THe New Zealand Herald. SPECTEMUR AGENDO. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1876.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIII, Issue 4666, 27 October 1876, Page 2

THe New Zealand Herald. SPECTEMUR AGENDO. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1876.

Ministers have intimated to the Now South "Wales Government that they are agreeable to abandon Honolulu, but insist that Auckland shall be made the port of call in New Zealand instead of the This is an ultimatum on their part, and it ia to be hoped the contractors .and the New South Wales Government will yield, and so obviate a rupture of the service. The fact is, that the longer the Bay of Islands was looked at as a port of call the worse it appeared for the colony, and also for the contractors. The San Francisco line must combine two things—it must be a mail line, and also a commercial line. 'A mere line for the conveyance of letters and newspapers would not pay the contractors, and certainly would not be worth £45,000.a-year to New Zealand. To have had the steamers calling at the Bay, and transhipping any New Zealand cargo there, would have ruined the line as a commercial one, and the likelihood is, that under such an arrangement it would have brought us in a short time nothing but the mails. New South Wales would have secured its purpose, for the line would have suited it admirably in both respects, and we would have been in the position of paying a large sum to benefit the- trade of Sydney, which is quite wealthy enough to be independent of us. Under the new system, Auckland will be in a better position than evor. The mails from Fiji will be brought on here, and the Fiji Government, we should think, will be ready to pay a subsidy for their conveyance to Levuka. An arrangement might also be made for the transmission of the mails for New Caledonia, whichare nowobtained by the Torres Straits route, and which by transmission from Auckland, on tho arrival of the San Francißco mail, would reach their destination about a week earlier than at present. A very important advantage to the trade of New Zealand might be made in connection with the New Caledonia service. We understand that sax.. Coleman Phillips, who has given aotamoh attention to matters connected with the trade of. the Pacific,'has been in correspondencei with .the directors of the Union Steam Shipping Company of "Dun- 1 edm, arid that they are not unwilling to 1 put on a steamer to run from Wellington to Auckland, and: thence to New Caledonia. A regular monthly service in this way would probably lead to the creation of an extensive trade, which would be of

immense benefit to the colony, and the line would, no doubt, be subaicusedjby/the French Government. Noumea w abouti9«(|\ miles from l^TigssthMj;; Mr. Cole|an»hiM)s vM\ the question ojistelun coffimurriciraoni biP; tween Au4klWd# 'M&fcsdonisg shewing howV with a' reliable service7"a' large trade would probably spring into to„ .see,,.Mr^. rphillips' ideas realisedr

for-.the September; ajuarte* published in the last "New Zealand, Gazette display-a falling off in: trade "and.reYenue which\ will ; we hope be somewhat arrested by the promise of revival in the goldfields of the.. colony generally. The Customs revenue for the September quarter last year was £312,472. It is only £303,430 for that just ended. Auckland shows a decrease of £7,500, Wellington an increase of nearly £1,000, Nelson a de-: crease of £2,000, Hokitika £2,700, Canterbury an increase of £5,500, and Otago a decrease of somewhat over the same amount. The exports of New Zealand productions were £558,510 against £617,422 for the corresponding quarter of 1875, while the exports of other produce and manufactures were only £23,487 against £150,469 for September quarter last year. The total exports of all'kinds were £581,997. Last year they were £767,891 for the same quarter.

.The imports for the quarter were £1,767,207 against £2,041,237 for the September quarter last year. The falling off has been general. It was £109,000 in this province, £1,700 in Taranaki, £13,000 in Nelson, .£22,000 in Hokitika, £28,000 in Canterbury, and £105,000 in Otago.. It will be seen from these figures that the falling off in consumption indicated by a decrease of revenue during the quarter is accompanied by a corresponding decrease of imports, which indicates caution on the part of our importers and will tend to avoid a glutted market. The decrease in revenue consists of £1,000 in imported spirits and £2,100 in New Zealand distilled. Cigars shew an increase of £800, and tobacco of £2,500. Wines shew a slight falling off, and there ia £1,200 less from beer. Tea has increased £1,500, coffee £500, and sugar £300, which we take as favourable signs that the general purchasing power of the mass of the people has not diminished. The chief decreases are in "goods by weight" £2,600, and "ad valorem duties" nearly .£15,000. There is enough in these figures to induce caution, as indicating that we must not calculate on the rapid development of the last few years, but look rather for a reaction as the loan expenditure ceases. There is nothing in them to cause uneasiness or to indicate that the resources of the mass of the people are at all perceptibly curtailed.

We now have before us the full details of the Immigration and Public Works Appropriation Bill, of which a summary reached us by telegraph a few days ago. It enables us to supply further information as to the expenditure during the last year, the proposed expenditure of the present year, and the sums that will be available—minus of course the outstanding liabilities, which are always very large—for the appropriations of the next session. The following table will give the clearest idea on the two first heads :—

It -will be seen that the actual expenditure was three-quarters of a million less than the appropriations, but it is not to be overlooked that there were outstanding liabilities to the extent of £983,000 on 30th June which will leave very littlecomparativelyof the £1,300,000 appropriated for 1876-7 to be expended during that period. Let us hope that the Kaipara railway and the extension to Puniu will 6gure in the next tables in the "expenditure" column instead of continuing in that devoted to "appropriations" as heretofore.

For roads the appropriations were £62,270. The expenditure during the year was nearly £40,000 and the appropriations for the present year are £25,000. Of this last sum £10,000 is to be expended in roads north of Auckland. £3000 is appropriated to departmental expenses and £17,000 to the construction of ,roads in the other provinces of the North Island. The balance of the £52,000 is for roads in the Middle Island.

For land purchase in the North Island the appropriation last year was £103,500. The expenditure has been £122,000 and the appropriations for the present year are £126,000, of which £10,000 is for the Auckland departmental expenditure and surveys, and £62,000 for purchases within this province.

Waterworks on goldfields have an appropriation of £137,360, of which £6,984 is for the Thames. The remaining £130,384 is for water races on the goldfields of the Middle Island. Under this head a sum of £10,092 is also voted as " balance of the advance of £50,000 to the Province of Auckland, for aiding works on the Thames goldfield."

Of £46,040 voted for telegraph extension, £1000 is for the Auckland and Mercer railway line, and £4000 for the extension of the line to Whangaroa and Monganui.

Public buildings are to absorb £65,963, among which are a few minor amounts for court houses and custom houses in the out-districtß and out-posts of this province.

Lighthouses take £49,700, of which £9500 is for the purchase of a steamer to supply them with stores, &c. We do not observe any appropriation under this head of special interest to this province. ■■-.■>

Having gone through the Appropria-, tionAct, it remains only to say that the estimated cost pf works and services to. be defrayed froniuthe immigration and* Public Works Load has now increased to £12,148,688, showing an increase of £540,000 over the sum they were estimated to cost in the Appropriation Act of the previous year. The means to

meet the outlay are to be found as folImmigiation and Public Works £qmL :: ::, x N :i x |!:: 19B& Ditto, 1874 .. -ri%s :4.600i000 sfleneialPnrpoies K: &>;.. L-Wplooo -M«w Zealand Loan, Mfrßg / %i ; ■ p 1.. fWOJooo VK;! >.; te; i j «•-» * •«r». ToUl .. ..]»! fell gj|..* 1 «ll,60^000, In aid: "V W_ -*£ "cMtcrbarj —co .lbui!ons to, "Sr >--ner branch leri«- .. £.UE56,0p0 Moiety of stamp dnlies .'.'i>26i2Bl Confiscated lands liabilities .. "19,863 -OieymoutliCorporaUon .; -1,7*0 - -—. w ,._,, T0 ; ;! Total .. .. ... "" £342.874 Grand total .. .. .. £11,842,974 Leaving'a deficiency of £305;700 ta be provided by further loans. Last year it w#& specifically and positively shewn that £316,48145. Bd. would :beifce -exact sum required to complete the whole of the works and. services. Since then: £750,000 has been borrowed, and we shall have-to borrow £305,713 7s. Bd. (that is the exact sum this year) to wind up the policy of 1870, and to enable us to - take stock of what we have gained by it. Another noteworthy fact ,is the cessation of the .practice of .paying a moiety of the stamp duties to the credit of public works. This is in future to be absorbed with the rest of the revenue. We always regarded this payment as somewhat absurd, and are glad it is discontinued, but should not have regretted to see provision made for a sinking fund instead. We now have nine 1 to ten-mil; lions of our loans without any provision whatever for paying them when due: Railways are liable to wear out and require renewal, and either a fund should be provided to meet this-liability or to repay the loans by which they have been made.

It will be seen from our telegrams that Mr. Macandrew has called a convention of the members of the House of Representatives for Otago, the members of the Provincial Council, Mayors of Municipalities, chairmen of Road Boards and of Education Committees. This assembly will comprise all the representative men of the province, and any determination they may come to will carry great weight There is no law to forbid Mr. Macandrew from calling such a meeting, but there can be no doubt that practically it is flying in the face of Ministers. If. such a body decides to submit to the action of the Ministers and the majority of the Assembly, then, we presume we shall hear no more of resistance from Otago. That much is clear. But if, on the other hand, the convention decides to resist, it is difficult to say what will happen.

AppropnAppropri- ation for atioa for Amount present last year. Expended. year. Immigration .. .. £280.432 £300,018 £136,268 Advancea for immigration purposes, repayable .. .. 107,616 45,901 69,410 Head otiice public works 17,642 15,452 17,817 Hallways—Kan-akawa 25,000 7,610 20 000 Kaipara to Puniu .. 260.000 170,600 190*000 Napier to M nawatu 100,200 91,200 67*000 Wellington to Masterton 229,000 142,000 137,000 Waitara to Patea .. 42,000 27,000 57 000 Patea to Koxton .. 3; 9.000 203,000 114 090 Nelson to Fexhtll .. 34,160 28,500 16*700 Picton to Blenheim .. 50,600 48,500 20 500 BrunnertoGrey mouth 32,300 25,200 34 000 Westport to Ngaka- ' wau 80,000 53,2«0 79 000 Amborly to Waitaki, and Canterbury branches 323,972 297,750 87 700 Waltaki Bridge .. .. 18,500 17,700 1,300 WaiUki to IuvsrcarBlll 083,000 407,000 324,000 Winton to Kingston 166,000 7«,000 53,000 Surveys of new lines.. 4,000 5,200 10,000 .,,„., . £2,344,432 £1,598,360 £1,200,200 Additional cost of land, rolling stock, and stations 100 000 £1,300,200.