THE FINANCIAL STATEMENT.

Wellington Independent, Volume XXII, Issue 2568, 7 September 1867, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE FINANCIAL STATEMENT.

In the Hons-,» of Representatives on August 22t the Colonial TroasUrer (Hon. W. Fitzherbert), made his Financial Statement. After some preliminary remarks, he contrasted the Estimate^ with the Actual Expenditure for the past financial year as follows .— . ■ The Past? Financ'iae Ybae. Estimated Expenditure for 1866-7. £ Civil List ■ 27,500 Permanent Charges 266,889 G-overnmont House and Domains ... 7,138 Public Departments 36,560 Law and Justice 64,843 j Postal 143,150 Native 29,986 Customs 46,320 Miscellaneous 30,922 Defence 70,000 Supplementary 15,000 Total proposed appropriations for Colonial and Provincial Services ... 738,308 Payments to Provinces 318,750 £1,057,058 Actual Expenditure, 1866-7. £ s. d. Civil List 27,500 0 0 Permanent Charges 282,472 4 6 . Government Houbos and Domains ... ... 2,846 18 5 Public Departments 42,567 16 2 Law and Justice 59,409 16 8 Postal 122,435 11 6 Native 23,751 4 0 Customs , ... 40,894 7 7 Miscellaneous 35,554 13 4 Defence 71,436 18 3 Supplementary (refunds of Revenue) ...< 9,229 17 9 Payments to Provinces 320,368 5 10 Sundry Expenditure .:. 6,658 18 4 Payments to Provinces, June, 66 18,356 5 10 £1,063,382 18 1 By " actual" (he remarked) I mean expenditure inclusive of advances made during ' the year, but exclusive of advances made prior to that, period, and observe that the excess of actual over estimated expenditure, under the head "Permanent Charges," arises from the circumstance that the colony had to make advances during the pant year for payment of interest and sinking fund on allocated debts, whioh have not yet been refunded by the provinces. The Committee will next please to compare the estimated extraordinary expenditure of the past year with the expenditure of that class actually incurred during the same period. The result appears in the following figures, viz. : — Estimated- Extraordinary Expenditure, 1866-7. ,'•■ • ' • £ Cook Strait Cable and Telegraph Extension to Auckland 38,000 Treasury Bills (removal of Seat of Government) 11,500 Military Settlers 207,000 Liabilities on account of settlement of Military Settlers 50,000 • £306,500 Actual Extraordinary Expenditure, 1866-7. Cook Strait Cable and Telegraph Extension to Auckland ... 14,852. 7 0 ■ Treasury. Bills (removal of. Seat of Government) ... ; ... 11,775 0 0 Military Settlers, and liabilities : on account of settlement ... 255,743 10 10 £282,370 17 10 . These statements may therefore be regarded so far satisfactory, as showing that the total actual ordinary and extraordinary expenditure incurred for the year 1866-7, did not reach the expenditure .as estimated for that year by the sum of £17,805. estimated And actual bevbntjjb The next point is to compare last year's* ordinary revenue, as estimated to provide for the estimated 'ordinary expenditure, with the income actually received. The following is the result of 'the comparison, viz. : — ; ''■ Estimated Ordinary Sevenue, 1866-7. '■" . . . * ■ £■ • 'Customs 850,000 Bonded Warehouses 4,500 Stumps ... ... ... ' ... 50,000 Miscellaneous 154,p00 ■■■■• £1,058,500 Ordinary Sevetiue Actually Received, 1866 7. ■& s. d. I Customs ... ... 865,032 8 0 Bo uded Warehouses 5,325 0 Q Stamps ... £34,688 12 5 Lesß stamps used ' 843 15 10 : 33,844 16 7 Miscellaneous 123,804 1 8 £1,028,006 5 10 This showsan over-estimate of revenue amounting to upwards of £30,000. In explanation; I would observe that if we bracket the two main sources of reyenue on which the colony now relies for its ordinary income, viz., Customs and Stamps, it will be found that my estimate of last year was singularly exact, for it will be* seen that I estimated the revenue derivable from Customs and Stamps at £900,000 ; and it now appears that the actual receipts have reached the sum of £898,876 : a closer approximation could not well, I conceive, have been made '• and I think I am fairly entitled to call the attention of the Committee to the accuracy of the estimates of tho G-overnmont, because it will be remembered that an opinion was very generally expressed, both by the opponents and supporters of the Stamp duties, that the revenue to arise from them would yield a very much larger amount than that stated by the Government j and that I was strongly urged to amend mj estimate in that respect, some false prophets even foretelling that the income from that source w>uld flow in at the rateSf £200,000 per annum. It will now be conceded, I suppose, that the Government took the prudent view. The deficiency of actual income will then be discovered under tho item " Miscellaneous ;" wherein the most . noticeable decreases attaoh to the following ser . viceß, viz :- -Postal, Marine, and Crown Grants. Fuller departmental explanations on these pom ts will be offered at the proper time. EXTBAOBDINABT WAYS AND MEANS. I next oompare the estimate of Extraordiu iary Ways and Means, with the proceeds actually realized from those sources for the year 18f »6-7, with this result, viz. : — . , Estimated Proceeds of Extraordinary Wayi t and Means, 1866-7. • jg Treasury Bills 150,000 Unexpended Balance of Loan „, 000 £820,000 Actual Proceeds of Extraordinary Ways and Means, 1866-7. Treasury Bills 125,000 0 0 Proceeds of Loan 173,00© 0 0 Incidental Receipts 17,489" 10 9 £315,489 10; 9 The , anipunt opposite the item <* Incidental Recoipts" arises from sales of confiscated- lands/ whioh I last year deolined to estimate J'or as a

source of revenue, and I think I wa9 fully justified by the result ; for, although I have thought it would be more satisfactory to the Committee to | disolose the amount Actually received from these j sales, yet it cannot be .regarded aa net proceeds, inasmuch as the special attendant expenses, which are included in the expenditure side of the year's j account, extieed the proceeds. | When I inform the Committee that I hold Treasury Bills to the' amount of £25,000 ready for delivery at par, but ■which I did not find it necessary to issue to the purchaser during tho past financial year, I hope the announcement will be regarded as an nutrition not only that these estimates have turned out remarkably exact, but * that the Government resisted a temptation to j which governments are in general supposed to yield, viz., that of spending as much money as * they can lay their hands upon. j BEOEIPTB AND ixPBNDITUEB. The Colonial Treasurer then gave an analysis of tho accounts for tho year ending 30th June, 1867 ; Receipts. £ s. d. Ordinary Eevenue ... .... 1,028,006 6 10 Incidental 17,489 10 9 Extraordinary 298,000 0 0 £1,343,495 16 7 Expenditure. Ordinary ... 1,063,382 18 1 Extraordinary 282,370 17 10 £1,345,753 15 11 thus showing a slight excoßS of expenditure over income. Outside, however, of those figures, there were tho following trust deposits which ho had caused to be refunded from the Treasury, and placed at interest in tho Bank of New Zealand, viz. : — £ b. d. Intestate Estates 15,667 15 8 Real Estates Administration ... 1,047 16 6 B«preme Court Account ... 385 10 8 Justices Belief Act 225 7 9 Estates, of Deceased Soldiers ... 904 10 5 Native Reserves, Wellington ... 168 2 5 Dunedin Disputed Reserves ... 6,031 18 9 £24,431 2 2 The. Treasurer then explained that the amount of the overdrawn bank account had been replaced, making the figures as follows : — £ s. d. Amount of Overdrawn Account at Bank of New Zealand, in July, 1866 ... . 26,361 15 4 Intestate Estates, &c. (as partioularised before) ... 24,431 2 2 Making the total of refunds and payments from the Treasury, ( effected during the year,outside the statement of expenditure, which I have already submitted 50,792 17 6 ESTIMATED BEVENUE, 1867-8.. The Treasurer estimated the revenue for 1867-8, as follows : — . £ Customs... i. ..; ... 870,000 Bonded Stores ... - 5,000 Stamps ... ;. ... 75,000 'Miscellaneous ... ..." 134,000 £1,084,000 PEOGHTCSSIYB INOEEABE OF CUSTOMS BBVBNUE. " The following figures were given, showing the . progressive increase ©f the Customs Revenue for 10 years : — " 1857-58 ... £138,998 1862-63 ... £488,522 1858-59 ... £160,830 1863-64 ... £617,002 1859-60 ... £178,117 . 1864-65 ... £643-297 1860-61 ... £204,612 1865-66 ... £796,227 1861-62 ... £339,393 1866-67 ... £864,668 He stated that our export of gold for the last year was £2,605,000 as against £2,858,000 of the preceding year, and that the grand aggregate of the export of gold from New Zealand, from the commencement of tho gold discoveries to tho present date, has now readied upwards of thirteen millions sterling. Pboposed Expenditure fob 1867*8. The proposed expenditure for the year 1867*8 was stated as follows, viz: — ■ £ 8. d. Civil List ... ,27,500 0 0 Permanent Charges .... ... 305,818 5 6 Class I. — Public Domains 'and . Buildings .:. ... ' v. 4,376 4 0 Class ll.— Public Departments 45.025- 10 4 Class lll.— Law and Justice .... 69.892 4 0 Class IT.— Postal 155,241 4 0 Class V.— Customs 44.81& 7 6 CUbs Vl— Native ' 24,05& 17 6 Class Vll.— Militia and Volunteers 28,052 8 1 Class VllL— Miscellaneous ... 39,403 6 8 I £744,178 7 6 The Defence expenditure as will be seen by the'following figures has been decreasing i — £ b. d. Expenditure in year 1858-9 ... 4,4715 15 7 „ „ 1859-60 .. 27,076 15 6 ... „ ■ „ 1860-1 v. 62,634 10 0 „ 1861-2 ... 54,172 18 2 „ „ „ 1862-3 ... . 203,013 12 8 „ „ 1863-4 ... 853,146 2 3 „ „ 1864-5 ... 886,259 011 „ „ 1865-6 ... 473,343 18 4 „ „ 1866-7 ... 327..180 9 1 The expenditure for Native purposes has, also decreased : — ;B c. d. Expenditure in year 1858-9 ... 11,109 15 4 „ „ 1859-60 ... 17,140 8 7 „ „ 1860-1 ... 17,800 14 0 „ „ 1861-2 ... 2E»,372 711 „ „ 1862-3 ... 55,412 19 1 „ „ 1863-4 ... 52,599 3 2 „ „ 1864-5 ... «0,29 L 6 9 „ „ 1865-6 ... 60,547 19 0 „ „ 1866-7 ... 33,751 4 0 HOW THE PBOVINOKB AXE TO BB PB-DVIDED FOB. V/ith a proposed expenditure of £744,178 7s 6d, an-d an estimated revenue of £1,084,000, the Government have still to make provuiion for the V/ants of the provinces. It is proposed that the ''Consolidated Revenue should be divided equally between the colony and the provinces. Stating one-half the consolidated revenues at £'542,000, as available on the one side for colonial, and on the other for provincial services, and taking the colonial expenditure at £540,267, it will be< seen that there is only a small margin left. Agaiin, taking the provincial charges 'at £204,173, a balance of £337,827 would be available for provincial appropriation ; and comparing this amount with that which would be yielded by the thrue-eightbs Oußtoma Revenue, 7iz., £324,000, the result shows , a higher amount to be given. , CONSOLIDATION OP FItOVINOIAIi LOANS. "It is almost unnecessary .".remarks the Trea- ; surer, "to say ono word to prove (he necessity of some Buch measure. Perhaps no measure has been more distinctly called for by considerate i men of all parties, by the public press, and by I those friends in England who watch the financial operations of the colony with interest. It is sufI fioient to' say that the appearance on the London j money market of a great variety of paper, all se- ' cured on different parts of the revenue of the colony, all bidding against one another with the * lender -of capital, has had (as ii must have ) had) a disastrous < efToot on the credit ' of the * colony generally, and has. resulted in very serious " loss and, embarrassment. * * * We propose * to. raise.a loan with a maximum limit, but which I is to be .rawed o,nly as require^ and, to, ,the^extent i required "for purchasing "the provincial papen \ and we propose that all such purchases .shall be

made in cash, oV by exchanging cplonial for pro: yiheial debentures by agents in England or else- | whare upon the best terms which can be obtained. , But we do not think that, when. the colony comes •: ! forward witb the offer enlarge the security j upon which these debts have be,qn r .ineuxT<v'l, it j oight to allow ihetioldera to wait an indefittte j time before availing themselves of the offer. Wo are not disposed to allotf speculators to wait until the very offer of tlie Government shall have en-' hanced the value of their claim's; arid then, to expect to obtain from the Government the higher j price, which the operations of the Government itself will have created. We therefor* propose to limit the time during which holders of provincial paper can come in and avail themselves df our offer j and after that, to exclude them from all the benefits of tke proposed consolidation. Three years is the time to which we propose to confine these operations, and I think we may fairly anticipate that in that time the great bulk, if not the whole, of the provincial securities will have disappeared from the market, and that tho financial engagements of the colony will be restored to an intelligible basis." rUBLIO BEVENUES BILL. A new Bill under this title is to be introduced, the Surplus Revenues Act is to be repealed, while one-half of tho consolidated fund is to be retained permanently as the revenue of the General Government, and the other half, subject to certain deductions, is to be settled on the provinces.. Those deductions are — first, for the cost of services voted by the House, and charged provinbially ; and, secondly, the annual charges to which the General Government will become liable on account of the purchase or exohange of provincial debentures. THE DEBT DTTB BY THB PBOVTNCES. A sum of £183,000 is alleged to be due by the provinces to the General Government. This claim the Government propose to abandon, but inasmuch as some provinces owe more than others the former will lmve to pay such sums as shall adjust tho debt fairly between all. KOBE MONEY TO BE BAISED. The Government does not. propose a fresh loan, but as the Loan Act of 1863 gives power to raise the full sum of £3,000,000, it is contemplated to raise £260,000 more by debentures, that sum representing the exact amount of the discount on the loan of 1863. This money it is proposed to appropriate for the following purposes : — Telegraph Extension £47,412 Marine' (Lighthouses) 19,725 Defence 109,025 Taranaki Debentures 88,750 Contingent Defence ..k 45,000 Amounting to ... £259,912 THE CLAIM OF THE IJEPEBIAL GOYEBNMENT. After referring to the appointment of a Commission to examine tho accounts as between the Imperial Government and the colony, the Colonial Treasurer Btuted that the olaim of the Imperial Treasury stretching back to 1848 amounted to £1,304,963 9s 3d. The Colonial Commissioner, after carefully considering these charges, and the grounds On which they rested, was of opinion that the sum of £516,130 12s Sd was inadmissable, thus reducing the claims to £759,621 14s 7d up to September, 1866. Tho counter claims of the colony are as follows, viz : — £ 8. d. Colonial Debentures sold at par 500,000 0 0 Military Roads ... 102,875 910 Proportion of River Transport Chargeß 97,329 Oil Miscellaneous .... 206,652 4 11 £906,856 15 8 . It will now appear that, on the supposition that the sums comprising that counter claim will not be much, if at all, affected by examination in the Imperial Treasury Department, there will remain due by the Imperial Government, on a final adjustment, the sura of £147,235 Is Id. Besides this the colony has expended and become charged with in aid of tho suppression of the rebellion against tho sovereignty of the Crown, the following sums : — £ s. d. The colony has actually expended ; 2,725,660 18 8 Is charged by the Imperial Treasury with 1,304,963 17 1 £4,030,624 15 9 It is a dufey incumbent on me '(continued tho Treasurer) . that I should muke this public statement, whilst I at the game time express a belief on th<» part of New Zealand that the imperial Government will, upon a careful review of the whole 'circumstances,' extend that consideration ti> the colony which would materially aid it in the struggle it is now making to get out of the embarrassments created by the war. CONCLUDING RKMABKB. In conclusion, tlie Colonial Treasurer states that the, share of the three million loun given to tho several provinces in the North Island, has not been paid back, and he, therefore proposos to wipe it off as a bad debt ; while the confiscated lands with certain limited exceptions, and subject to conditions as to fulfilment of engagements with natives and others, are proposed to be handed over as speeJily as possible to the respective provinces for their beneficial administration, and free ©f all claims for past special expenditure, The last paragraph of the speech is -as folio W8 : — / Sir, I have nothing more to add ; I am afraid I have by this time wearied the Committee, I am quite sure I have wearied myself, without, however, exhausting the vnriouß important subjects which have come under consideration, and certainly without doing them justice. I can only commena the financial proposals of the Government as a whole to the favorable consideration of l;lie Committee; believing them to bo just and conciliatory, and theroforo wise ; and moreover calculated, if accepted in the same spirit in which they are intended to be submitted by the Government, to impart a substantial character to the credit of New Zealand which it has never yet attained. . It only remains, Mr Carleton, for me to move, " That a sum not exceeding £5000 be granted to her Majesty to provide for the reception of his Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh, on the occasion of his visit to the colony ; of New Zealand."