THE SURPLUSES EXPLAINED. Mr W. Frsser, M.H.R. for Wakatipu,

Otago Witness, Issue 2200, 30 April 1896, Page 11

THE SURPLUSES EXPLAINED. Mr W. Frsser, M.H.R. for Wakatipu,

adopted a somewhat unusual mtthod at Waikaia, in addressing his constituents to m»ke clear tbe figures he, was quoting. He had - beside him on the platform a blackboard on which he set down the figures as he used them, . and thns no doubt enabled his audience to follow and comprehend his remarks. Dealing with the Treasurer's surplus ho is reported by the Mataura Enngn so follows !—! — Tbe Premier had taken the colony into his confidence at Nelson, tho other day, when ha fetttfd the surplus for the year would b« £150,000. There was a good deal of scepticism anenfc these surpluses, and ho x thought an exp'aoation as to what; th<?y were and whence they came would not be out of plaoa. ~ Fox the pasb four years the surpluses were as follow :—

If they woul.l bear in mind the 1895 surplus (£180,024) he would from it illustrate how all Bcrplu«€N were obtained. H« might say at oncj that thete surploMs did exist, but they had been told thai; they came from revenue, and thtt the expenditure ou public works oune from the s-me source, and this was not so. To show this, the speaker g-ve tbe published total* for the lasO four year, of revenue properordinary and territorial — and disbursements. The totals were : —

On the other side, for expenditure, .nob decai-fcraontfcl, tbey found items totalling £2,245,874, including— Loanspaidoff £1,210,601 Paiu into public works fund 990,23? Deducting tbis amount from the reoeipts, tuej got a bal«_ce of £250,313; and taking fron tbis Ust turn tbe detioit ci.i ordinary revenue, which he hvi previously referred to (£50,289), there remained a balanoe of £180,024, or tbt amount of the surplus of 1895 cxttstly. It ~fti ' thus patent at & glance that the , . SURPLUSES CAHB FKOSI BORROWED MONHT. What, theu, b came ot the oft-repeated Ministerial statements that the public w*orkß of ■ the colony had been carried .on out of the rerenue, and that the Government was a non-borrowiug one? They had be?n doing nothing of the kind ; and were using borrowed moaey al} the time. JECu did not blame the Government for having need these surpluses ; tbey were only doing what their p.eieceseors had done, and what tbeir successors mutt do under the present system, but he blamed them for their want of frankness*, in vaunting that they were constructing public works out of these surpluses. Not satihfied with using the sib-king funds on, loans raised at Home, the Government had aho aauex-ed the sinking- funds accruing on loans to local bodies. It wai never intended that these moneys should be used for such a purpose, but the Premier maintained that it was right to do so. Explaining the position, the speaker aaid that in 1692, tbe Government of which the late J> hn Billance was bead bad passed a measure wir.oh provided for an appropriation of 1 per sent, from the consolidated revenne and £ per -cent, from tbe land assurance account. The total of these funds was £85,000. Mr Ballance had bo intention of the money beiDg diverted to its present purpose. Referring to Mr Ward's assertions at WintoD, in which tie stated that this £85,000 was intact, the npeaker said that could not be, as debentures had been iriaed against the whole sum and the money spent. The treasurer was playing with words, as the colony had no further interest in these sinking funds. He would teU them why the sinking fnnds had been atiz-d. The elections were coming on, and the Government would strain every nerve to make the surplus look as Trig M possible. In addition to the sinking funds, the Government had expended £718,000 which was at the credit of the public works fund when tbey took office. As he had said befora, he did not blame ths Government for spending money, but they should be candid and acknowledge so doing. ' , • I Mr T. Q. O'Brien, a member of the Buller I Gounfty Council, will contest the Inanfahtui se_t.

18 J3 18»4 1895 283,780 180,021

Permanent and annual appropriations £16.893,142 Etevemie 16.918,853 Leaving a debit balance of £50,289 For the same four yearn the receipts in aid of he reveuue scoount (bciag borrowed money) jrera :—: — Sinking funds released £1,083,375 Debentures issued 1,248,816 Balance in hand from April 1892 ... 143,966 Making a toM of £2,476,187 r6,1!r 6,1!