M,?lft I %row during the present ye

; account the million and a half loan, ■ there are about two millions of monej i available for expenditure, Bubjeot to ad- , vances in the hands of officers to be accounted for. Without trespassing on the detaih which my colleague the Minister for Public Worka will set before you, I may say that we estimate there will be an aotual expnnditure of about £1,700,000 this year, which will include about £170,000 on harbor defences. It will be seen, then, that after accounting for advances, there will be but a small sum left for expenditure after the end of March next. Out of the North Island Railway Loan there will be some amount repayable for works defrayed out of other loans. As the committee are aware, we intend proceeding with that railway as fast as possible, but the actual expenditure up to the end of March is not likely to much exceed £100,000. The defence expenditure out of present loans will have to be repaid. It will . be apparent, therefore, that we have provision for little beyond March, and scarcely enough to carry us on until the House meets in ordinary course next year. The Colonial Treasurer then went on to speak on the subject of borrowing, remarking that one of the objects of the policy of the Government was to set a limit to borrowing for indiscriminate purposes. The Government proposed that there should be in future three classes of railways — forest railways, the cost of which the State forests would defray ; district railways, for which the local bodies recommending them should defray one-half of the yearly interest in excess of receipts ; and main trunk lines, for which the colony would be wholly liable. Referring to the Various matters for which money would be required, such as the continuance of defenoe works, subsidies promised for roads and bridges, the purchase of native lands, and the construction of railways, he said that authority would be asked to borrow only one million for 1886-87, of which £250,000 would be for defence for that and the previous year, £50,000 for immigration, £200,000 for roads, bridges, and buildings, £100,000 for the' purchase of native lands, and £400,000 for railways." With regard to borrowing money to lend to farmers in small sums on freehold security, Sir Julius Yogel said, "When I spoke on the subject I did so with reservations which I expressly made. On further examination, I found that the English Government had ceased to make direct advances for land improvements, and had substituted for it a system of authorising the issue of mortgage debentures, for which the State was not liable. This system works excellently in' Great Britain, far better than the old one of direct advances, whilst the State has no liability. A bill will be submitted to the House for giving effect to this English system. It will, I think, go some way towards satisfying the demand for cheap money for the securities of local bodies and for land improvements." Sir Julius briefly mentioned the East and West Coast railway of the Middle Island, remarking that the Government were still averse to making it at the cost t of the colony, though they were of opinion that it must be constructed, and attached great importance to its being made. He added that if further assistance were necessary Parliament would doubtless consider how aid might be given without increasing the grants of ! land. CONCLUSION. The Colonial Treasurer concluded as follows:— "I ask hon. members not to take heed of faults of expression, but to consider the proposals I have submitted from the highest standpoint. lam far ' from depreoatirig the lines of party, but there are some subjects that may with advantage be considered with a temporary emancipation from party obligations. At any rate, the committee will do justice to my desire t© place before hon. members, free from all acerbity, views which I conoientionsly believe; are worthy of their consideration, in the interests of the colony."