THE REVENUE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 6997, 21 April 1884, Page 5

THE REVENUE.

[by telegraph.—own cobbespondent.] V Wellington, Saturday. You will remember that -I stated, the postal revenue for the year.to be above the estimate, and'that the Colonial Treasurer, speaking at Hawera, said it was £20,000; short. Now, strange as it may . seem, the faot is that I was right and the Treasurer wrong, as I have no doubt he will explain in hiß comins; speech at Dunedin.: His statement was made under a very natural misconception,- dn& to the complicated system of accounts, as: among Post Office, Stamps Department, and the Treasury due to the present l method of. using the same stamps for all purposes of revenue. When Major Atkinson spoke, the accounts for the year had been finally made up, and he only knew of ; tho postalrevenue then , passed through the Treasury.' I am in a position to state, on absolute authority, that tho ' correot figures ' are as follow; Postal revenue : Estimated, £175,000; actual receipts, £176,352, or £1352 above estimate. I intimated that the Telegraph revenue would be below the estimate, and this is the case- to the extent of £7603, the figures being as follow :—Estimated Telegraphic revenue, £100,000 : actual receipts, £92,397. I understand the department returns- will bring out very forcibly a feature to which I referred some weeks back, that telegraphic deficit went with commercial depression. Auokland, which is so prosperous just now, is showing a good improvement in Telegraph receipts, while Wellington, where- prosperity ! is but moderate, is nearly stationary, and both Christchurch and Dunedin exhibit a large falling off, those being main centres of the existing depression.