OPINIONS ON THE BUDGET.

Otago Witness, Issue 2372, 17 August 1899, Page 25

OPINIONS ON THE BUDGET.

(From Our Own Cobbespomdent.J WELLINGTON, August 1. It was noticed to-night that the Premier, on finishing the reading of his Budget, did not lay it on the table, and members and the press I could not get copies of it. The reason of this | was at fir?t somewhat puzzling, till it leaked | out that the Statement, ac printed, contained I the usual blunder, though v/hat the nature of it is has not been allowed to transpire. The Hon. John MacGregor, who was an interested listener i.i the Legislative Councillors' gallery during the reading of the .Budget to-night, gave me his ideas briefly on the Financial Statement. He said: "'I should chaiac- ■ Lerise the Financial Statement as a mere prosj peotus for bribes for the geneial election, and, ; of anything mr n the nature of statesmanship, it ; is absolutely destitute. We !ia\e the annually recurring surplus and tbo innually recurring loan, but no suggestion of a lightening of the load of taxation. The protestations of, and exhortations to, economy proceeding from such a quarter are an affront to the in- ! telligence of the people." i Mr Jamee Allen, who is one of the best I critics of finance in the House, gives me his impressions of Mr Seddon's Budget in the following terms: — "Just from hearing the Financial Statement read, what strikes me at present is with respect to the accounts of the past year, and that the revenue has been to a larger extent than usual aided by land values. ! No less than £81,000 for cash land sale*, and £21,000 deferred payment land soles, ha*s been added to the ordinaiy revenue. It is obvious lha-t the sale of land is a parting with our capital, and the funds derived ought not to be considered ordinary revenue. The thing is taking place in respect to Native lands, only to a worso degree, for in this mbtanee we borrow the money to purchase iho Native land. Amongat othor things contributing to the surplus must be noted the j unexpended appropriations, including the saving made on the defence vote, owing to the I camp equipage, etc., not being provided, the j reason being, according to the Treasurer, ! ' that the war scare had passed." The public j works fund is, as it ha 3 been now for some ! ;. ears, a ' hand to mouth ' concern, depleted j i !vt the end of each year, and depending for i • its existence on transfers from the eonso-li- j j dated fund, or on borrowing, or both. The want of care shown by the Colonial Treasurer in respect of his department is evidenced by the faot that the Auditor and Controllergeneral has had to attach no less than four tags to the public accounts. It is cause for alarm that the Treasury department is so ill attended to by the Treasurer. The Treasurer's j defenoe of the low nrice realised for the I £1,000,000 loan— viz., £96 11s,— was lame in j the extreme, and his want of candour in omit- | ting to state tho concessions made as to payI ment of interest — viz., by offering pre-pay-ments, is in accord with his usual tactics. The market, ho said, was hostile, and the action of the Midland Railway debentureholders helped to make the price the loan realised bad. The question arises, Why was the market hostile? The refusal to give way to the underwriters is not sufficient to account for the low price. Surely this colony (if trusted_ in tho great loan market of the world), with its so-called prosperous condition, financial and otherwise, ought to obtain better terms. The increase in the net public debt, close on £2,000,000 in one year, will come as a surprise to many who have relied on the present Government as ' non-borrow-ing and self-reliant.' The £ per cent, reduction to be allowed to settlers under the Advances lo Settlers Act everyone will be glad to see, provided that the department can stand this reduction, but if it involves charges on the general public then it is not fair. It seems strange that no more definite proposal has come down to reduce the rate of interest under the Loans to Local Bodies Act. This, it eeeina to me, can and ought to be

done. It can be done without putting any burden on the general taxpayer, and it ought to-be done, because this is the great means of assisting local bodies to find the money reasonably for local works. The revenue for the year I believe to be, as usual, underestimated, and it is worthy of comment that the lands in the common fund of the Public Trustee pay no land tax, and that the territorial revenue, notwithstanding the boasted increase in settlement, is expected to fall short by £36,000. On the expenditure side the new charge for old-age pensions has altogether exceeded the Premier's estimate. When speaking on the second reading of the bill his then estimate was. for the second year, £99.000, and for the fifth £126,000. He now says the c-narge for this year will approach £150,000, fo he therefore was under-estimating this expenditure in one year by something like £50,000. If his other calculations as to annual increase are equally wrong. Parliamentii<*s been much misled as to the burden they ■were assuming. Ro the new loan of 51.000,000. I believe thp demands now' annually made for borrowed money for additions to open lines are largely due to the fact that the railways ha\e r.ot been kept up out of revenue to the extent they should have been. The £50,000 for permanent worlcs on the goldfields will probably be swamped in expenditure on other wc-Vs, just as happened with a previous loan' for such work, and must therefore be considered as an electioneering voto largely. Generally there is nothing startling in the Statement. It is ovrient the general election is approaching, and no doubt time will only prove to many who expect something from this Statement that they will be disappointed."