THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. WEDNESDAY, JULY 8, 1908. THE FINANCIAL STATEMENT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13796, 8 July 1908, Page 6

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. WEDNESDAY, JULY 8, 1908. THE FINANCIAL STATEMENT.

■'---—'■'•■•»'."■'. —— ■ ■ '' _ Owing to the. very commendable custom of informing the public upon the general financial position of the country as soon as possible after the close of March, there" is little new in the returns of revenue and expenditure for 1907-3 contained in the Financial Statement. It was already known that the revenue had considerably exceeded nine millions sterling, that the surplus over expenditure was £850,000, that there was a credit balance oil £767,000, and that the earnings of the various working Departments had increased as satisfactorily as the collections of the taxing Departments. During periods of industrial prosperity the presentation of financial statements in any country and by any Government is a sufficiently, pleasant task, nor is it to be wondered at that Sir Joseph Ward congratulated Parliament last .night upon ■ the financial ■:. position of the Dominion, or that he very pointedly drew attention to the progress made since the accession of his party to power seventeen years ago. For, being election year, the Statement was a more than usually political document, and addressed much more to the free and independent electors than to their representatives - in ; Parliament assembled- This was particularly noticeable in the enthusiasm manifested for the roading of the country, and . for the. financial assistance of the local bodies in this great work. It might be thought that after seventeen years in office a - progressive Government would . already have made New Zealand " as well-roaded as any country in the world." But the desirability of this appears to have only lately dawned upon Van.; Administration which finds an abundance of good roads all through ! the South Island, and is only greatly concerned with what happens in the North about election time. ; Sir Joseph Ward now informs the country that he , is providing £650,000 during 1908-9 for roads: and bridges, of which amount £250,000 is to be expended in the back blocks. This , £350,000 is to be repeated yearly until a million has thus been expended, which , reminds us that £600,000 is being spent on a single tunnel of the railway between Westland and Canterbury, and that a million sterling is to be spent in ■ State irrigation works for the benefit ' of Central Otago: However that ; may be, the back ' country settlers of the North may well be thankful for small mercies, while more advan-tageously-situated local bodies v will be glad to obtain 25 per cent, lower rates for the haulage of road metal by the State railways,' provided, of course, they can get their orders for trucks attended to. ( And, speaking of Central Otago, we are told that administrative attention will be paid to its irrigation scheme later in the ■ session.. ■■■■ ', :x ,'-. • Among the questions which most profoundly affect the North is that of the Native Lands. The excuse that insuperable survey difficulties ha evdelayed matters is advanced for the admitted failure of the native land boards to put any considerable area of land upon the market, but the Financial' Statement glows with anticipations of a future so busy ! that two additional presidents of j native land boards will have to ': be I appointed. We are inclined to think I that back country roads and native lands are both much like railwaysimpossible to do very much for when the Government is not . in the humour. The Main Trunk' express, we are told, is to be running on November 14 yet it was only a few months ago when the Department was more than doubtful • as • • to whether the Auckland-Wellington connection would be made by the end of the year and we have to thank the expected visit of the American Fleet for the energetic way in which the r construction is at last being pushed along. Nor will the Government be as many years in providing a new Parliament Building as it has been in the matter of the Auckland Post Office. In connection with the burning of Parliament Building, Sir Joseph entered into a long defence of the policy of non-insurance, and actually ventured to say that for the Government to insure with its own Fire Insurance Department would be taking money l out of one pocket to put into another. But, after all, this attitude is quite consistent with the indifference displayed to Sinking Funds, generally, and the suggestion that because our borrowings are for theo- ', retically reproductive • purposes they , may continue indefinitely. In 1906 our public debt stood at £62,191,040; in 1907 it was £64,179,040 now it is £66,453,897; and we are to increase ; it by £1,250,000, in addition to savings bank funds, during 1908-9. We are constantly faced by the necessity for conversions or renewals, and though we recognise fully Sir Joseph Ward's caution in this direction, and his constant effort to avoid by timely; forethought any unpleasant pressure from our liabilities, yet we all know it cannot go on for ever, least of 'ill if we keep plunging immense sums in public works which can. never pay and have no money to spend upon

public works which would pay at once. There should "'be no indebtedness without adequate sinking Card provisions, ; whether by; local bodies or by the Government. The estimated revenue for the present year • is given by Sir :■ Joseph Ward as £8,985,000, : and h the estimated expenditure as £8,662,993; that is to say, the revenue for 1908-9 is estimated as less, and the expenditure as more, than that for 1907-8. There is a very ancient superstition against boasting of luck, and the Government . has always .been consistent in refusing to assume that the prosperity which it suggests is due to its administration, but which it knows to be due to causes beyond its control, may continue even for another year. We may therefore take it for granted that unless there is a much more emphatic check to our prosperity than now seems. probable, the actual revenue for the current year will be considerably in excess of the estimate. The expenditure will certainly not be below the estimate, for it is lifted as compared to -last year by the Civil Service classification scheme; increase in Departmental staffing, and other causes. In connection with public employment, there is to be a general extension of superannuation," which is being arranged to cover the employees of local authorities; while the public are to be catered for along the same lines by an annuities scheme, of which ' the general , principle is admittedly admirable, but which is not a new thing '; among Ministerial utterances. ; Nor is the declaration that £100,000 ought to be paid annually to the Imperial Navy, j which at last appears as a definite item in our national housekeeping accounts.