THE OTAGO WITNESS.

Otago Witness, Issue 311, 14 November 1857, Page 5

THE OTAGO WITNESS.

DUNBDIH, SATUBDAT, NOVEMBER 14, 1857. The estimates for the year having been passed, and the business of .the Session having been gone through, we take, the opportunity of making a few remarks upon the estimates and the policy,, of the Go., vernment as shewn by the appropriation for the year. The total sum voted is £48,670, to meet which the revenue, as calculated on a safe basis, is £15,985, leaving £32,685 to be supplied from other sources, of which the power to borrow £35,000, granted by the Loan Ordinance .of last year, is the only one. That power has not been exercised, and will not now be used, unless there should be an absolute necessity. We have noticed that the revenue is calculated upon a safe basis, but should immigration take place to the extent which is anticipated, there will no doubt be a great increase both in the customs and land revenues, which may be sufficient to meet the wants of the Government. The habitual expenditure of a much larger sum than the actual revenue of the Province is a course of policy which cannot last without involving the inhabitants in heavy taxation ; it is therefore a course which we think should only be followed under cases of extreme emergency, and we hold the present crisis of the Province to be a case of emergency. The Council, during the session of 1856, seemed to be intoxicated with hope and dreamed of wonders to be performed under the prosperous state of the public funds to be brought about by the passing of the Land Sales and Leases Ordinance ; that hope has hitherto been unrealized, but the Council, acting under it, voted away nearly three times the assumed revenue of the Province, and amongst the items of that vote was £20,000 for Immigration, for the expenditure of which contracts were entered into. Under such circumstances, it became the duty of the Government to be in such a position, should a large influx of population of the labouring class take place, as to be able to find them employment upon public works should tho labour market be over-stocked : besides this consideration there exists the imperative necessity of doing something to place the construction of roads on a satisfactory footing, and of taking strong measures, even to the extent of running into debt, to effect some diminution of the evils arising from the want of roads. With this object in view the Government placed a very considerable sum on the estimates — more than a half of the actual revenue — for roads and public works. They at the same time placed a salary on the estimates for the services of a Civil Engineer, which appointment they proposed to give to Mr. Thomson, the Chief Surveyor, who, from the fact of his being engaged in surveying the country, must of necessity be the man to whom the laying off of practicable road lines in the unsurveyed districts should be entrusted. It also happens that Mr. Thomson is eminently qualified for his new office, and we sincerely hope that the Government, with his able assistance, may in the course of the year, place this important matter on a satisfactory footing, and that the inconvenience and almost hopeless state of the road question which have arisen in the surveyed districts from the want of those surveys being made to suit the natural features of the country, may be avoided for the future, and that monstrous evil of claims for compensation, ! exceeding the whole purchase money of ! the land through which roads have to be made, not be repeated and perpetuated. To this matter the Government has determined to devote its chief attention. That there may be a collision between the Government and the General Road Board seems to be probable enough, if we may judge from the tone of the remarks of a member of that Board in the Council; but we trust the majority, of that Board will see the necessity of acting in harmony with the Government, or in all probability little good will be effected. Of the other most important items of expenditure, we may notice that no less a sum 1 than £16,082 is composed of sums voted by the Council last year, which were .unexpended, but to which the faith of the Government was pledged ; to which, if we add the £4000 for the payment of the interest on the N. Z. Company's Debt, and £277© interest on debentures and- bank charges gives a total of £22,852, over which the new Executive have had no control.

The present Go vernmeift 'las^fk therefore suggested the expenditure -61^ut little more than the. probable revenue, and of this sum the greater part is for public works. In salaries, no important rises were intended to be made, but the Council, with that liberality -which usually distinguishes such bodies, commenced raising the salary of first one under-paid official and then another, until, in the attempt to carry out the particular notions of justice of some members, cases of injustice were created in the minds of others, so that one salary must be raised because another had been increased. This is all very well, and we have no objection to the Council being liberal ; but these matters, we think, might safely be left to the Government, who have the best means of knowing whether the salaries are in proportion to the work, and seldom err on the side of iiliberality, and when, by the course of proceeding pursued the Executive are relieved from the responsibility of being economical in such matters. There is another practice pursued in our Provincial Council to which we object, viz., that of every member suggesting that a certain sum shall be put on the Estimates for some particular object, which, although beneficial in itself, has the effect of suggesting a similar expenditure for some other object ; so that at last the appropriation- gets swelled to an extent which renders it impossible for the Government to overtake the whole work cut out for it, or entirely disarranges its financial policy. It may be said that this ought to be resisted by the Government, but we have not seen one yet strong enough to do so ; for it is a singular fact that those who have not got to find the money are generally most liberal in spending it, and we have never known an instance in New Zealand of the amount of the appropriation not exceeding the Estimates as at first introduced by the Government. On the whole, we may say that the appropriation is satisfactory, but we do not believe that the whole amount can be expended. It is, however, quite evident that the Government are expected to effect great improvements ; and although no doubt those expectations are far beyond what can be realized, the fate and popularity of the Government will greatly depend upon its energetically carrying on roads and public works. Thekx has been considerable excitement in Dunedin for the last few days in consequence of the money belonging to tbe Treasury department of the Waste Land Board not being in the chest when it was opened on Saturday last. Immediately^ upon the appointment of the Treasure? being gazetted, that officer applied by letter to Mr. Macandrew for the key of the chest of the department, which demand not having been complied with, another letter was forwarded on Monday, threatening to bring the matter under the attention of the Government. This produced an immediate interview between the Treasurer and Mr. Macandrew. Some demur was made by the latter to deliver up the key because he was the executor and surety of the late Mr. Proudfoot, and the key was not delivered until the following day, when, upon examination of the chest, it was found to contain only £705, whilst it ought to have contained £1929 14s. 5d., making a deficiency of £1224 14s. sd. Mr. Macandrew stated that there was upwards of one thousand pounds in Mr. Proudfoot's house at the time of his death, which Mr. Macandrew took possession of as executor. This sum has not, however, yet come into the hands of the Treasurer. We refrain from making further remarks upon this subject, because the whole matter has been referred to a select committee of the Provincial Council, whose report, we presume, will he published. Otago Property Investment Company. — The Quarterly Meeting of this Company was. held in the School-room, Dunedin, on Tuesr day last, at 8 o'clock in the evening, Alexander Rennie, Esq., M.P.C., in the Chair, when the following sums were disposed of and pre? miums realised : — Member's No. Amount Prem. per • ,-. -jFotnl ' in Co s. Books, purchased. £20. Premium. 14 ... £20 ... £5 ... £5 0 132 ... 60 ... 5 1 .... 15 3 132 ... 20 ... 5 1 ... -5 1. 121. ... 100 „. 5 .., SJS 0 112 ... 20 ... 4 8 ... 4 8 41 .. 20 ... 4 15 ... 4 15 132 ... 20 ... 411 .'., 411 129 ... 20 ... 4 6 ... 4 6 52 ... 80 ... 4 7 ... 17 8 ■ 41 ... * 20 ... 4 2 ... 4 2 . £380 , £89 -14 ; Sum on hand when, sale commenced 296 11 ,4' ,'"""', ,'£38,6^5 A. Sum sold as above.....*. 3S0 v , v o^O "Balance „..."..<., ••»r» r VV4