LATEST WELLINGTON NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVIII, Issue 6051, 9 April 1881, Page 5

LATEST WELLINGTON NEWS.

[by tkleqrapii.—special correspondent.] Wellington", Friday. THE TEN PER CENT. REDUCTION. As enquiries are constantly made about the operation of the ten per cent, reduction in the Civil Service salaries during the current year, which commenced on the Ist instant, I may explain that the reduction will continue to be made from all salaries until Parliament orders otherwise, but in the next estimates the salaries will be set down as on a revised scale, not* with 10 per cent, deducted from all indiscriminately, but with such discriminating reductions made that the aggregate amount shall still be diminished by onetenth. THE RAILWAY REVENUE. It is reported in railway circles that the returns for the last two months of the year just expired are coming in so well as absolutely to astonish everybody. This is due mainly to the carriage of grain in the South Island, the exceedingly large harvest having brought on thi3 class of traffic quite a month sooner than usual, and so enabling a fair •share to be included in the last year's returns, instead of standing over to ' this year. The result is, I am credibly informed, that the gross receipts may not improbably be something like £575,000, or only £75,000 short of the estimate, instead of beiDg more than £100,000 behind. It is said also that retrenchment to the extent of between £50,000 and £00,000 will be shown to have been effected in the railway expenditure since the present Ministry took office. THE AGENT-GENERAL. Government have received several despatches from Sir Dillon Bell by the San Francisco mail, but they relate almost exclusively to various arrangements connected with his taking over the agency from Sir J. Vogel.