SUMMARY FOR EUROPE.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXXIX, Issue 9943, 24 January 1893, Page 3

SUMMARY FOR EUROPE.

OTJJt LETTER HOME. POLITICAL AND OTHER GOSSIP. THE PUBLIC REVENUE. A more healthy state of things has never been revealed, than the comparison between the two nine months’ periods of the current and the past financial years. The figures cannot be understood without taking out the direct taxation, because the amounts set down opposite to those headings represent broken periods. If we take them out, we find that the ordinary revenue for the nine months of the current year has exceeded that of the first three quarters of last year by no leas a sum than £82,000. The ordinary revenue, however, was estimated at £32,000 less than the receipts of last year. It follows then that the estimates are within measurable distance of being very greatly exceeded. The direct taxation for the year is perfectly certain to more than realise the estimate—which, considering the fears expressed some few months ago for the Land and Income taxes as a new departure in finance, must be regarded as wonderfully satisfactory. If we take into account the totals of the land revenue also, we find the general betterment for the three quarters of 1892 is not less than £93,000. This is elasticity with a vengeance. Our London critics declare that our revenues are drying up at the sources. Mr Perceval exposed that assertion in his reply to the editor of the Investors' Review. Every year our revenue accounts continue to do the same thing. THE BUDGET. We have some materials now by which we may examine the Budget for the current year. The surplus estimated (exclusive of Supplementary Estimates) was£33o,ooo. Of that £165,000 was cash of the previous year remaining after payment of various matters, in the nature of floating debt and so forth; and £165,000 was the surplus of the current year. Now the current year’s ordinary revenue was estimated ait £32,000 less than last year’s. As it has already exceeded by £82,000 three-quarters of that revenue, it is fair (the indications being still good) to expect another £27,000 to be added to that by the end of the year. That is £IIO,OOO better than last year’s revenue; and, as the estimates of this year were lower than the revenue of last year by £32,000, the actual result will beat the estimate—if all goes well—by £142,000. To this must be added £15,000 on account of territorial revenue, being the difference as above between £82,000 and £93,000, with proportion added for the remaining quarter. The direct revenue was estimated at £350,000. Of this the Land tax has given £295,000, and the Income tax of the Companies alone amounts to £45,000, which leaves £IO,OOO for the whole public to find. Putting the public at £30,000, we may expect on this account a surplus of £20,000. As for the supplementary estimates, we may eliminate them from the calculation on the assumption (nob by any means unfair) that they will be found to have been balanced by savings in the general expenditure of the year. We put all these figures together as follows : Surplus estimated by the Treasurer ... ... ... ••• £330,000 Betterment of ordinary revenue 142,000 Betterment of land revenue ... 15,000 Betterment of direct taxation... 20,000

Total probable cash surplus on March 31, 1833 ... £507,000 Could any Treasurer desire any better financial position? What a reply to the croakers who predicted a financial collapse as the inevitable result of allowing any new departures in taxation. The constituencies gave their mandate at the election of 1890, the present Government obeyed it, and their finance has come within three months of a cash surplus of over half a million. REDUCTION. There will infallibly be a cry for the reduction of the taxation. It is a parrotcry always raised when the taxes roll up large accumulations. But when everybody is comfortable what is the necessity for cutting off supplies ? We are a prosperous people, and we have elected to do without borrowing, having determined to live within our means, finding the cost of many works of necessity out of our income. It would he madness to lose the advantage we have gained, by cutting down a taxation which no one feels. The Unitad States gave us a grand example in this way. Their revenue running up far beyond their requirements, they calmly set to work and paid off the greater portion of their national debt. Why should we not begin to pay off our public creditor ? There are two ways of doing it—buying up his bonds, or investing cash for long periods against their due dates. Having done that, we should cut the painter from the foreign market entirely, and rely upon our own people for whatever we want in the matter of money for necessary works. ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES. In December the arrivals exceeded the departures by nearly two thousand, and during 1802 the excess of arrivals was five thousand. The leading fact in the situation is that this caused no friction whatever in the labour market. Whoever and whatever these people were they were absorbed without any trouble into whatever rank of the population they wished to join. In the six previous years the balance against New Zealand was some twelve thousand people. As we have got back five thousand in 1892, the Australians, it follows, still owe us 7000. Will they come back ? According to all accounts many of them have done well in Australia, and are not likely to come back. But if they come they will he very welcome. NATIVE LAND. Mr Sees has attained his first object. He has not secured a special session of Parliament to consider the huge question of Native land, hut he has directed public attention to a vast accumulation of anomalies, dangers and abuses. Perhaps he has attained another object by exciting public interest in the disposition of the thousands of acres of native land which are lying locked up in various parts of the North Island. Ten million acres, speaking roughly, are now in the hands of the Maoris, and the value of this enormous estate is being added to every year by the advance of European settlement. To-day the ten million acres could probably be purchased for 2s or 3s an acre; ten years hence, when settlement has pushed its way to the borders of the Native country, the price will have risen to at least 20s an acre. Why, it will be asked, does not the Government step in at once and make a purchase which would extinguish many of the Native difficulties, add largely to tho comfort and security of the Maori people, and offer bright to the exchequer of

the Colony. The want of funds is not the only, or even the most formidable, obstacle. Debentures bearing interest at four or five per cent would suit the Maoris better than cash, and, even if a loan were required, there would be no difficulty in obtaining a million and a half or more for such a purpose. But a great majority of the Natives would resent the proposal. They would never consent to a transaction which would realise their wealth and put an end to the state of idleness which is fostered by great expectations. But public opinion is growing in this direction. The Maoris are not standing still. They cannot always be the spoilt children of special legislation and special exemptions. They have rights, of course, but they have no right to stand for ever in the way of settlement. RAILWAY BETURNS. The returns, which were published last week, showing the revenue and expenditure for the eight and a half months which ended on December 10, do not vary the tale which has been told in these columns before. The revenue, when compared with the corresponding period of last year, ehows an increase of £53,627, the result of a growth, in the number of passengers and the quantity of goods; and the expenditure an increase of £33,738, the result, we presume, of some method of management which will never be appreciated by the public. We are apt when we see crowded trains and heavily laden waggons to congratulate ourselves upon the expansion of our resources, but when we come to examine the figures which express that expansion in pounds, shillings and pence, we find that the revenue has grown only to be absorbed by the expenditure. It is, however, gratifying to learn that the volume of business is increasing. That indicates the vitality and enterprise of the country. The disproportionate growth of the expenditure is a feature which may be removed by better management. MIDLAND RAILWAY. It is pleasing to see the Greymouth people so earnest in their intentions and so practical in their views. They have, as a matter of course, invited co-operation from f.Viia side, and they have received a ready response. The people of Canterbury believe just as much in the railway to-day as they ever did. They happen at the same time to believe in the Government, and they have asked the Greymouth people to postpone action until the Government has decided. The Government will, we hope, find some way out of the difficulty. The railway, as the greatest work in New Zealand, must be finished; and the lands comprised in the Company’s endowment must be unlocked without delay. There we have the case for the line in a nutshell. What influences are at work against the line, we cannot, of course, say. Some of our readers have their own ideas on the subject, and will continue to have them. But this point is immaterial for the simple reason that the Government in power is not likely to be influenced by any considerations but those of truth and justice. Ministers must understand at the same time, that if they do not find a way to make the railway safe their friends will be grievously disappointed, while their enemies will seize the occasion to foment disturbance against them vigorously and in all directions. Forewarned ought to be forearmed. CHEVIOT HILLS. As last year faded out the Colony was talking much of the great purchase by the Government —the first under the provisions of a New Zealand taxation act. Popular is hardly the word to describe the public feeling, because there is not a single dissentient. Everyone thinks the Colony has done a remarkably good thing, and not a few wish it might be repeated, like the American’s vote, “early and often.” Among these are the owners of several similar properties, one at least of whom was disappointed some months ago that his large property was not taken over. That is an open secret in Hawke’s Bay, where there are many big places which would be the better for cutting up. The truth is that we owe the return of the Cheviot estate to the working of the natural law. Individuals who are rich independently, cannot afford to long hold lands which they are not rich enough to work; and when the capable pioneers found big properties die their heirs find they are either without the capacity to manage, or in the hands of trustees who cannot possibly devote the time and attention necessary to make the business exceptionally profitable. The only solution is to sell back to the State, which wants lands near the centres of population for the settlement of the people. THE PREMIER. The news from Wellington concerning the health of the Premier is not exactly cheering. Mr Ballance speaks hopefully of his own condition, and expects to resume his old place in the House at the beginning of the session. His friends, however, are not quite so sanguine. They admit gratefully that the Premier’s health has much improved during the recess, but they cannot ignore the fact that the strain of leadership must be a great tax upon an enfeebled constitution. It is too much, perhaps, to expect that the Opposition will make that strain as light as possible. But it is certain that every generous member of the House will do his utmost, irrespective of his political views, to lighten the labours of a man who has sacrificed so much in the interests of his country. OPPOSITION JOURNALISM. One of the Opposition journals an evening paper published m Wellington—has seized upon a ridiculous report that the Agent-General excludes Conservative papers from his reading-room in London, and clothed it with all the probability that can be mustered by writers of fiction.' It was a promising story. The Agent-General is on the other side of the world, and the chances were that none of his friends would be able to vouch for the contents of his reading-room. But Mr Perceval has found a friend in an unexpected quarter. The Otago Daily Times has discovered a Dunedin gentleman who declares that there are at least a dozen New Zealand papers filed in the Agent-General’s reading-room, and that they represent all shades of political opinion. Perhaps the paper which circulated the story is not included in the number, but there may be very good reasons, quite apart from its politics, why it is not selected for the guidance of Mr Perceval’s visitors. MR PENDER. The veteran Inspector who has left us was part of much of the history of- the Province of Canterbury. He came in the infant days of settlement, he made himself beloved by all good citizens, and dreaded by the other sort. A man of inflexible honesty, much grit and considerable shrewdness, we shall not readily look upon his like again. The leading feature of his life was the close attention ho paid to his duty. From his Crimean days, when he crossed bayonets with the Russian infantry, to the hour in which he was ordered to leave the scene of his labours made bright with familiar faces, the old sol-

dier never looked at anything but his duty. The citizens of Christchurch appreciated that fact the other day with warm words and a substantial token. May he live long to enjoy the remembrance of the friends he has made. JOHN BLACKETT, C.B.

John Blackett, one of the finest men who ever drew Government pay, has gone off to his rest alter a useful and blameless career. In the early fifties we find traces of his active steps in the Taranaki country, when he first landed in New Zealand fully equipped as an engineer. Nelson next saw him in the field doing the arduous work of exploring the wilderness, a work in which he preceded the late Sir Julius von Haast. The fruitof Mr Blackett’s exploration was a great mass of roads and bridges and public works. When the wave of the Public Works policy passed over the Colony, it took John Blackett with it on the surface, as Marine Engineer, and when Mr Carruthers departed, wa find him Engineer-in-Chie£ for the North Island, while the late W. N. Blair occupied a similar position for the South Island. His last post was in London as Consulting Engineer for the New Zealand Government. Ha left that position the other day, and came out in time to die in the land of his adoption, to which he had given bo rare an example of modest worth and unswerving integrity during his busy life.