THE Thames Advertiser. FRIDAY, FEB, 7, 1879.

Thames Advertiser, Volume XII, Issue 3238, 7 February 1879, Page 2

THE Thames Advertiser. FRIDAY, FEB, 7, 1879.

The statement of receipts and expenditure of the Public Treasury for tlie quarter ending December 31st, has just been published, and we have therefore the actual revenue for the first half of the financial year, and can form some conclusion respecting the probability of the Treasurer's estimates * proving correct. The Canterbury ' Press' takes the Colonial Treasurer's estimate of ordinary and territorial revenue, which he set down at £3,931,822, and. divides it by two, adding the receipts of the two quarters together under the headings given in the financial statement. By this means the 'Press' is enabled to compare the actual revenue for the half year with the Treasurer's estimate, and the following table shows the result Halt of Eatl- Beceived to mated Revenue. December 31st Customs £660,000 £664,000 Stamps 85.000 ... 82,500 Kailways 355,000 ... 309,000 Postal ' 60,750 ... 47,658 Telegraphic ... 38,000 ... 38,987 Judicial ...' ... 25,000 ... 21,021 Land Transfer ... 16,250 .. 21,472 Registration and other fees ... 16,372 12.041 Marine 11,200 ... 12,042 Miscellaneous ... 33,500 ... 21,120 Land sales 561,000 ... 642,579 Depasturing Licenses, assesments, and miscellaneous ... 53,838 ... 69,094 £1,915,910 £1,941,214 —These figures show that the actual half-year's receipts are in excess of the estimated revenue by £25,000, which would show the very gratifying result of an excess of £50,000 on the year's receipts. The Customs revenue shows an excess of £4,000, and this is principally derived from the increased imports for the past half-year shown in ; the four principal ports, which, accord* iag to the return furnished by telegram a few days ago from Wellington, , shows a wonderful result for the past twelve months so far as the four principal ports are concerned. A. comparison of the increase is as follows ■ Imports, Imports, Excess, 1877. 1878. 1878. Auckland . £1,136,316 £1,408,823 £272,607 Wellington, 1,309,280 1,440,382 131,102 lyttelton . 1,278,089 1,928,744 650,655 Dunedin , 2,209,408 2,679,72S 470,320 —The railways show a deficiency of 1 £46,000 on the half-year, whilst the postal department does not reach the estimate by about £13,000; the increase under the head of land sales show, however, the very gratifying excess of £81,579, or an increase on the year's estimate of £163,158. The receipts under the headings territorial revenue, marine, lands transfer department, and miscellaneous, also show a'substantial increase. On territorial revenue alone the in- ' crease is at the rate . of £30,000 for the year. But in order to arrive at the approximated revenue up to the 30th of June next, when the financial period terminates, it would 1 be necessary to take into consideration the reductions which have been made in certain customs duties from the first of January last. These reductions were estimated at about £126,000 per annum, and this deduction on the revenue received up to the 31st of December last would cause a decrease on the estimated revenue from Customs returns for the whole year. In other respects, as we have shown, there will be a very satisfactory increase upon the estimated revenue for the year presuming that the prospects of the ensuing six months are equal to those of the past. With

regard to the land tax we are not so sanguine as the Treasurer in his result of tho success of the experiment. "Whether the estimated return of .£IOO,OOO from this source will not actually show a loss instead of a gain is not at all problematical. If the income is adequate to meet the expenditure incurred in its collection the Treasurer may consider himself not unfortunate in his experiment, however unsatisfactory the result arrived at may he. It was only an experiment at the most, and as such was as likely to prove unprofitable as the reverse.