PROVINCIAL FINANCE,

Otago Witness, Issue 920, 17 July 1869, Page 2

PROVINCIAL FINANCE,

Among the papers recently laid before the Assembly is one containing a Statement of the Receipts and Expenditure of the several Provinces of New Zealand for the year 18C8. The special object held in view in the publication of this Table is not quite clear. If, however, the information it contains is not very likely to bo useful except to some future statistician, curious in comparisons between his own day and ours, some of it« details are worthy of! a passing notice They exemplify some of the peculiarities of our double form of Government. They alao show some of the points in which the Provincial system has been differently develo|H)d in the several distinct portions of the colony in which it has been tried.

Tho iirst point that attracts notice is the oxtont to which tho provincial shuro of tho Consolidated Rovonuo of tho colony is absorbed by tho paymont of interest, and tho provision of sinking funds for the Loj\ns raised by the pro* vinces thomselvcs. Tho conversion of a comidcrablo portion of each of these Loans, tho management of which forinod the immediate object of Mr Fitzuerhekt's mission to England, has somewhat reduced this annual charge by spreading it over a longer period, and this reduotion will, it is to bo hoped, bo carried to a still groatoi' extent by further conversions. Should the conversion, however, becotno complete, the annual burden will atill boar a very high proportion to tho whole slim at tho disposal of Provinci*l Treasurers, until happier times bring up our Custom* revenue to a better figure,

X

nkli|fti^he Consolidated * Revenue after ;the#costWo£t'aiM establishmentflin^the several provinces ha<i been* provided for, no less; ! %an £287,4T7 l : 2s BH - was ! afcsorbe'd ]by 'th"eVe ; payments on account " of : Loans: • J This is over! and above any sum by which the "unlucky province of Marlborough may have run into debt 1 on 'this account to the General Government. The followiiag are the < percentages /which payments of this class bear to their whole share of consolidated revenue in f the case of 1 each province: — Auckland, 86 iper cent.* frawke's Bay 89, "Wellington 65, Nelson %% Canterbury 56, Wetland 45, Otago 91-. Thefigureis includethe interest paid on, r over drafts of Bank' accounts; &c, but the amount of this is trivial. We have omitted tho^e provinces, Taranaki, Marlborough^ and Southland," which are unable to pay th,e annual charges for the debts they have contracted. In this list Nelson holds a' happy position. The per centage shown for Canterbury is not a proper index- of the proportion between the interest and sinking fund she has now to ' provide for, and her share of the Consolidated Revenue, a large item of the present public debt having only been negotiated during last year. The position of Otago in this particular is worthy of thoughtful consideration. We do not now draw attention to it for the first time, but have not on former occasions had the opportunity of making a 'definite comparison of our own annual burden with that of other provinces. We are threatened with a new Colonial Loan, and there does not appear to be any way of providing for the annual charges which it will entail, except 'by further reducing what is called the Provincial share of the Consolidated Revenue. If this is done our land fund and the direct taxes raised under provincial ordinances will have to be trenched upon to pay these burdens of past expenditure. Some one has recently said a very true thing about burdens of this class, viz. : that while we talk when we raise a loan about making posterity pay for some of the benefits we in our time secure for it, we are in reality laying a burden not on those who are to follow us but on ourselves. Turning again to the tables before us, we are struck with the diversity between one province and another in regard to what we may call local direct taxation. In the provinces of Wellington and Hawke's Bay, we find the Road Rates as well us the Tolls form part of the Provincial Treasurer's list of ways and means. It would be very interesting to have a full return of the moneys raised under this head throughout the colony. Of one thing we feel pretty sure — that in this especial way of helping themselves, the settlers of Otago would stand not only at the head of the

list, but divided from any others by a very wide margin. License fees form an important item of our own revenue. Of fourteen different sources from which such revenue appears to be derived in New Zealand, twelve are made use of

in this province ; six in Canterbury ; fivo in Auckland, Taranaki, and South-

and j threo in Hawke's Bay, Nelson, and Marlborough ; and only two in Wellington. The auctioneers and tho publicans are tho only trades universally taxed in this manner. No loss a sum than £00,323 3a Cd is raised in this manner in New Zealand. Tolls in Otago produced a revenuo of £10,377 lla lOd during 186$, nearly twico as much as in all tho other provinces put together. Tho cause is simple : — Of roads whoso quality warrants tho infliction of tolls on those who uro them, Otago boasts of a far greater length than all tho rest of tho colony. In regard to territorial revenue, this provinoo held an enviablo position lastyoar, about one half of the whole being raised hero. Canterbury as might havo been oxpeoted is noxt on tho list, but her -whole revenuo from this source was only £77,689 2s 3d, against £174,901 lCs 5d in Otego. Tho duty on gold received in thw provinoe is ontiroiy omitted from tho Return, and no explanation^ ofterod of tho foo*. In tho cmg of tho othor gold exporting provinow the figutt* w« giveij. That

■ *ne* Wssio^JfTj&t a mere printer's^ .^wrortis^ (siagreeingt^ithntfoe various vsumss-fswich' '"do appWjnithe^a%J- -*' ; , *'' ' V ";W. _ --- I'M'dit^t'fax^ioV^xblusiVe of that conn^ci&iwith' the. Gqidfields,',shows 'a lofeal'i'fov. the^olony^of ills, fequal to about a 'fifth, of' the 1 Customs Revenue. ! '- Of this 1 more than .£38,000 is\ raisedlin. Otago. "These figures, however, 4 ' include such .-items as Harbour Dues »dnd» Pilotages " From:' License 1 Fees 'and "'Local Taxes proper, only .£88,7120' 6s id is, obtained, more than i;hree-eightbs of which is drawn from the pockets of- the- lieges in this province. In .every particular, the principle of self-help appears to have been more heartily accepted in Otago than anywhere elae-in New Zealand.