THE COLONIAL ACCOUNTS.

Taranaki Herald, Volume L, Issue 12117, 7 November 1902, Page 4

THE COLONIAL ACCOUNTS.

The statement of receipts and expenditure of the Consolidated .Fund /or the quarter ended 30th September : last shows that the remarkable buoy- ! ancy of the revenue is maintained. The following table shows the receipts under the various headings as compared with those of the corresponding quarter of 1901 :—

Debentures issued for increases of Sinking Fund and a small amount of recoveries bring the total receipts for the quarter to £1,566,033, as compared with £1,424,377 for the corresponding quarter last year. The expenditure side of the accounts | shows that permanent appropriations [absorbed £410,616 against £308, 618 last year, interest and sinking fund being £209,049 against £143, 059 and old-age pensions £54,619 as ! compared with £43,320. The annual appropriations totalled £929, 173 as compared with £997,910, the expenditure on railways ..being nearly £40,000 less, on the Colonial Secretary's Department -£15,000, and the. [Postmaster - General's Department £10,000 less. The Education and Police Departments, on the other [hand, cost about £5000 each more. A sum of £50,000 was transferred to [the Public Works Fund. Excluding | the latter amount the expenditure for the quarter was £1,339,789, as compared with £1,306,529 last year. I Thus the receipts for the quarter increased £111,696, while the expenditure only increased £33,360. It is, however, impossible to deduct . much from a single quarter's returns. Still, it is satisfactory to note the continued buoyancy of the revenue. The Public Works Fund account shows that the receipts for the quarter totalled £637,804, being made up of balance from the previous quarter £308,228, transfer from Consolidated Fund £50,000, proceeds of sale of debentures issued under the Act of 1902 (colonial Issue) £163,800, amount received from Conversion Account for repayment of advances £115,000, ana £776 special receipts. The expenditure during the quarter on actual works was only £271,951 as against £569,038 in the corresponding auarter last year, in addition to which £115,000 advanced on security of short-dated debentures was repaid. The balance at the end of the auarter was £250,822, as against £352,398 at the end of September last year. Only £103,493 was spent upon railways and £54, 397 unon roads, as compared with £327,841 and £125,738. These figures, coupled with the fact that the Government is advertising for money in Australia at four per cent., tell of somewhat straitened resources, which ought not to be the case at a time when the general condition of the colony is prosperous and the ordinary revenue so clastic as it now is.

Tho last children's practice f«r tVios*" taking part in the Fire Brigade Ball will be bf.ld on Sntnrdav afternoon at 3 o'clock in the <^d Mn sons' Hall, Brouph-am-sfcrpet.. The Ladies Committee s»r« particularly requested to attend i.r> make the final arrangements* for the ball.

A trial shipment of feathers made to "London by the Agricultural Ttep^lrtTnent realised an average price of 4 ld per ponnd. The Department is prtvised that ducks' and fowls' fenth^rs will always command a ready sale. White ducks' feathers are now saleable in London at 3d per pound.

/ ACJUi/ iCIUX Customs ~ ~. 619,387 623,967 Stamps ' ... '.. .... 236,436 184,759 Post and Telegraph Cash Receipts , ... 40,312 10,543 Land-tax ■L. ... 2,186 816 Income-tax _• ... 1,654 1,536 Beer Duty _ 20,329 < 19,621 Railways ... 438,793 423,026 Registration and{ other fees ... 27,394 ' 26,436 Marine 7,819 8,242 Miscellaneous ... 50,174 47,295 Territorial 63,947 78,05,9 Total ... 1,508,436 1,424,306