RESIDENT MAGISTRATE'S COURT.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XXIV, Issue 2426, 8 July 1876, Page 3

RESIDENT MAGISTRATE'S COURT.

Wednesday, July 6, 1876. — Before H. E. Kenny, Esq., R.M. A Tailok in Trouble.— Mary Hood v. Thomas Whitten, Tailor. Defendant was summoned under " Tho Imprisonment for Debt Abolition Act of 1874," to be examined and to show cause why he should not be committed to prison for default in payment of the judgment debt duo to the plaintiff of £13 11s. sd. It appeared from defendant's own statement that he had no' capital or any <»tock in trade when he oommenced business, four months since, that he had been paid a good many accounts since, that he was considerably in debt, and that he kept no accouwts and no record whatever of the unpaid for goods which he had received from time to time. This brought the defendant, in tho opinion of the Court, within the 4th and 3rd sub-sectious of the Bth and 6th sections of the Act, and the defendant was committed to prison for two months, unless he shall sooner pay the amount due by him to the plaintiff.

In dealing with future tiuttucial arrange- i ments, I Cannot forbear reference to the very important effects which wo anticipate will < follow thb change which we will submit in the j present SYSTEM OF PURCHASING NATIVE LANDS. If our proposals have effect given to them, the most fertile cause of native expenditure will be removed. The value of property in this Island will be largely increased, And .therefore its capacity to contribute to local works. The condition of the natives will be vastly improved, and the land revenue of the North Island much augmented without the necessity of further loans and constant interest bearing expenditure. No longer will the natives be galled with the reflection • that, j instead of aiding them and receiving a legitimate confederation in return, we are alwayß trying to get the better of them in th» bargains into which they and we enter. No longer will the land .revenue of the North Island be a questionable equivalent for the expenditure incurred ; nnd no longer will the Government of the Colony be forced into competition with private individuals. The revolution in the system of native land purchasing is a worthy crown to the other great changes, which we believe will relieve New Zealand of the principal difficulty under which she now labours, and, qualify her for the pre-eminent position amongst these Colonies to which her capabilities entitle her. THE RAILWAYS. We propose to arrange for acquiring such of the railways as are provincial property, by deducting from the Province parting with the railways an amount equivalent to its value. This would lessen the charge on the land fund for loans of that Province, and therefore leave most of that fund to be divided amongst the counties. As wo are taking over the railways, it v right to remember the position of the Middle Island railway fund. That fund was created as a chsrge on the Colony to correspond with the charge on the Colony for roads in the North Island. As the railways •re now everywhere to be charged on the Colony, it id fair to allow to the provinces concerned & reduction of their railway debts to the extent that each has received creditor railways (not roads) out of the Middle Island railways fund.' FUTURE LOANS. The question of future borrowing is one about which the Committee will feel much interest. I have incidentally referred to provincial expenditure, and how members will be surprised to learn that wheu abolition takes place a large amount of liabilities will devolve on the Government. Some of these will be for incompleted engagements ; some for existing liabilities ; some for deficiencies, such as overdrafts; while a part will b« for ordinary current expenditure, which it will be impossible at once to arrest. It must be remembered that after abolition the present provincial revenue of licenses, for example, goes to local bodies, the land revenue is appropriated to meet certain charges with a fixed destination for the balance. In short,; with respect to revenue of all kinds, the new arrangements commence when abolition takes place ; but some of the expenditure it may not be possible immediately to stop, and liabilities must be met I cannot give you any trustworthy estimate of what the total will be ; I shall be glad to find that it is less than half a million. What we propose to do is, to ask for power to issue Treasury bills or debentures to cover it as its amount is secured; the provincial debt of Province to be augmented by the amount borrowed to discharge the liabilities of such Province. Some of the Appropriations approved by the Government on the recommendation of the Provincial Government involve expenditure which will extend far beyoud the period of abolition. This was especially the case with the Provinces of Otago and Canterbury, and Ministers did not recommend the approval of these authorities without adequate consideration. Although they felt the difficulty of continuing the expenditure after the revenues become the property of local bodies, yet it seemed to them so inexpedient to suddenly arrest the works proceediug, for the new bodies could not immediately get to work; and, more, their arrangements, that they decided to approve the estimates recommended, and to see carried out after abolition at the cost of the Provinces concerned. THE WOKS AUTHORISED bj^theae estimates, but not completed when abolition takes place, will be carried out on behalf of the Provinces, and form part of their out-standiog liabilities. At an earlier period this eveniug, I explained that a considerable amount appropriated for public works for the year just expired had not been expended; and I also stated, approximately, the ways and means for public works that were yet available. We propose to continue the progress of THE TRUNK RAILWAYS, and a reasonable expenditure ou immigration. The latter, we think, should be temporarily reduced because of a somewhat less demand for labour. The construction of the trunk railways should be continuous, and as rapidly as may from time to time be found convenient. I have already said I should be glad to find that £500,000 would meet the liabilities of the Provinces. There is, indeed, little chance of this, for the liability to the consolidated revenue and that to the public works account, make nearly the sum, without including liabilities to be discharged after abolition takes place. We propose to ASK AUTHORITY TO BORROW £650,000 for provincial liabilities, and £1,250,000 for public works and immigration. We do not think it will be necessary to negotiate more than £1,000,000 this year, unless a favorable opportunity occurs. My colleague, the Minister for Public Works, will explain as soon na possible the views of the Government as to the expenditure of this money. I may, however, mention that we propose to devote it to continuing the main lines of railway, and to immigration ; but it will be the duty of my colleague to enter into details concerning the intended expenditure for the year. I desire to say a few words about THE GENERAL POSITION OK NEW ZEALAND'S CREDIT. There is no use disguising that it has suffered partly from detraction, which I hold to be altogether unmeaning, and partly from thn fact of the Colony having borrowed very largely. For the public debt of a Colony like New Zealand, it is impossible to arrive at an accurate consideration of its true nature. People will not pause to analyse it. A public debt means to them a public debt in its ordinary acceptation, and they compare Now Zealand's public debt with the national debts of old countries. The comparison 13 essentially faulty, for the New Zealand debt is mainly composed of moneys expended on objects which have no place in ordinary national debts, but the value of which is fully recompensed. If a person wished to show extremes of good and ill, which distinguish a country, he would be apt to point to the small extent of money expended on the usual objects for which national loans aro contracted, and tho vast expenditure on the purposes for which mostly the debt of Now Zealand has been contracted. Do not let us say there is nothing in a name. If a large proportion of onr New Zealand dobt had the shape of a loan to railway companies, and not to the Colony, its amount would bo accepted a» a proof of the Colony's progress and judicious promotion of settlement. As it is, we must accept the position, and we must show that we do this by so improving the credit of the securities already out-standing as to leave no room for carping complaint, and by contracting our expenditure until the market has time for recovery. I have already mentioned that the agents have not sold the last parcel of debentures, for

the negotiation of which authority has been sent home, and that they are negotiating for a temporary loan on them. Obviously it is desirable to add to them at present as little as possible. To improve their position is also very desirable. I commend hon. members' attention to the paper respecting INSCRIPTION OK STOCK by the Bank of England. The Government are of opinion that through the arrangement which has been made, the Assembly has it in its power to greatly improve the position of New Zealand securities, without any corresponding sacrifice. Tho attention of the House will be earnestly asked to this matter. Jt is one of vast importance to the Colony, for it not only involves the improvement of the present credit of the Colony, but it includes a great saving of future expeßditure in regard to loan charges. In another way you will be asked to improve tho position of New Zealand's credit by making ite finances more simple, and therefore more easily comprehended. With tho system of ill-defined partnership, and no partnership, which has prevailed, there havg befto So many intricate detailfvthat people have shrunk from the task of mastering for themselves the real position of tho Colony, and have consequently been inclined to accept any MISBEPRESENTATION which might be made. I hope we shall this year define what are and what are not purposes to which the consolidated and other revenues are to be devoted, so as to leave no doubt what the financial position of the present is, and what the financial arrangements for tho future are to be. I have said that the New Zealand loans iui elude amounts for objects which persons outside do not accept an coming within national debts. Within limits lam not sure that they were altogether wrong. It has been often asked when money for local objects was wanted by local .bodies, such as Provincial Governments, Harbour Board, and Borough Councils, why should not the Colony borrow it at as low a rate as could be obtained I The answer is patent, and to be found in the fact that the quotations for our loans are not so bright as we should wish. ©Those who lend money have a great prejudice against VICARIOUS BORROWING. The Imperial Government has often said when urged to borrow for the Colonies, and for other than purely national purposes, that if the country committed itself to such loans its credit would not be so good, and it would have to pay more for the money it borrowed. It is a matter of fact that direct loans of the country command a considerably higher rate than those which are equally well scoured by an indirect guarautee. It does not follow that the bodies to which imperial assistance is refused fare badly. There are many public bodies in Great Britain which have borrowed money almost as cheaply as the Imperial Government could have borrowed it for them; and without the risk of generally F reducing the value of the Imperial security. I am convinced that in New Zealand we must in future be very chary of giving the guarantee of j the Colony to local bodies. I think we should continue to add to the ordinarily recognised purposes of public debts the costs of railroads and immigration ; but that we should avoid making the Colony liable for the large number of public works, most useful in their character, of which in future the local bodies are to have charge. In the bills relatiug to j BOROUGHS AND COUNTIES, which we shall bring before you, we make it generally clear that the Colony is not liable for the debts we may incur. We propose to give them certain powers of ordinary borrowing, proportioned to their rates. .When they wish to go beyond this and borrow for special purposes, on special securities, we desire to make it necessary that they should obtain the conseut and approbation of ratepayers, and that with that consent they may go into the market and make their own financial arrangements. I am not thoroughly familiar with the system at home, but I believe that to some extent it includes Government supervision, with in some cases a power of approval or veto. After much consideration we think this would not be desirable here. Anything of the kind in the Colony would be construed into a quasi liberty, and the Government would not be strong enough to resist the argument, that their approval of a loan committed tho Colony. At home the Government is so powerful and so accustomed to disregard inferential claims of the kind, that (hey would treat with indifference auy liability not direct and explicit. Coming to the EXPENDITURE FOR THE CURRENT YEAR, the Treasurer explained that including £112.000 for nine months' grants to municipalities, and also including capitation and special allowances for three months, and a moiety of stamp duties for three months to be paid the public works account, the total was estimated at £2,317,000. The incorporation of the Provincial with the General Government estimntes had occasioned an immense amount of trouble; and, after all, some of the former had to be incorporated as they stood. I The Government were sanguine that when the Provincial Governments hud been taken over, very considerable reductions on estimates would be effected. The Colonial Treasurer added. " I have kept in the estimates a statement of all the appropriations last year. I will forbear on the I present occasion from entering- into an analysis of the difference that TAKING OVER THE PROVINCES will involve. Hon. gentlemen will be able to form I their own conclusions upon that point. They will probably consider that by taking over the Provinces we are meaning a larger expenditure thnn we can meet by the payment of capitation allowances. Indeed, that this is so, may be readily conceived when we remember that the amount of revenue we take over with the Provinces is a mere bagatelle, whilst we arc undertaking to satisfy substantial items of expenditure. The two systems arc indeed so entirely different that every person who chooses to enter upon a comparison of them may do so in a direct point of view, and therelore come to a different conclusion. This is not a time for me to justify or defend the abolition policy. I strongly hope that one of its results will be that throughout the whole Colony there will be a less amount of expenditure, and I look upon it as a very great advantage that a very large proportion of the expenditure that has been conducted by the Provincial Governments will be conducted by a number of truly local bodies. As to WAYS AND MEANS, the Colonial Treasurer said t\w consolidated revenue wns estimated at £2,199,000, inclusive of £445,000 as receipts from railways. Tho land revenue was set down at £770,000, and the gold-fields revenue at £85,000. These items showed a total revenue of £3,050,000, which did not include license fees, which would be paid direct to comities and boroughs. He had prepared a table of revenue in this form for statistical purposes only, and his reason for bo doing was that New Zealand had often been placed at great disadvantage through comparative statements of revenue. The receipts from land and from gold-fields being included in tho totals given for tho Australian Colonies, but oxcluded in the case of New Zealand. The actual ways and means of the Government for the current year were estimated as> follows :— Consolidated revenue, £2,1119,000; balance available at the commencement of tho year, £72,000 ; and two per cent, contribution from land revenue on account of railways within the respective Provinces, £75,000. These items represented a total of £2,340,000, and, deducting the amount of thß estimated expenditure, there would be at the close of 1876-7 A SURPLUS OK £29,200. This would, no doubt, bo considered a very I small balance, especially us there weru sure to

be supplementary estimates ; but if the committee resolved that the supplementary estii mates should not be excessive, ho thought it would be found that the waya and means provided would bo sufficient for the services of the year. He was iudeed sanguine of reductions in the estimated expenditure being effected when the provincial departments were iv the hands of the General Government. The Treasurer explained why he had not included GOLD-FIELDS BEVEHUE in his estimates of available means " last Beßsiou." He aaid " the goldfield members persuaded the House to accept fc clause by which after defraying all the expenses of the goldfields.the balance of revenue from them was to be handed over to the local Government to be subject to the payment of a subsidy of £2 to £1. The government explained at the time that such a clause would mean nothing. That they could not hold out any hope of such a subsidy beiug more than nominal. A moment's consideration will show hon. members that if the Government pay a subsidy of i.2 to £1 upon the amount of revenue collected, suoh a plan would bo rolling a stone up the hill with a vengeance. If the Government had to pay £2 to £1 upon the balance arrived at in the way stated, then the Government would not improbably think they were doing right in making that balance as small as possible. The plan would work out in this way. Occasionally heavy '• finds" would be made within some gold-fields, and the Treasury would have to deplore such results as making unexpected calls upon the revenue or the Colony. Instead of the Treasurer being allowed to rejoice as he would naturally desire to do in the progress of the gold- fields, he would have to dread the occurrence of discoveries Tfliich would otherwise cause general satisfaction. But whatever the Treasurer might feel, it was clenr that the clause agreed to lost session was incomplete, and must be in operative. It provided that the surplus of gold export duty, as well aa of gold-fields' ordinary revenue, should pass to the local governing body of the district within which it arose, but it did not provide or suggest how the amount arising within each district should be ascertained. When the Treasurer came to look into the question, it was found, therefore, that the clause could not be carried into effect. It would be impossible to connect the payments made into the Custom-house, on account of export .duty, with the quantities of gold brought down from the several fields, even if all gold was conveyed by escort. This difficulty can easily be remedied by legislation, but the rest of the subject demands larger attention. The Government desire to make ft proposal which they hope the goldfield members would recognise as more beneficial to their districts than that of last session, namely, that instead of charging against tho revenue from the goldfields all the expenditure upon them including gaols and police, and handing over the balance, subject to the provision proposed last session, all the ordinary revenue for each field, including the export duty shall be handed to the local governing bodies of the districts within which lields aro situated for expenditure on local works. If th&hon. members representing gold-fields still require that we shall adhero to the plan of last session, then we shall have to charge against the revenue every item of expenditure, and except in the case of lucky "finds" little money will revert to the local bodies. SEDUCTION OP TAXATION. "It will," continued the hon. gentlemen, "be satisfactory to the country and to honorable members to find that it has not been deemed uecessary to propose any increase of taxation. Indeed, we propose to some extent to reduce taxation, since we ask Parliament to do away with the education rates that have been levied in some parts of the Colony. The jear we are now commencing is in my opinion the most onerous and difficult one we have had to do with for some time past, and for which we shall have to provide for a long period to come. Besides it is the year in which we have to take upon ourselves all the immense responsibilities which we shall be made particularly to feel the effects upon the revenue of having to meet the interest on the cost of railways in course of construction, and which are not reproductive. As (he railways are completed and come into use, they will year after year give us great relief financially, and I see no reason to suppose that after the present year we shall not be at liberty to resume immigration upon a considerable scale. I am confident that if the provisions proposed for giving land upou deferred payments are made, they will induce a great amount of settlement, thus to sonic extent relieving the labour market and creating a demand for further labour. lam sure I need scarcely say that it has not and will not be our desire to cause a glut of THE LABOUR MARKET. Statements that the Government have such a desire have been made, but they are not true. No doubt in certain parts of the country there were some unemployed persons : but iv no circumstances and under no conditions would it be possible, whether the scale of immigration be large or small, to find a country in which there are not some people who are not able at times to find work, or upon whom others would not look as undesirable employees. I am sure tho number of such persons in this Col6ny at present is not large. In that statement I believe I shall be supported by honorable members from the various districts. Still, in view of the fact that some of the authorised railways arc being completed, and from other circumstances, we have thought it better for tho next few months to reduce the number of assistant managers. RECAPITULATION. I will briefly recapitulate the principal i points of the Statement I have had the j honor to submit to the Committee. We wish to have it understood that wo do not consider the question of Abolition an open one. We look on it as already decided, and wo are of opinion that there is no chanco whatever of tho decision being reversed. We wish hon. members and the country to recognise that abolition does not end with the mere coming into force of the Abolition Act, but that the operations of that Act will cast upon tho members of the Government gravo and onerous duties. I have desired to make it clear o tho members that the leading feature of the present Budget is tho putting upon a simple footing the finance of the Colony, believing that the consolidated revenuo of various contingent charges, giving to tho. Colony its finances, and to the different local bodies their'e, preventing in the future the clashing of claims if not of interest which has caused so much mischief in the past. It has been my duty to point out that certain changes in tho abolition proposals agreed to last session havo been rendered necessary by the larger knowledge and experience which the past year has supplied. Those changes arc represented principally by the cost of education being now proposed to be partly borne on the land fund, and by the cost of charitable institutions being mainly devolved upon the people of the Colony themselves, and on the districts in which the institutions arc respectively situated or the residents within which they servo. I havo had to explain to tho committee that in the opinion of tho Government it is necessary the Colony should take charge of the railways of tho Colony, and that in order to do so and to meet the pressure of the interest on tho cost of work in course of construction as well as tho deficiency to cover interests which tho receipts in excess of expenditure inuy for somo time show, there should bo

made from the land revenue of each provincial district upon the next nine years, a contritution beginning at 2 per cent, and falling gradually \\ percent, upon the cost of the railways within its own boundaries. I have further had to explain that the Government believe the time has now come when a material increase in the price of the waste lands of the Crown should be made. Not with the view to benefiting the Colonial Government, but to enlarge the surplus at the disposal of the local bodies and for the purpose of doing justice to those who long years since purchased land at the present prices and who have a right to consider that their j labours in the Colony to make it what it | is, renders it but fair that those who now come in, should pay a higher rate for land than was paid for land by the pioueers of settlement. These are the main points of the Budget, and I cowuneud. it as a I whole to the earnest nnd favourable con- ' sideration of hon. members. This is no timo for party or personal animosity. I feel that I am in the midst of three generations of men. I see around me those who had grown grey iv veteran service to the Colony when little more than its name was known to me. I see those who, contemporaneously with me, have given their best services to the country during the last decade, and I Bee and welcome with great pleasure a number of members who, though only this session entering public life, have already given evidence of vigorous thought find fluent aud .eloquent speeches. We are met on no common occasion. We will this session make an imprint on the history of the Colony that cannot be effaced in ail the years to come. As far as the internal affairs of New Zealand are concerned, it has fallen to vs — the old, the middle-aged, and the young in public life — to pass to the country a new Constitution, which those who live now, and those who come after us, will have to work out. In the presenco of such a duty the strife and prejudice of the House should be hushed. Free from every disheartening influence from which we can possibly escape, let us devote ourselves to endeavour to frame a constitution which will give to a law-abiding, liberty- ; loving, and noble people powers of self-goveru-i incut, unfettered by any control, save that of Parliament, which country deems it necessary to give to one Government. After a long discussion the resolution was amended as follows : — " That whereas the Committee has under consideration the question of increasing during the present session the price of waste lands of the crown throughout a greater part of the Colony, to a price not exceeding £2 per acre, it is resolved by the Committee that if any such increase is made during the present session, it shall take effect as to all sales made on or after the sth day of July, 1876, and until the end of the session, aud that to all such sales the purchasers shall be required to j pay such increase ; and further that this resolution be forwarded to the several Waste Lands Boards and Commissioners of Crown Lands, in order that its terms may be made kuowu to intendiug purchasers, provided always, that this resolntiou shall not affect land leased or sold on deferred payments." The resolution as amended was reported to the House, and adopted. The House adjourned at 3.15 a.m.