THE REVENUE.

Colonist, Volume XXV, Issue 2932, 13 August 1881, Page 3

THE REVENUE.

The brighter prospect, that was afforded by the return of the Customs Revenue for the quarter ended 30th March, is again overclouded by that v p to 30th June. By the increase shown in the former, it seemed as though ! the .Colony Was gradually, if slowly recovering from the' long and severe depression it has suffered under, whereas in the latter, not merely doea the advance-<ceaie to be maintained, there is once more a positive, though not very large decline. In England it has long been held that the Customs and Excise duties are an infallible test f the condition of the people, and especially those' derived from articles whoie consumption some persona consrder vicious} many more extravagant, and nona deny' is not absolutely indispensable. -Whatever view vuay be taken, there is no escape from the fact, that without ar. radical change in the habits .and tastes of the people that it will taks agea to bring about, the existence of a t surplus of earnings beyond what ia essential' to the mere preservation^? existence, will continue to be accurately iadicated by the revenue derived frbtn spirits aud tobacco. Deplore it'as:: social reformers may, they' cannot get rid of the evidence afforded by the experience, that baa led to this branch of the national income being more anxiously and closely watched'fchan "any other, to discover whether it may ba assumed that bad times ara passing away. The daily life of our population is in proportion to means very'miich the same as that in Eagland , and applyiug the same test, it ia impossible with any degree of truth to say, that the state of the great mass of the people shows any sigu'of improvement. When Major Atkinson addressed his constituents shertly before the aession, he conteuded that the season of trial through which the Colony had passed, as he put it. is passing would be more correct to siv, had exercised such a mighty influence on the popular mind that the indulgence.l) forbidden by diro Necessity were from choice not resumed ; that the beauties of thrift had come to be so wfdely appreciated as to prevent an equal expenditure on liquor and tobacco, though the power of purchasing them had grown to be as great as it was when the duties on these articles enriched the Treasury. Ho wished his hearers to believe, it i 3 barely possible he believed, that the heavy additions he had made to the tariff had produced a great moral reform, and if that really were true, his unskilful finance would indirectly have been a benefit to the country. Unfortunately for his contention human nature is the same everywhere, and no one who has had the opportunity of observing what has invariably, occurred in JSngland after times cf distress immeasurably worse than any ever known here bad passed away, can fail to remember that those who indulged before, indulged again, and that, too, sofar from greater moderation, with greater zest as if to make up for lost time. It has been the fashion for so in a time for ministerial journals and weak minded politicians to echo the assertions of the Government, that they have established prosperity throughout the land, and to give currency to any excuse, no matter how feeble, for the-absence of the well known signs. This line is perilous for the party that.adopt it, as well as being foolish and dishonest. Explanations, however plausible, will not long be accepted in the face of hard facts, and the time of reaction against tbosa making them can never be long postponed. Better far to fraakly acknowledge that.ho Government can materially influence the condition of the people, which, depends on circumstances beyond the power of any statesmen or Legislature to judge or control. When,.,the revenue fails, as it did here, from, world wide causes, wise men wo'iild'Jook for, the supply of the deficiency to sources capable of yielding more plentifully; than before, instead, as the Cglonia), Treasurer did in 1879, of attempting to. wring raora from those barely able to .get a Jiving. The painful truth must be recognized, that oot only was thin a complete failure at the outset, but that it remains so now, and the unavoidable inference is that the return, of prosperity, if it has begun, is as yet slight and feeble, the further and practical lesson being, that every available shilling of surplus revenue should be devoted to the. reduction , of the Customs duties on every article of necessary use to a more reasonable scale than the present, iv preference to any reduction of a direct tax which, however defective, falls on those comparatively well oft. ~' ~ The details of this last return are positively more disheartening than the balance on the wrong side would at the first glance indicate. That is £4886, bad enough in itself, and wholly contradictory of the prosperity cry. . The receipt from Spirits baa fallen in the quarter £14,37-1; from Tobacco, in iti various forms, £3725 ; from Wine, Ale, &<?., £1117; from Tea, Coffee, &c., £1486; and from Sugar, £6633; the , total decline on these .articles being no less than £27,335. On the other side, Opium viewed, more by £295; Goods by weight by £3498; Ad valorem duties by £18;528; and Miscellaneous by £1287;. making..a total.of £22,449 With the exception of, Auckland, where .there was the substantial improvement of £8841 ; of, Wellington with Eoiton, which rose £418, and ..YVeßtport £^116>;;-§very .leadingsport ia the Colony gav# evidence that, mow

■■•"•-orleß'rt^'elinhliibTtants of-the district" drawing'theisjsupjpilies from it aV^ir^; worse circumstances than theyjw ; eref' f tw:elve/toont,h9-beforeV : ;Thevdecljne,;at r ' .■ , ,wa4 £183 i at Napier, ; i£673 i-rat■: "VV'anganHii"; £1109 ;iat the > xMarlb.QroughMiP'^tSjf^l^'rvat^f^yi;. ;; ; 'mauthy ;£1810; M-- HbkitikJiiu^Sl^ r >'!at7 t,he CanterlJuryHiportsci^SilSp;; at; r the .Otago, porti, J £3606;; - and vaJ JSjtkon, ; £3l9^rthe,la^t certainly fpf : jlarge, bin •for^ll, that a.n unsatjsfactio'ry*- , -.Bi^n.^ .Clearly the.state of the country ; ; .is,:nofc one of pmsperity,. when u Wiith a '^marked ;addition-to -its \ populatinnj the consumption,^ •; artiQljes, scfme. in a\;sense!'6f^luxury, '.-iotihersrbP comfort, ■<. and i others ■ again,.; as teaand su-^arj almost; if not entirely, ; : a necessity, has been! Jess.-: yThe qiies-; '■; ; tion. how i.tbia -can ■be or; ,■,, whether i.fc.is within;the powerirof O.Hr.. ; rulers,to do?anything;toanierid itjis of .vital consequence, .and itq it; the; -\thoughts of-all should be;directed. ~, ;