SIR FRANCIS DILLON BELL ON THE ABOLITION QUESTION.
Sir Francis Dillon Bell, M.H.E. for Mataura, addressed his constituent! at Invercargill last night. In doing so he said he would confine his remarks chiefly' to a subject fraught with great consequences, namely the abolition of the Provinces. The speaker then referred to the resolutions proposed by Mr Vogel last session and the way they were received in the House and by the country. I He referred to the indebtedness of the Colony, and the complications occasioned by the clamouring of Provinces to be allowed to borrow money. Sir Francis then commented on the revenue of j;he colony, and instituted comparisons ttg£ween the contributions of different Provinces. From the telegraphic summary of Sir Dillon Bell's speech as supplied by the Press Agency we extract the following :-— THE BEVENUB.
The whole consolidated revenue for the calendar year of 1874 was £1,518,000; Otago's contribution was about £500,000, or 32 per cent. The Gustoms amounted to £1,205,000, of which Otago contributed £407,000. The total revenue for stamps was £105,000, of which Otago contributed £36,000. Compare Otago's contribution to the whole revenue with that of the North Island, and the result was :— North Island — Customs, £445,000; Otago, £407,000. Otago contributed to the Consolidated Fund within £52,000 of the whole North Island. Take Otago and Canterbury together:—The Customs revenue of Canterbury and Ota^o wai £606,000. Of all sources of the Consolidated revenue Otago and Canterbury contributed upwards of £200,000 more than the whole North Island. It was not a political but,a financial question. Ihe whole land revenue for 1874 was £1,051,000,. of which Otago contributed £278,000, and Canterbury £593,000, leaving, as the contribution of the rest of the colony, £168,000. Even little-JSouth-land gave £116,000 last year, or within £50,000 of what was contributed by the whole colony, outside of Otago and Canterbury, *
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/THS18750414.2.17
Bibliographic details
Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 1958, 14 April 1875, Page 2
Word Count
305SIR FRANCIS DILLON BELL ON THE ABOLITION QUESTION. Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 1958, 14 April 1875, Page 2
Using This Item
No known copyright (New Zealand)
To the best of the National Library of New Zealand’s knowledge, under New Zealand law, there is no copyright in this item in New Zealand.
You can copy this item, share it, and post it on a blog or website. It can be modified, remixed and built upon. It can be used commercially. If reproducing this item, it is helpful to include the source.
For further information please refer to the Copyright guide.
Log in