THE BALANCE-SHEETS OF THE COLONY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9155, 10 September 1888, Page 11

THE BALANCE-SHEETS OF THE COLONY.

A curious but interesting historical paper has just been presented to Parliament, which has been prepared by the AuditorGeneral, Mr. Fitzgerald. It is the Ba-lance-sheets of the Colony from 1832 to 1888, and the paper gives the financial history of New Zealand from its first colonisation. This history is divided into four sections, each marking a distinct epoch. The first comprises the period from 1840 to 1847, when New Zealand had not been broken up into provinces. The second is from IS4B to 1852, when the colony consisted of two provinces, New Ulster and New Munster, having their distinct accounts. The third dates from the Constitution Act of 1852, when New Zealand again became ODe colony with its general treasury, but subdivided into provinces with their distinct political and financial organisations. The fourth period dates from the abolition of the provinces to the present date. While New* Zealand was a dependency of New South Wales it does not seem to have been a costly appendage. In 1832 the charge was £188; in 1533 it had jumped to £974; but in 1839 it had gone down again to £589. In 1840, when New Zealand became a separate crtony, the Government expenditure was £21,740 ; next year it was £43,000, and in 1845 it) came down again to £38,841. When representative institutions were granted in 1853/ e

the expenditure went up to £103,086. Ten years afterwards it had got to £2,000,000, and in the next ten years went up by " leaps and bounds" to close on £6,000,000. The rate of taxation was highest in 1865-9, when it was £4 6s 9d per head, since which it has been getting to £4 2s 7d per head for last year. The payment of interest on the public debt has steadily gone up from 3s 8d per head in 1855-9 to £2 15s 6d per head at the present date. The cost of the Legislature was 2s 8d per head for 1855-1859, bat is now reduced to Is 9d. On the other hand, the expense of the Civil Service has risen from 13s lOd per head in 1860-4 to 19s 8d to-day. The total expenditure of the Government was £6 8s 3d per head in 1555-9, but in 1875 9 it got up to £13 5s 6d, and then receded to £9 Is Sd in ISBO-84. After that it mounted again to £9 10s 3d, at which figure it now stands.