THE Southland Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. FRIDAY, 17th JULY, 1896.

Southland Times, Issue 13509, 17 July 1896, Page 2

THE Southland Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. FRIDAY, 17th JULY, 1896.

Tee Financial Statement delivered on Tuesday evening contains hardly a single element of interest. The information furnished by the Treasury officials is diffuse and not more intelligible than usual ; and very little beyond whut has already been announced is disclosed as to the intentions of the Government. Parliament is to be asked to authorise the borrowing of another million ; but of this one half is to be appropriated to extending the operations of “ The Lands Improvement and Native Lands Acquisition Act, 1894,” the funds to be raised under which were limited to L 500.000, and have been practically exhausted. The new departures are the proposals to raise L 250.000 towards bringing the railways under construction to a more piyable point; L 200.000 for the development of the goldfields, and L 50,000 for encouragement of tourist traffic by opening up by roads and tracks some of the more picturesque puts of lhs country, at present almost inaccessible. The sum to be provided for railway con struction is manifestly so insufficient to materially forward towards completion the lines now in progress, that we are confirmed in the opinion some time ago expressed that a big loan is in the mind of the Government, and that the present design is to whet the appetite of their followers, and of the classes upon which they mainly rely for support, at the ensuing elections, for [a large expenditure. Pressure, Ministers not unreasonably anticipate, will be brought to bear in order to induce the adoption of an heroic public works policy, which would exactly suit their purposes. The statement of the receipts and expenditure of the revenue account for the year ended 31st March, 1896, shows a balance of receipts over expenditure of L 185,534, and to this is added the balance of the previous year, LI 80,024 —L365,558. Deducting tbe amount L 150,000 transferred to the public works fund during the year, this leaves a net surplus of L 215.558. “Our detractors,” says the Treasurer iu a tone of jubilation, “whi are “ few, will be disappointed, but our “ friends, who are many, will rejoice at “ such a splendid result as is shown.” A little investigation of the balance sheet may possibly, however, somewhat moderate these transports. The ordinary revenue, i.e., that derived from taxation and other legitimate sources, is supplemented by “ receipts in aid ” and “ sinking funds set free;” whilst there were on March 31st Treasury bills outstanding to a very large amount. The r reasurer does not explain how these effect the financial position, nor does be refer at all to the floating debt, which surely should be taken into account. In this we are bound to admit Mr teddon follows the precedent of his predecessors, but the gi t appears to bo tomew'n' taken off the surplus. As a matter of fact there would appear to be no real surplus at all, and it ie at least doubtful whether the ordinary revenue has covered the ordinary expenditure ; we shall hear, however, by and bye what the Opposition have to say on this subject. ln the absence of the tables appended to tl>e Statement we confess outgel/es peiplxe) by the problem preHsn ted, t_As regards the revenue for the year 1895-96 it is so far.gratifying to find that there is an increase over that of the preceding year in several important branches, notably Customs, railways, and stamps With regard to Customs satisfaction must be tempered

by the consideration that the result is owing to the additional taxation of necessaries and conveniences of life The territorial revenue shows a decrease, and bids fair to become a “ vanishing quantity,” under the policy of the present Minister of Lands. The Treasurer expresses himself pleased that the decrease only amounted to L 24,393 — “ a most gratifying result it must «• be allowed, seeing that the brsr “ of our Crown lands have been alienated “ and only a remnant remains,” which is a little stretch of the honourable gentleman’s imagination.' ——The ordinary expenditure of the year shows an excess over that of 1894-95 of L 103,769, of which L 93,059 was on the annual votes. This was of course to be expected since the ideas of the Government in regard to economy are in a very imperfect state of development, and no attempt whatever has been made to retrench, whibt officials have been multiplied indefinitely. The position of Ministers is somewhat analagous to that of men pursued by wolves on the Russian steppes ; unless there are lumps of meat or other food to throw to them, they overtake the sleigh and make a meal off the occupants I The Public Debt is shown in a tabular statement to be nearly double what it was in 1879. On March 31st last, it had reached L 43,000,050 being an increase of L 2,680,816 on the amount duo at the same date in the preceding year. The net debt on the same date respectively was L 39,635,032 and L 42,271,889. This is not so bad for a non-borrowing Government I Although the public debt has been considerably augmented, this does not, the Treasurer states, carry with it sn increase of the interest charges of the colony; and with regard to the half million of 3| per cent stock, the B ink of New Zealand has to pay over an equivalent amount of interest in respect of their preferred shares held by the colony. “In regard to the million and “ a half loan raised under the Govern- “ ment Advances to Settlers Act, the “ interest paid by the borrowers more “ than recoups the 3 per cent for which ” the colony is liable. Further, it nrist “ not be forgotten that at the end of «• 36 years the annual instalments paid “ by borrowers will entirely extinguish “ the debt.” There is a good deal of presumption in this very sanguine view of the operation of the Act, It presumes that all the money will be judiciously advanced, and that there will be ho defaulters. Moreover, the money, although raised at 3 per cent, is costing the colony considerably more, the? I'an having been floated below par snd Jo id’d with heavy charges. The Treasurer farther affirms that L 556.065 of the amount added to the public debt returns interest in excess of the annual charge, an assertion at least questionReferring to the public works fund, Mr Seddon states that the suih available when “ the Liberal Government ” came into office in 1891 was only L 477,703, and he takes credit for having been able, largely by means of grants from revenue, to carry on public works “in a fairly liberal manner ” during the succeeding six years. The time has now come, however, he stiys, when some further aid will be required to enable the very important works in hand to be proceeded with. “ The Gov- “ eminent consider a large expenditure “ on railway construction unnecessary ; “ at the same time it is advisable, and “ in the beat interests of the colony, to “ complete at an early date the Eketa- “ huna-Woodville railway, and that in “ respect to other lines, reasonable pro- “ gress should be made with the works.” It is therefore proposed to ask for a special provision to be made to the amount of L 250.000, in addition to the amount to be transferred from revenue, in aid of the public works fund, which has now only L 40,000 to credit. We must defer dealing with other points in the Statement until a future occasion ; beyond what we have referred to there is, however, nothing calling for immediate notice.