THE REVENUE OF THE PROVINCE.

Colonist, Volume IV, Issue 342, 29 January 1861, Page 4

THE REVENUE OF THE PROVINCE.

The annual and quarterly statements of revenue and expenditure for the period ending 30th Sept., 1860, are published in; a Provincial Government Gazette, which con* tains also a variety of announcements dating as far back as the 11th October. The receipts from the three-eighths of Customs for the year was £11,947 0s 6d, indicating a gross Customs revenue of about £32,000. The. receipts from the same source for the last quarter of \hs year were £291318s 3d. Orowiv lands during the year prod.uQe4

£48^244'.6a Bd, of. whick £10,454j 5s ,§.d was contributed during - the September quarter. Publicans; and' auctioneers'' licenses ."produced £615 in the| quarter and in tile year. :; Of ; Immigrants'^passage ponies due to ;the Government) £23;50; was recovered during , the 'year. jlh the .same-^riod, the;Regjs'tra^pn'of Deejdspro^1 duced fees amounting ,ta, d 1.547 18s 8d i •pilotage,fees were (gross); £29T^1ss v 2d';'. liyttelton jetty wharfage fees were "ißOp ; 6s 7d, the produce of the last quarter of the year'only; and a total sum ol.&lifi^ 17s, 7cl is made up from miscellaneous sources. Of these last, £19 19s 6d is credited to the province of Otago, as a repayment by it of expenses incurred in the capture of prisoners.

The yearly expenditure includes the two great items, public works and immigration. The former cost £23,184 lls 9d, including £1996 14s sd, the expense of the depart-^ ment. Immigration cost £13,688 14s 9dj The grants in aid of schools amounted to £2262 10s; the cost of the Executive departments of Government was £2486 7s lOd; the Provincial Council cost £497 0s 2d; justice—including Supreme Courts gaol, registration, police, and inspector of sheep-r----cost £5787 9s 7d; the Waste Lands Board and Surveys (including contract surveys) cost £9050 13s; the Harbour department cost £670 6s lid; charitable, £1762; 10s; printing and advertising, £803 Is 7d; grant in aid of building churches, £2850; buildings and furniture, £5856 3s 3d; Government plantations, £252 14s 7d; the railway, £5835 9s; interest on overdraft, £983 8s lOd; all which, with a few minor departments and services, amount to £79,246 2s 6d. The difference between expenditure and revetiue for the year, £7226 4s lid, is added to the bank debt. ;

We have been favoured with a statement of the land sales of the province during 1860, showing the.number of acres sold and the number of sections in which the acreage was disposed of: also the number of.sections and their acreage granted in exchange forjland given up for roads, or for works done, instead of money, under the 42nd and 43rd clauses of the Land Regulations. The statement is as follows:—

The acreage sold^cfurihg the year represents a revenue of raised by; the sale of sections averaging only 45 acres each in extent. This must be looked upon as a most wholesome state of things, indicating as it does that the land passes into the hands of those who mean to use it. The three facts displayed—that so handsome a revenue is produced from the sacrifice of, comparatively, so little land—that even at the high price, so good a market is found— and that the land when sold passes into, the^ hands of bon& fide occupiers, together prove conclusively the value of our land system. KAIAPOI RACES. The Kaiapoi Races, postponed from ;the previous day on account of the weather, came off on Thursday, the 10th instant. The state of the weather, which was ;wet and stormy from the south-west, rendered the course, which lay on swampy ground, extremely soft and boggy. To the same cause may be attributed the paucity of spectators, there being only some sixty or seventy persons present, many of whom were Maoris. The first race, the Kaiapoi Cup/was walked over by Mr. F. Day's Hector Norman. The entries for the second, the Maiden Plate, were three in number :— Mr. J. Cuff's bm Kitty 1 Mr. Shand's b m Cassandra 2 Mr. Harrison's eh m Lucy 3 , ; Won easily by Kitty, Cassandra coming in a, bad second. ■. • , , ..:."• :;;; The Ladies' Purse, post entries, followed; j won by Hector Norman. The stakes for this race were not over £5. : The Publicans' Purse was also won by the same horse against Mr. Moneys bg Rob Roy, no others starting. ]$pb Roy' ran a close race for the first heat, but; an unlucky stumble in the swamp lost him the second, and the race. I The Galloway Race was walked oVer by a chesnut filly belonging to Mr. Lee. There were three entries for the Maori Race, which was won by a bay horse narried Young Charlie, ridden by Mr. Harrison. The Hack Race, which concluded the day's sport, was won by a horse belonging to Mr. Money, called Rocket, against two others.

SOI ,D. gra: fTED. MONTH. Sections Acreage j Acreage Sections! ■ ■ . ." ■ ■ ■ January February March April ..'.... ....... | May ':...[ June .... ........j July August ........... September October November ...'..... j 4 2 42 55 41 55 45 31 53 j 49 65 53 1390 1143 2147 1231 2894 .2154; 2298 1823 1865, 3798 2831 "l 1 i2Q :20 i ■ • * ; *9 • j 340 5g6 I 25,475 I i 11 ! i 380