8.—2
1883. NEW ZEALAND.
FINANCIAL STATEMENT (In Committee of Supply, Wednesday, 27th June, 1883), BY THE COLONIAL TREASURER, THE HONOURABLE MAJOR ATKINSON.
Mr. Hamlin, — It will be within the recollection of the Committee that one of the objects which Parliament had in view in 1879, in making the financial year terminate on the 31st March instead of the 30th June in each year, was to enable the Financial Statement and the Estimates for the year to be prepared and placed before Parliament as soon after its meeting as the convenience of members would permit. In accordance, therefore, with the spirit of that arrangement, I have selected this evening as the most convenient for delivering the annual Budget, and placing in the hands of honourable members the Estimates for the year. In submitting the Budget thus early for the consideration of the Committee, I venture to reiterate the hope which I expressed last session, that the House will consent to the appointment of an early day for the discussion of the important question of finance, the Government being most desirous that the subject should receive the early attention of the House, in order that it may be fully and exhaustively discussed while honourable members are fresh and vigorous. Last 3 rear I had the pleasure of announcing a very substantial surplus upon the financial transactions of the year; and, although I am not in a position this year to show so large a surplus, for reasons which I will presently explain, the financial results of the year have been satisfactory, the surplus, although small, fully justifying the action of the House in reducing taxation for the financial year Avhich ended on the 31st March last. It will not be necessary, I am happy to say, to trouble honourable members on the present occasion at any great length, as the form of our Public Accounts now permits a clear statement of our monetary transactions and position to be made within a very reasonable compass ; but I must ask for the kind indulgence of the Committee while submitting some details of past transactions and the proposals of the Government for the present year. I follow the usual and most convenient course in considering, first, — THE EXPENDITURE OF THE ORDINARY REVENUE OF THE YEAR 1882-83. The expenditure for the year, under permanent Acts of Parliament, was estimated at £1,627,512, including £1,284,848 for interest and £270,000 for redemption of debt; and the amount voted for departmental services was £2,086,708. The total estimated expenditure therefore sanctioned by Parliament was £3,694,218; the total actual expenditure proved to be £3,638,384, being £55,834 less than estimated. The only item in this expenditure which calls for special remark is that of Defence. Honourable members will see, when the accounts are laid before them, that for the first time for some years the total cost of this service
Tables Nos. 1 and 2.
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has been paid out of tlie ordinary revenue without any contribution in aid fronr loan. This we were enabled to do in consequence of the largo surplus of £203,688 brought forward from the year 1881-82; but the principle of paying the whole cost of the Armed Constabulary out of revenue has so much to commend it that I hope we shall not again consent to charging any part of that cost against loan while it is possible by any reasonable effort to provide the necessary means from ordinary revenue. "With regard to Railways, the amount expended was only slightly in excess of the vote, notwithstanding a very considerable increase of traffic during the year. Full particulars of the expenditure in connection with this service will be given by the Minister for Public Works when he makes his annual statement. LIABILITIES OUTSTANDING ON 31st MAECH, 1883. The outstanding liabilities of the Ordinary Revenue Account on the 81st March, 1883, were estimated at £176,580, particulars of which have been laid before the House by the Audit Office under section 9 of "The Public Revenues Act, 1882." These liabilities are, as honourable members know, included in the estimated expenditure for the current year. The liabilities outstanding on the 31st March, 1882, amounted to £164,394; at the close of the previous year they amounted to £165,514. It will thus be seen that, in the ordinary course of things, without either hurrying or delaying expenditure, the liabilities on this account from year to year may fairly be estimated at from £160,000 to £180,000. The practice, begun in 1880-81, of making the payments within the financial year the expenditure of the year, without regard to date of service or supply —and so abandoning the method of throwing back on the revenue of the previous year expenditure made in respect of liabilities outstanding on the 81st March-—has greatly simplified the public accounts, and has worked satisfactorily. ORDINARY REVENUE OP THE TEAR 1882-83. The estimated revenue for the year, exclusive of the cash derived from land sales, was £3,393,500. The actual amount paid into the Public Account, after deducting refunds, was £8,470,250, being £76,750 in excess of the estimate. A reference to the comparative return of estimated and actual receipts, which will be appended to this Statement when published, will show honourable members the extent to which the several heads of receipt exceeded or fell short of the estimate. It will be observed from that return that the only class of revenue which fell short of the amount estimated was Customs, the receipts being £1,494,403 as against an estimate of £1,500,000, or £5,537 less than estimated. The total amount yielded in excess of the estimate by the other classes of revenue was £82,287. Of this sum £23,690 came from registration and other fees. This large increase is attributable to an under-estimate of the probable receipts of duty on leases and conveyances of Native lands. It will be remembered that the Stamp Act of 1881 offered the alternative of anticipating the annual payments of these duties by a composition paid once for all—a provision which has been acted on beyond my conjectural estimate. Erom this source of revenue we received £25,251 during the year. The revenue from stamps was £10,389 in excess of the estimated amount. Included in this class are the duties under the Stamp Act,, postal revenue, fees and fines of the law-courts, and land transfer fees, for all of which there is now only one description of stamp in use. The Treasury is consequently unable to apportion the moneys received from sales of stamps to the classes of revenue to which they relate. The same course —that of permitting one -kind of stamp to be used for all purposes —has been followed to some extent in other colonies and in England, and no practical inconvenience has resulted, while to the public the change has been a great advantage. The telegraph revenue was £8,135 in excess of the estimate. The receipts from depasturing licenses, rents, &c., were also in excess £10,073. The railway receipts, notwithstanding the large reductions in the tai'iff, yielded more than the estimate by £14,740. This has been due to a considerable increase in the passenger traffic, and in the tonnage oi goods carried, and to an unprecedented increase in the quantities of live stock
Table No. 2,
Table No. 3
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moved, the latter result being doubtless clue, to a large extent, to the activity of the new refrigerating industry. The previous bad season led to a somewhat diminished grain traffic during the year. The traffic arising from the last grain season chiefly falls in during the current year, so that we have not yet realized the results. LAND FUND, 1882-83. The total amount expended during the year out of moneys derived from sales of land was £197,101, of which £41,758 was expended under permanent Acts of the General Assembly and £155,343 out of the votes for the services of the year. The amount estimated to be expended was £41,500 under permanent Acts, and £195,337 under the Appropriation Act, making together £236,837; the actual expenditure was, therefore, £39,736 less than the estimated amount. This result is mainly due to the absence of expenditure out of the vote of £30,000 for rates under the Crown and Native Lands Eating Act of last year. The liabilities outstanding on this account on 31st March, 1883, amounted to £27,440 ; at the close of the previous year the amount was £25,188. The former amount is exclusive of rates on Crown lands for the past year, estimated at £20,000, in respect of which no demands have yet been made, in consequence of the valuation rolls, which the Property-Tax Commissioner is directed by "The Hating Act, 1882," to deliver, not being completed. No moneys were transferred to the Main Hoads Account during the past year, no demands on the Treasury for payment having been made on that Account. The receipts from sales of land amounted to £272,305, consisting of £225,858 from sales for cash and £46,447 from sales on deferred payments. The total amount estimated to be received was £354,000; the receipts, therefore, fell short of the estimate by £81,695. The receipts of the year having been £272,305 and the expenditure £197,101, the excess of receipts amounted to £75,204 ; adding to this sum the balance of £11,360 in hand at the beginning of the year, we get a credit balance of £86,564 on. this Account at the close of the year 1882-83. The whole of this balance, being within the sum of £100,000 authorized by " The Hoads and -Bridges Construction Act, 1882," to be transferred to the Main Roads Account, to which I have just now referred, will be so transferred, in such sums as may from time to time be required. PUBLIC WORKS FUND. The appropriations granted out of the Public Works Fund for the year ended 31st March last amounted to £1,727,729, exclusive of the vote for land purchases, £82,455; the actual expenditure was, however, only £867,194, exclusive of £29,843 for land purchases. The principal items of this expenditure were —railways, £435,529; roads, £210,605; public buildings, £153,071; and other services, £67,989. A good deal of misapprehension appears to exist in the country, and is not altogether absent from the minds of honourable members, as to the reason for the great difference between the amount voted and that spent upon Public Works, the Government often being blamed, on the one hand, for asking for votes for very much larger sums than it is intended to expend, and, on the other hand, for not spending within the year the whole of the sums voted. It is practically impossible that the periods of execution of large works should be adjusted exactly or even, very closely to the periods of the votes. These latter are, in fact, authorities for the payments of the year, and for engaging the colony in operations which must extend beyond the year, and the engagements of one year become, in part, necessarily and properly, expenditure of the next and following years; and the only means by which Parliament can obtain practical control over the expenditure is by voting such a sum in respect of such works as it may determine shall be undertaken as will cover, not only the probable expenditure within the year, but liabilities incurred under contracts or engagements which may remain uncompleted at the c id of the financial year. Particulars of the expenditure of the past year will be found in a table annexed to this Statement, but of course much fuller information on the subject will in due course be given by the Minister of Public Works. The liabilities
i Tables Is"-;)?. I , and 2.
Table No. 1
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outstanding at the end of the year, exclusive of those for Land Purchases, amounted to £861,861, which, added to the amount expended, £867,194 gives a total of £1,729,055, as against £1,727,729 voted for the year. Honourable members will perceive that, in speaking of the expenditure out of the Public Works Fund and the outstanding liabilities at the close of the year, I expressly excluded the expenditure and liabilities in respect of Land Purchases. I did so because I think it is desirable to keep the liabilities on account of Land Purchases entirely distinct from the other liabilities of the Public Works Fund, as they stand on an entirely different footing. From the return of liabilities laid before the House by the Audit Office it will be seen that the Land Purchase liabilities on 31st March last amounted to £309,299 ; at the close of the previous year the amount was £338,876 ; and last year the House was informed that probably not more than £200,000 would be required to complete the purchase of those blocks which the Government had decided to acquire. No new liabilities have been incurred on this account; and, as already stated, the amount expended last year was £29,843 out of a vote for £82,455 —the difference between the amount voted and the expenditure being attributable to the non-completion last year of the purchase of a large block of land in the Provincial District of Hawke's Bay. The balance of the Public Works Fund remaining unexpended on 31st March last, including the balance of the loan of 1882 to be received, estimated at £65,000, amounted to £1,017,725, consisting of cash and securities readily convertible into cash. THE PUBLIC DEBT. On the 31st March, 1882, the gross public debt of the colony amounted to £29,946,711, subject to a deduction of £2,266,418 for accrued sinking funds. On the 31st March, 1883, the debt was £30,357,111, and the sinking funds had increased to £2,571,829, the net debt being thus £27,785,281, or £104,989 more than it was in the previous year. The only addition to the public debt during the past year was the loan of £1,000,000 authorized last session, of which I shall have something to say presently. During the year we were enabled, however, out of moneys at credit of the Public Works Fund requiring temporary investment, to reduce the amount of Imperial guaranteed debentures outstanding on 31st March, 1882, by £264,700, and to take up temporarily debentures for £319,400 issued under the Treasury Bills Acts of 187 9 and 1880, upon which advances had been obtained, also £3,300 of the Immigration and Public Works Loan of 1870. We also redeemed, out of special sinking funds, £2,200 debentures of the North Otago District Public Works Loan, which, with £67,800 previously redeemed, completed the redemption of the debentures of that loan; further, the sinking funds were increased during the year by £305,411. These sums added together give £895,011, which deducted from £1,000,000 leaves £104,989, the sum by which, as I have stated, the public debt was increased during the past year. When, however, we have raised the amounts represented by the Imperial guaranteed debentures in hand (£400,000), and debentures for £323,300 temporarily taken up out of the moneys at credit of the Public Works Fund, the net public debt of the colony will amount to £28,508,581. In accordance with the provisions of the Treasury Bills Acts of 1879 and 1880, the whole of the Treasury Bills issued under these Acts, amounting to £1,832,000, were, on the 31st December, 1882, exchanged for debentures having a currency of three years. It will be remembered that the Government proposed, w Tith the concurrence of the House, to convert these debentures into 4 per cent. Inscribed Stock. I regret that circumstances have not yet proved sufficiently favourable to a successful operation of this nature, but so soon as a fitting opportunity offers it is the intention of the Glovernment to inscribe these debentures. LOAN OF £1,000,000 EAISED IN JANUARY, 1883. Papers relating to the negotiation of the loan of £1,000,000 raised last January will shortly be laid before honourable members.
Table No. 9.
Table No. 5
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It will be remembered that the loan was issued in the form of a 4 per cent. Inscribed Stock, and that it was offered to the public by the Loan Agents, through the Bank of England, at a minimum of £98 10s. per cent., the average price at which it was placed being £98 12s. sd. The stock is now quoted at 102|. The total amount paid by the Bank of England to the Loan Agents, after payment of commission, stamp duty, and other expenses, was £972,297 11s. 9d. On no previous occasion has a JN Tew Zealand loan been raised at a price so favourable to the Colony ; the success which has attended the judicious negotiation of the loan by the Loan Agents, Sir Penrose Julyan and Sir P. Dillon Bell, and the present price of the Stock, are therefore a fitting subject for congratulation. Prior to the loan being offered to the public full information regarding the progress and prospects of the Australasian Colonies in general, including New Zealand, was published in London by the Agent-General, in a very able paper read at the Colonial Institute, and fully discussed in the public Press. Not only the favourable rate, therefore, at which the loan was placed, but the present price of our 4 per cent, inscribed stock and other loans, show that, notwithstanding reiterated statements to the disparagement of our credit, there is in the money market of the world confidence in the resources of the Colony, and in its ability to meet the charges of its public debt. So long as our finance is prudently managed, and the affairs of the Colony are so conducted as to promote settlement on its lands and the development of local indnshies, there is no reason to doubt that our credit will be well maintained, and that we shall be able to obtain from time to time, upon reasonable terms, such moneys as may be required to carry on our public works. SAYINGS-BANKS AND THE GOVEENMENT INSUEANCE DEPARTMENT. I should like here, Mr. llamlin, to refer very briefly to the growth of business during the past year in connection with Savings-Banks and Life Insurance, as affording a very fair criterion of the continued improvement which is taking place in the cultivation of habits of economy and prudence amongst the people. In the savings-banks of the Colony on the 31st December, 1881, the amount held in deposit was £1,549,515, at credit of 61,05 i accounts, or an average of £25 7s. 7d. for each account; on 31st December, 1882, the amount was £1,832,047, at credit of 68,358 accounts, the average amount being £26 16s. There Avas thus an increase of £282,533 in the deposits at the close of the year 1882, and 7,304 in the number of accounts open. Of the large amount of £1,832,047 accumulated in the savings-banks of the colony, £1,470,950 was deposited in the Post-Office Sayings-Bank. Considerable attention has been bestowed on the work of the Insurance Department in the direction of extending its usefulness, and especially in bringing its benefits more readily within the reach of those who may desire to insure for small amounts. The results have been very satisfactory as regards both branches of the department, the new business of which now exceeds a million sterling per annum, being double the average amount hitherto annually attained. The Ordinary Branch assurances in force number over 17,000 policies, insuring upward of five and a half millions. The new assurances average at present nearly £100,000 per month. The accumulated funds of the department now amount to more than three-quarters of a million. These figures appear to denote that a growing section of the general public possess the means and the desire to make prudent provision for the future, and are availing themselves of the advantages which the department offers. LOCAL FINANCE. The passing of the Roads and Bridges Construction Act has, I am glad to say, enabled the local bodies to begin many useful wojrks; but, owing to the fact that the money for the construction of main roads was not available until about February, the work completed under the provisions of the Act has been less than would have been the case had the money been available in the spring of the /ear. The amount available for construction of main roads was estimated at £200,000, but applications to the extent of £640,358 were received,
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the result being that the applicants were allotted only three-eighths of the amount of their applications, the Act providing that should a larger amount be applied for than was available the grants should be reduced pro rata. The applications for District Roads only amounted to £61,795, so that the whole of those applications which were in proper form and received the approval of the ratepayers were granted. The Act seems to be working on the whole well, but will probably require some amendment in the direction of limiting the amount which any local body may apply for. This matter is under the consideration of the Government. LOCAL INSCEIBED STOCK. It will, doubtless, be in the recollection of honourable members that an Act was passed last session authorizing the issuing of a local loan of a quarter of a million as an Inscribed Stock. The scarceness of money in the local market has rendered it inadvisable in the opinion of the Government to place this loan. No action, therefore, has been taken under the Act further than to make the necessary arrangements for issuing the Stock should a favourable turn in the market render it advisable to do so. FINANCIAL BESULTS OP THE TEAR. I will now briefly summarize, for the convenience of honourable members, the general financial results of the year, which I have just given in some detail. We find, as I have already stated, that the total expenditure out of the ordinary revenue of the Consolidated Fund was £3,638,384, and that the revenue amounted to £3,470,250. To the revenue I add£203,683, —that sum being the balance standing to credit of the account on 31st March, 18S2, —and thus obtain £3,673,933 as the total receipts of the year. Deducting from this total the expenditure, amounting to £3,638,384, a balance of £35,549 is obtained as the surplus with which the year 1882-83 terminated. This result the Committee will, I hope, think very satisfactory, especially when it is remembered that taxation was remitted last year to the extent of about £80,000; while, for Constabulary, £75,000 was charged against revenue which before had been borne upon loan; and extra charges for education and interest had to be provided, to the extent of about £98,500. If, therefore, the remission of taxation had not taken place, and the extra charges had not been required, the year would have terminated with a surplus about as large as that of 1881-82. It should also be specially borne in mind that during the past year we contributed out of revenue not less than £270,000 to the Sinking [Funds for the redemption of our Public Debt. Ido not, of course, mention this sum as an exceptional charge on the revenue of the past year, though it included £24,000 for arrears in respect of the Sinking Fund of the Imperial guaranteed debentures, which was exceptional; but I refer to the fact for the purpose of drawing attention to the large and annually-increasing sum which the colony is periodically setting aside for the cancellation of its public indebtedness. In the figures I have just summarized I have not, of course, included the proceeds of land sales, which are kept in a separate account, and applied, after payment of authorized charges, to local public works. But when we come to consider the whole transactions of the Consolidated Fund for the year, the proceeds of land sales, and the expenditure charged thereon, must be included in the account. We find, then, that the total revenues received, including proceeds of land sales, and the balances with which we began the year, amounted to £3,957,599 ; and that the total expenditure, including charges against the proceeds of land sales, was £3,835,486, thus showing a surplus upon the whole transactions of the Consolidated Fund for the year of £122,113. As I have already stated, the surplus of the Ordinary Revenue Account at the close of the year was £35,549 ; the real credit balance of that Account, however, as honourable members will see on referring to the accounts which will be appended to this Statement, was £85,549. The difference, it will be observed, arises from the addition to the receipts of the year of deficiency bills for £50,000, which remained unredeemed on 31st March, 1883; but, as the balance of the Account was £35,549 in excess of the amount required to redeem these bills, I have thought it better, in speaking of the receipts, to exclude the £50,000, in order to simplify the statement of the financial results of the year.
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STATE OF TRADE, Before I submit for the consideration of the Committee estimated expenditure and revenue for the current year, I am desirous of calling attention to the condition and prospects of the trade and commerce of the colony. The subject is very important, and I am sure honourable members will not think a little time misspent if devoted to its consideration. I propose to look back a little, in order that we may see more clearly the general tendency of our trade. I take for examination the three quinquennial periods beginning with the year 1868 and ending with 1882. I find that, from year to year, the fluctuation of both imports and exports is only such as might be reasonably expected in so young a colony, while making the large expenditure upon public works which has been going on for the last ten years. The rapid and, on the average, steady increase in the imports is not more than might have been anticipated from the impetus given to settlement and speculation by the introduction of the Immigration and Public Works scheme. The value of the imports for the period ending 1872 was £23,822,033; for the period ending 1877, £36,494,260;" and for the period ending 1882, £39,358,574 : giving a grand total for the fifteen years of £99,674,867. Of this total probably about £35,500,0.00 represents, in round numbers, capital for which we have to pay interest to persons not resident in the colony. We may divide this gross amount as —money borrowed. by the State and municipal bodies about £26,000,000, and by private persons about £10,500,000, —the whole for the development of our resources. The balance, after deduction of the amounts thus borrowed, is £64,174,867, being the payment we receive for our exports, and the value of the personal property imported by the settlers, which has not to be paid for, being their own. The value of the exports for the period ending 1872 was £23,949,5(53 ; for the period ending 1877, £28,691,204; and for the period ending 1882, £30,830,392 : making a total of £83,471,159. Deducting this sum from the value of the imports just given, we find that the value of our imports during the fifteen years under consideration was £16,203,708 more than the value of our exports. Now, if it is true, as I have assumed, that, of our total imports, £35,500,000 worth was the property of non-residents—or, in other words, capital sent here for investment —it will be seen, if avc take this amount from the total value of our imports, viz., £99,674,867, that the value of the imports for w rhich we paid from our own resources was only £64,174,867. Our exports, however, were worth £83,471,159; so that we have paid for interest, during the last fifteen years, to non-residents the difference between these sums —£19,296,292 —in addition to that portion of the value of our imports which represents capital introduced and owned by our own settlers, which may be estimated at about £6,000,000. Thus we have paid for interest outside the colony about £25,296,292 in the fifteen years between 1868 and 1882, or an average, in round numbers, of nearly £1,700,000 a year. 'J his, of course, is a serious drain, in one sense, upon our productions, and the fact must never be lost sight of if we desire to understand our real financial position. But if the capital borrowed is being employed to advantage, as we have good reason to suppose, it is clear that the transaction must be a profitable one for Ihe colony; for, although it is true that we are sending away a large portion of our produce in payment for the use of this money, it is evident that it would be impossible for us to export anything like the quantity of produce we do without its aid. The practical question, then, for our consideration is—Are we producing enough to pay our debts, to live comfortably, and gradually to increase our capital? Now, in order to answer this question, it will be necessary to analyse the figures which I have given relating to our exports. . We want to see if, as a people, we are directing our attention to the development of those industries which will enable us to increase our exports in proportion to the wants and increase of our population ; and, to do this, the best plan will be to eliminate for the present both gold and wool from our inquiry. Honourable members will find, [upon reference to the Tables which will be published with this Statement, that, out of the total export of £83,471,159, no less than £24,680,658 was for gold, and £40,339,981 for wool, or a total for gold and
! Tables Nos. 10 and 11.
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wool of £65,020,639. Now, the alluvial gold industry, although it was at onetime the principal production of the colony, stands upon quite a different footing from either agriculture or manufactures. Alluvial diggings can only be of short duration in such a country as this, and, as a matter of fact, we find that the produce of gold has gradually fallen off from £2,492,793, in 1868, to £921,644, in 1882. Of the amount exported last year about one-third was the produce of quartzreefing. There is good reason, I think, to expect in the future a considerably larger yield of gold from quartz-reefing than has hitherto been obtained; but, judging by the gradual falling-off for many years past of the produce of the alluvial fields, we cannot rely upon maintaining our gold export at more than the average of the last three years —that is, at slightly over one million a year. The export of gold for the first period was £11,517,655 ; for the second, £7,645,396 ; and for the third, £5,517,607. Eliminating, then, the gold export, we find the exports for the three periods which we are considering to be £12,431,908, £21,045,808, and £25,312,785 respectively, or a total of £58,790,501, of which wool contributed £8,735,785, £15,987,346, and £15,616,850, or a total of £40,339,981. Prom this we see that the value of our exports of wool rose rapidly during the second quinquennial period —nearly doubling—-but that it slightly decreased in the last quinquennial period; not so, however, I am glad to say, the quantity or quality, the decline in value being due to the fluctuations of the market. This industry is gradually changing its character, the production of wool by small farmers now being very considerable, and likely greatly to increase. The importance to the colony of the wool industry cannot well be exaggerated, for we may be said to have paid the whole of the interest due to outside creditors out of wool during the last fifteen years, and to have received in addition a balance of about one million a year for expenditure within the Colony as its result. If we now also deduct our wool export from our total, we find that the exports other than wool and gold during the period ending 1872 were in value £3,696,123; during the period ending 1877, £5,058,462; and during the period ending 1882, £9,695,935. From this we see that the value of our exports other than gold and wool has very largely increased during each period, and was, for the five years ending in 1882, nearly three times as much as for the period ending in 1872, while our population had only about doubled in the time, and the proportion of male adults to the whole population had fallen from 35- 4 to 288 per cent. The value of exports per male adult, after eliminating gold and avool, has been, for the three periods under consideration, £8 10s. 2d., £9 ss. 7d., and £14 6s. Bd. This is a very satisfactory result, and our satisfaction is increased when we come to examine in more detail the progress of the industries which have produced this result. We find large and steady advances in the export of grain, flour, gum, leather, potatoes, sheepskins, tallow, and sawn timber; and last year there is entered for the first time amongst our exports a new industry which promises to be of the greatest advantage to the community. I refer to the export of frozen meat and dairy produce. This trade, as soon as it can be fully organized, should enable ns to bring into profitable cultivation a much larger area of land in proportion to our population than we can use at present for mixed farming. Nor must we forget that we have, among others, fully established woollen mills, soap and candle factories, clothing factories, boot and shoe factories, iron foundries, tanneries, and agricultural-implement factories, which will tend either to increase, proportionately, our exports, or, by reducing our imports, to liberate an equivalent part of our exports for payment to outside creditors. For these reasons, I think Aye may safely conclude that we are not only giving our attention to the necessary industries to which I have referred, but that they have been already permanently established. But, notwithstanding the fact that these results are, as I have said, most satisfactory, as showing that we are rapidly developing industries which will bear almost unlimited expansion, we must not forget the present in the prospect of the future. For, although, as I have just shown, we have begun in earnest to develope those industries which are most essential, if we are to prosper, it is nevertheless also true that, taking our total
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exports, including wool and gold, the value of exports per head of the male adult population has, for the three periods we are considering, steadily diminished. The exports were. £55 2s. sd. for the first period, £f>2 13s. 9d. for the second, and £45 11s. sd. for the third per head respectively. Now these figures, if taken alone, would give a very erroneous impression of what is really going on with regard to production in the colony, and they would have a very serious aspect indeed if our exports other than wool and gold had not hoth steadily and largely increased during the same period. But fortunately the exports other than wool and gold have largely increased, as I have already shown, from £8 10s. 2d., in 1872, to £14 6s. Bd., in 1882, per head of the male adult population. I have said that we have paid annually on the average, for interest outside the colony, during the last fifteen years, nearly £1,700,000 ; but it must he borne in mind, in considering our present position, that we are now paying not less than £2,500,000 a year for interest to non-residents. In other words, rather more than one-third of our exports do not belong to vs —that is to say, they have to go to pay our debts abroad, and bring us no return whatever, except the difference between the interest we pay for the use of our borrowed money and the profit we make by its use, which is probably not more than two per cent, directly for that privately borrowed, although the indirect gain must be considerably more both upon the public and private borrowing. Bearing in mind, then, Mr. Hainlin, the estimates and facts which I have just submitted, we are now in a position to understand pretty well the meaning of what is going on around us with regard to trade and money, so far as these matters are governed by what we do here. Now, the first thing that strikes us is the curious coincidence that the total amount of interest and sinking fund, so far as can be estimated, which we have paid outside the colony during the last fifteen years is practically the same amount as the money borrowed by the colony and municipal bodies taken together. But, although this has been the case in the gross during the last fifteen years, the case has been different for the last three years. For that period the expenditure of money borrowed by the State has not much exceeded one-half of the interest and sinking fund—amounting, as before stated, to £2,500,000 —which we have to pay out of the colony for colonial and municipal loans and private indebtedness; and for the last two years it has only been a little more than one-third. From this it will at once be evident, assuming our exports to remain the same, that, unless a sufficiently large influx of capital, the property of settlers, is maintained to justify the continuance of our imports at their average rate, or unless the produce of our local industries supplying the colonial consumption increases to the extent of any reduction that may take place in our imports, commercial depression must follow. Now, our exports for the last three years have been—£6,352,692 in 1880 ; £6,060,866 in 1881; and £6,658,008 in 1882; while our imports for the same years have been £6,162,011, £7,457,045, and £8,609,270 respectively. Our exports for 1880 were £6,352,692, and for 1882, £6,658,008— an increase of £305,316. Our imports for 1880 were £6,162,011, and for 1882, £8,609,270—an increase of £2,447,259. Now, there is reason to believe that the introduction of capital the property of settlers was very large during last year, and to that extent the increase in our imports was legitimate; but, making every allowance for this important item, it is clear, to my mind, that our imports last year were at least—£l,ooo,ooo more than they ought to have been to supply our reasonable wants, that they have been obtained on credit, and are therefore pressing very heavily upon the commercial classes and, through them, upon the rest of the community. It is, I think, clear that until we have worked off our surplus stocks —and this can only be done by producing the means to pay for them, which will be the work of time—we cannot expect full relief from the present commercial depression, although the gradual easing of the money market in Australia as it takes place will give us some help. But are there any real grounds, on account of the present commercial depression which undoubtedly exists over a large part of the colony, or from any deduction which can be fairly drawn from the figures I have just given, to justify in—B. 2. •
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us in taking a gloomy view of our future prospects ? To that question, Sir, my answer is most emphatically No ! I say distinctly, after a most careful consideration of the whole condition of the country, that there are not only no real grounds for taking a despondent view of our position, but, on the contrary, there is much reason to justify us in looking forward with, confidence to a future of great prosperity. No doubt, Sir, we, like other communities, shall have our ups and downs. Unusual prosperity will be followed by unusual depression, as is the case all over the world. No one, I think, who sees the steady improvements that are going on all over the colony, who observes the very substantial increase in the savings-banks deposit, the great increase in life assurance business, and the rapid development of our manufacturing industries, and who has watched our import and export trade with care, can doubt that we are producing, enough to pay our debts, live comfortably, and gradually accumulate capital. The present state of our trade is not satisfactory, but we might have avoided it almost entirely had our judgment been a little better. No doubt business men were tempted by cheap freight and comparatively easy money to over-import, forgetting for the moment the effect which would follow the contraction in the expenditure of borrowed money—an expenditure which, I am glad to say, Parliament has determined to keep within much narrower limits than have been observed in the past. The remedy for such a depression as we are now suffering from is in our own hands; it is old, very simple, and thoroughly effective, but unfortunately there is no royal road to it. It consists, Sir, in an amount of self-denial and self-restraint, of which we are somewhat impatient in these days. The remedy is, Mr. Hamlin, to live within our means, both publicly and privately; and there are, lam happy to say, many indications that we arc really making up our minds to follow the good old plan. ESTIMATED EXPENDITUEE OUT O¥ OBDINAKY EEVENUE, 1883-84. I now come, Sir, to the consideration of the expenditure of the ordinary revenue of the Consolidated Fund for the current year; and, following the usual custom, I divide it into two parts, viz., Permanent Charges, and the proposed Appropriations for the year. The necessity for maintaining, on the part of the Committee, a careful supervision and strict watch over the annual appropriations will, I hope, be a sufficient excuse for my troubling honourable members at some length with a comparison of the expenditure of the last two years with the proposed expenditure of the current year. First, then, as regards Permanent Charges. The amount estimated to be expended under this head during the current year is £1,645,694, of which £1,567,430 is for Interest and Sinking Fund, amounting respectively to £1,309,930 and £257,500. That is to say, we shall pay £1,309,930 to the public creditor, and set aside £257,500 during the year for the redemption of our debt. Last year (1882-83) we paid £1,566,441 on this account, being £989 less than the estimate for the current year; in the year before the amount paid was £1,500,989, or £65,452 less than last year. This large increase in the amount of Interest and Sinking Fund paid last year is accounted for as follows : Interest on further advances obtained on the Imperial guaranteed debentures, £13,119; Sinking Fund in respect of the same debentures £40,000, being £16,000 for 1882-83', and £24,000 for arrears; Interest on Treasury bills, £12,775. No new Treasury bills were, however, issued ; the explanation of the additional Interest being that certain bills which had been taken up temporarily out of the Public Works Fund, and which bore no Interest so long as they remained investments of that Fund, had been disposed of, and the proceeds returned to the Fund. The sums I have mentioned slightly exceed the increase of £65,452 in the amount of Interest and Sinking Fund paid last year (1882-83) —but there were certain small decreases which account for the difference. I have said that the amount estimated to be expended for Interest and Sinking Fund during the current year exceeds the amount actually paid last year by £989. As, however, the first year's Interest, amounting to £40,000, in respect of the loan of one million raised in January last becomes payable this year, it is necessary to explain, very briefly, how we estimate that we shall only pay £989 more than we paid last year. The chief reason is, that £24,000 which we
Table No. 6.
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paid last year for arrears of Sinking Fund in respect of the Imperial guaranteed debentures does not recur in the Estimates for 1883-84; a saving of £2,433 has, moreover, been effected by exchanging, under the Treasury Bills Acts of 1879 and 1880, £1,832,000 Treasury bills bearing interest at 3§d. per cent, per diem for five per cent, debentures, and a further saving in Interest by taking up temporarily a portion of these debentures out of moneys at credit of the Public Works Eund requiring investment. The remaining permanent charges on the Estimates amount to £78,264, consisting of the Civil List, £29,750; Pensions, civil and military, £27,641; other charges, £20,873. Last year the amount actually expended on these services was £74,845 ; in the year before it was £78,964. The amcfunt of the Appropriations proposed for the year is £2,015,802, as against £1,997,098 actually expended last year, and £1,698,868 the year before. These figures show that our actual requirements last year were greater than those of the year before by £298,230, and that this year we propose an additional expenditure of £18,704; thus making the estimated expenditure for the current year greater by £316,934 than the actual expenditure of the year 1881-82. This state of things is rather startling at first sight; but I hope to be able to explain to the satisfaction of the Committee that this apparently large increase of expenditure will be either nominal or practically unavoidable. I shall first of all refer to the expenditure of last year (1882-83), which, as I have said, exceeded that of the year before (1881-82) by the large sum of £298,230; and it will be convenient that I should deal with the several classes of expenditure in the order in which they are placed in the public accounts and estimates. In Class 1., Legislative, there was an increase of £3,924, chiefly in expenses of members. In Class 11., Colonial Secretary, there was a large increase, amounting to £48,465, in the expenditure on Hospitals and Charitable Aid, which is accounted for by the fact that no recoveries were made from local bodies in 1882-83, subsidies having ceased. On the vote for Electoral there was a decrease of £7,825 last year, the general election for the House having taken place the previous year; and on the vote for Registrar-General's Department there was a decrease of £8,020 after the census of 1881. On the other hand, the expenditure on the Stock (sheep, cattle, and rabbits) branch of the Colonial Secretary's Department was increased by £10,654, mainly owing to the transfer to the ordinary revenue account of a portion of the cost of this service paid out of land revenue in the previous year. The expenditure on Lunatic Asylums was increased by £5,957. There were increases in the expenditure on other services in the same class amounting to £3,593, and decreases amounting to £2,659. The net increase of expenditure last year on the class was, therefore, £50,164. In Class 111., Colonial Treasurer, there was an increase of £29.937. Of this sum, £10,843 represents expenditure of the Property-Tax Department in connection with the general assessment, which assessment, honourable members are aware, occurs every three years only; £19,000 was for exchange and commission. The increase of expenditure on the latter item is merely nominal, as, under the arrangement with the Eank of New Zealand for payment of interest in London, by which an additional charge for exchange became necessary, a larger amount of interest is received on the balances at credit of the Public Account in the colony. In Class IV., Minister of Justice, there was a net increase of £4,645; the total increases being £6,093, of which £1,975 was for criminal prosecutions, £1,473 for prisons, £860 for Resident Magistrates' Courts, £740 for Coroners, and £1,045 for other services; the decreases amounting to £1,448, of which £962 was for the Department of Justice. In Class V., Postmaster-General, there was an increase of £20,351; the vote for salaries being accountable for £7,505 ; maintenance of telegraph lines, repairs, &c, £8,111; and conveyance of mails by sea, £4,128 ; the balance being made up of small increases and decreases on other votes in the same class. In Class VI., Commissioner of Customs, there was an increase of £2,356, £1,350 being for salaries, and the remainder for Seal Fisheries and the " Stella."
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In Class VII. , Commissioner of Stamps, there was an increase of £2,472, arising mainly from contingencies, including commission paid on collection of duties on Native lands. In Class VIII., Minister of Education, the increased expenditure amounted to £31,074, partly owing to the restoration of the ss. per head by which the grants to Education Boards had been reduced in 1881-82, and partly to a greater increase of the average daily attendance at the public schools compared with that of the previous year. In Class IX., Minister of Native Affairs, the Salaries and Contingencies of the Native Department were less by £915, and Miscellaneous services, &c, by £2,687, than they were the previous year; but the expenses of the Native Land Court were increased by £1,392. There was, therefore, a net decrease of £2,210 in this class. In Class X., Minister of Mines, there was a reduction of £2,159, chiefly in subsidies towards construction of tracks on the gold fields. In Class XI., Minister of Public "Works, the increased expenditure amounted to £47,952. The expenditure on working railways was greater last year than the year before by £43,473; but this increase of expenditure was more than compensated for by an increase of £70,000 in the traffic receipts during the same period. In Class XII., Minister of Defence, there was an apparent increase of £109,044; the actual increase was, however, only £34,044, the vote from the Consolidated Eund having been aided by a vote of £75,000 from loan in 1881-82, whereas last year the whole cost of Defence services w ras paid out of revenue. The increase of £34,044 arose out of the unsettled condition of the Natives on the West Coast of the North Island. The increase in the actual expenditure of last year over that of the year before may therefore be broadly summarized as follows, taking the largest items first: Defence, £109,000, including transfer from loan £75,000, and £34,000 for services on the West Coast of the North Island; Hospitals and Charitable Aid, £48,000, formerly recoverable from subsidies to local bodies, now discontinued; Working Railways, £43,000, for extended mileage and traffic, and for increase in the rate of wages ; Education, £31,000, for restoration of the grants to Education Boards to £4 per head, and for increased attendance at public schools; Post and Telegraph Department, £20,000, for additions to salaries, maintenance of telegraph lines, and extended accommodation to the public ; Property-Tax Department, £10,000, for triennial assessment; exchange and commission, £19,000, compensated for by about a similar amount received for additional interest on the balances in the Public Account; other services, £18,000, including the 10 per cent, reduction of salaries in force for the first three months of 1881-82; making in all £^98,000. If honourable members will carefully examine the accounts of the two years to which I have referred they will, I think, in the light of these explanations, see that the larger portion of the apparent increase was merely nominal —that is, was either transferred from loan or balanced by equivalent receipts on the other side of the account; and that such of the increased expenditure as was not nominal could only have been avoided by inflicting undue hardship on the public servants of the colony, or by causing inconvenience to the' public generally. Having thus explained to the Committee, I trust satisfactorily, how the apparently large increase of expenditure last year arose, I shall now proceed to compare the estimates of last year (1882-88) with those of the current year. It is more convenient to do so than to compare the estimates for the current with the actual expenditure of the past year, because in voting supplies for the service of the year it is always necessary to vote such a sum as will leave a sufficient margin to cover unforeseen contingencies, rather than be under the necessity of charging such expenditure to " Unauthorized," through having left no margin. Before doing so I must, however, draw the attention of the Committee to the amount by which, in accordance with section 10 of " The Public Revenues Act, 1882," several of the votes on the Estimates have been abated. This amount— £55,843 —represents estimated recoveries to be received during the year, which will be carried to credit of the relative votes, and will to that extent increase the spending power under the vote. As this is the first time that such abatements
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have been made, it is necessary, in order to institute a fair comparison between the votes of last year and the proposed votes for the current year, that these abatements should be treated as if they had not been made. The amount voted by the House for the services of last year was £2,066,706. The Estimates for the current year amount to £2,015,802 ; but adding the abatements for recoveries, amounting to £55,843, to which I have referred, they amount to £2,071,645, being £4,939 more than the amount voted last year. I shotild explain, however, that the Estimates of last year included a sum of £50,000 for Harbour Defences, which we do not propose to re-vote out of revenue ; but we shall ask the House to vote out of the Public Works Eund such a sum as we are likely to require for this purpose during the current year. The real increase in the Estimates for this year is, therefore, £54,939. That is the net result. I shall not weary the Committee by going into a lengthy comparison of the two years' estimates, but I should like to draw attention to one or two prominent items. In the vote for Railways there is an increase of £73,647, partly due to increased traffic on the lines and partly to the extension of the mileage open, there being now 1,407 miles, as against 1,358 last year; and in the vote for Armed Constabulary there is a decrease of £13,226, our improved relations with the Natives on the West Coast having enabled the Government to effect a reduction in the number of men in the field force. The vote for Hospitals and Charitable Aid has been increased by £16,000. The total charge on this account is now £83,900. Some districts, recognizing the truth that it is more blessed to give than to receive, still continue to subscribe to the local hospitals and benevolent societies; but the general tendency, I am sorry to say, is to more and more throw the whole burden of relieving the poor upon the State. The comfort and well-being in the future of the great body of the people of this country so much depends upon the way in which we may decide to deal with this important question, and public opinion is so unformed upon the subject, that, notwithstanding the many evident objections to our present system, the Government have determined to ask for a continuance of the vote in its present shape, thus leaving the question comparatively open to be dealt with when the matter has been more carefully considered. Sir, there seems to me to be insuperable objections to a poor-law in any shape. I believe such a law not only to be unnecessary, but highly demoralizing to any community that adopts it. The Government are not, therefore, prepared to submit any law having for its object to charge the cost of maintaining the indigent upon local or general rates. But, with the view of helping to form public opinion upon the subject, I shall ask leave to lay upon the table of the House a Bill for compulsory National Insurance, not with the intention of asking the House to read it a second time, but with the hope of getting a debate upon it, and then distributing the Bill throughout the country for public consideration. Honourable members will see, upon examining the Estimates, that the whole of the salaries remain the same as those voted last year, except in the case of cadets —who rise from £50 or £60 to £80 or £90 a year according to scale—those officers who are classified, and some half-dozen extraordinary cases, for which special reasons will be given by Ministers in charge of the department in which increases are made. The reason why no increases have been made is, not that the Government think none are fair or necessary, but because of the difficulty through want of classification, and the differences in pay of officers doing practically the same work, which renders it impossible to make the increases with fairness to officers of the various departments. The Government have therefore determined to submit the Estimates as they stand, and to ask the House to consider a scheme for the reorganization and classification of the Service. I shall therefore propose, in the course of a few days, some resolutions embodying the principles which the Government think should be given effect to by a Bill, and after discussion I shall ask that they be referred for the consideration of a Select Committee, consisting of members from both sides of the House, with directions to the Committee to report, after careful inquiry and consideration of the subject, as to the principles upon which a Civil Service Act should be founded. This question is of such importance to the
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colony that I hope that by this means we may exclude all party feeling from the question, and that we may be enabled so to reorganize our Civil Service as to render it both efficient and economical, while its status and pay will be such as to attract men of ability and character to its ranks. The reorganization of the Civil Service is, no doubt, a work of considerable difficulty, and it is possible, after thorough consideration by the Committee, there may not be time to carry a Bill this session; but I yet hope there will be. If, however, there should not be sufficient time to legislate this session, the House will have laid down the principles upon which it will be the duty of the Government to prepare legislation for next session. Should no Act be passed this year, it will be necessary to ask the House for increases to some of the present salaries where such increases are fairly due. ESTIMATED REVENUE FOR THE TEAE 1883-4. I have now, Mr. Hamlin, to bring under the notice of the Committee the estimated revenue of the year 1883-84. I anticipate that we shall receive a total ordinary revenue of £3,573,800 for the current year, exclusive of land sales, if our taxation remains imaltered. I have thought it prudent not to increase the estimated receipts from Customs duties more than £20,000 above the estimate of last year; but I hope, looking to all the circumstances of the colony, as far as it is possible to do so in advance, we may reasonably expect to receive £1,520,000 from these duties. I have also estimated an increase of £8,000 on stamps, £7,000 on telegraph receipts, and £18,000 on the property-tax under the new valuation. I estimate, then, the total revenue at £3,573,800; to which I add the balance of £35,549 which stood to our credit at 31st March last, and get the sum of £3,609,349 as the total amount available for the services of the year. Now, the total revenue received last year was £3,673,933, including the balance with which the year began. Honourable members will therefore see that our ways and means for the current year are less than those of last year by £64,584. The estimated revenue proper, it is true, for this year exceeds that of last by £103,550, but the credit balance with which we begin this year is less by £168,134 than the credit balance with which we began last year; so that, as I have said, our total ways and means is less by £64,584. It should also be remembered that the increase in the receipts from railways this year is only obtained by the necessary addition to the expenditure of £48,187 for their working expenses and maintenance, and it must also further be borne in mind by the Committee that it was only in consequence of the large surplus on the 31st March, 1882, that the whole of the cost of the Armed Constabulary was, for the first time, charged against the consolidated revenue. I have already shown the estimated expenditure as £3,661,496. There will therefore be a deficit of £52,147 ; as to the means of meeting which I will speak presently. LAND PTTND, 1883-84. The estimated expenditure chargeable against the Land Sales Fund is as follows : For charges fixed by Acts of the General Assembly, £36,600; for the Crown Lands, Survey, and Mines Departments, £157,280, and for rates on Crown Lands £40,000, amounting in the whole to £233,880. The receipts from land sales are estimated at £275,600 for the current year. To this must be added the balance standing to the credit of the Fund on 31st March last, £86,564; making the total estimated receipts for the year £362,164. Deducting from this the estimated expenditure, we obtain a surplus of £128,284; against which, however, is chargeable £100,000 payable to Main lloads Account for last year. There is, therefore, only available, if the above estimates are correct, £28,284 for the Main Roads Account, under the Eoads and Bridges Construction Act, for the current year. I shall have to refer to this subject again before I conclude. PEOPOSALS FOR THE TEAE. Ordinary Revenue Account. I have said, Mr. Hamlin, that the estimated expenditure for the year is £3,661,496, and that, without further taxation, the estimated revenue is only £3,609,349. It is evident, therefore, that we must either decrease our
Table No. 6,
Table No. 7,
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expenditure or increase our revenue. The Government see no prospect, after careful consideration of the subject, of reducing expenditure for this year below the amount estimated, whatever we may hope for from the reorganization of the Civil Service to which I have already referred. There remain, therefore, as the only alternatives —increased taxation, or charging some services upon loan. The latter course the Government are not prepared to recommend; I shall therefore propose an increase in the Property-tax of one farthing in the pound, and this I estimate to produce £85,000. Adding this amount, then, to the estimated revenue, £3,609,349, we get a total revenue of £3,65)4,349 ; and subtracting from this our estimated expenditure, £3,661,496, we obtain a probable surplus of £32,853 on the 31st March, 1884. This is not as large a margin as might be desirable, but the fact of its smallness will, no doubt, render the Government even more careful than heretofore in the expenditure of the votes authorized by this House, and will, I trust, insure the assistance of the House being given to the Government in resisting any extraordinary proposals for expenditure which may be submitted for its consideration. Land Fund. I have already said, Mr. Hamlin, that the amount available from the proceeds of land sales, after the necessary charges for expenditure upon main roads under the Roads and Bridges Construction Act have been deducted, will only be £28,284. This result is decidedly unsatisfactory from one point of view, especially when it is seen that no provision has been made for the expenditure of 20 per cent,, as provided by the Act, for opening up new lands. This deficiency in anticipated funds arises, as honourable members will no doubt see, from the falling off in the land revenue, which was £81,695 less last year than the estimated amount; and this year it is only estimated to produce £275,600. This falling-off in the land sales has arisen partly from the reservation —as subsidies for railways under the Act of 1881 —of lands which had been previously intended and prepared for sale, and partly from the principle upon which the department has been and is being worked —the chief consideration which is now guiding our land administration being the settlement of the country in small holdings. This has necessitated large areas being sold, and set apart for sale, under the deferred-payment system, and also under the perpetual-lease system. The subject will be brought under the notice of the House by the Minister for Lands, upon the second reading of the Land Act Amendment Bill. It is one of great moment to the future prosperity of the colony; and will require, and, lam sure, receive, the careful consideration of the House. The financial aspect of the question is also of importance. We have, since separating the proceeds of our land sales from ordinary revenue in 1881, relied upon our land sales to produce, over and above the permanent charges and necessary expenses of the fund, from £150,000 to £200,000 a year, which was to be applied to the construction of local public works. We have, however, in the interests of settlement, been gradually diminishing the sale of our public estate without properly recognizing the fact, for the last three years; and if the House should determine to continue this course, as I have no doubt it will, we shall have, again to face the question as to the best way of providing means to supply the Main Roads Eund constituted under the Roads and Bridges Construction Act. The course, however, which we shall finally pursue in dealing with our public estate being yet undecided, it would be premature to make any proposals upon the subject at present. It is, however, clear that, as we are administering the land department in the interests of settlement rather than of revenue, we must also, in the interests of settlement, make sufficient provision for the Main Roads Eund. I shall, therefore, propose that there should be paid to that fund for the current year, out of the Public Works Eund, a sum of £74,000 —an amount sufficient, with the available balance of the land sales, to make up £100,000. With reference to opening up land before sale, honourable members will recollect that £200,000 was placed upon the Schedule of the last three-million loan for this purpose. Of this, £80,000, in round numbers, was spent last year; and it is proposed by the Land Department to ask this year for the balance of the vote. A large amount of most useful work has been executed with this money, as honourable members will see when the report of the Surveyor-General is before them.
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In conclusion, allow me to say that, notwithstanding the existence of some commercial depression in parts of the colony, the result of influences of which I have endeavoured to afford explanation in my previous remarks, yet the steady growth of essential industries, —the gradual improvement of our internal communications,—the rapid and spontaneous increase of commercial facilities by means of fine fleets of sailing- and steam-ships, which unite us Avith other lands and ply constantly on our coasts, —the establishment of an export trade in frozen meat and other produce of the land, —the encouragement afforded to settlement of the country in small holdings,—and the prospect of an early and complete solution of those questions which have so Jong delayed the reconciliation of a large section of the Native population to our rule, are considerations which justify a sober confidence in the future, and encourage the Legislature to persevere in the course which it has followed, with such advantage to the colony, of a careful and methodical finance, —of a just and firm but conciliatory Native policy,—and of the settlement of the land in such holdings as will promote its occupation by the people.
TABLES REFERRED TO IN THE FOREGOING STATEMENT.
PAGE Table No. I.—Absteact of the Receipts and Expenditure op the Public Account ... ... ... 2-7 Table No. 2.—Statement op the Estimated and Actual Expenditure op the Consolidated Fund, including the estimated liabilities on 31st march, 1882, and 31st march, 1883 ... 8 Table Wo. 3.—Comparative Statement of the Estimated and Actual Receipts op the Consolidated Fund ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 9 Table No. 4. —The Actual Revenue op the Year 1882-83 compared with this Estimated Revenue of the Year 1883-84 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 9 Table No. 5. —The Public Debt ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 10 Table No. 6.—Statement of the Estimated Receiets and Expenditure of the Ordinary Revenue Account of the Consolidated Fund fob 1883-84 ... ... ... ... ... 12 Table No. 1. —Statement op the Estimated Eeceipts and Expenditure of the Land Fund Account for 1883-84 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 13 Table No. 8. —Statement of the Total Ways and Means and Total Net Expenditure of the Public Works Fund to the 31st March, 1883 ... ... ... ... ... ... 14 Table No. 9. —Statement of the Estimated Liabilities of the Public Works Fund on 31st March, 1882, and 31st March, 1883 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 15 Table No. 10. —Table showing the Total Value op Imports and Exports ... ... ... .., 15 Table No. 11.—Table showing the Value of Wool, Gold, Grain, etc., exported from the Colony ... 16
+— B. 2.
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TABLE
STATEMENT of the RECEIPTS and EXPENDITURE of the ORDINARY REVENUE
LAND FUND
2
£ s. d. £ s. d. £ 8. d. RECEIPTS. Balance on 31st Mavcli, 1882,— Cash in the Public Account and in transitu Advances in the hands of Officers of the Government, — Colonial Foreign 22,817 7 10 49,286 10 6 128,779 9 9 72,103 18 4 2,800 0 0 Worn Silver Coin in transitu to Melbourne Mint Ordinary Revenue, — Customs Stamps (including "Postal" Cash Receipts) Property-tax ... Beer-duty Railways ... ... ... ... Telegraphic Registration ... ... Marine Miscellaneous ... ... 203,683 8 1 1,494,463 8 9 444,389 2 0 157,793 9 4 62,639 8 3 954,740 3 1 93,135 3 4 59,690 8 4 15,656 10 6 49,169 11 11 Territorial Revenue, — Licenses, Rents, &c. ... ... Miscellaneous ... ... ... ... ... 3,331,677 5 6 132,808 10 2 5,70.1 17 3 138,573 7 5 Deficiency Bills issued, — Under " The Public Revenues Act, 1878" ... 3,470,250 12 11 50,000 0 0 Treasury Bills issued, — Under "The Treasury Bills Act, 1880 " in renewal of Bills due 1st Hbrember, 1882, per contra 240,000 0 0 Short-dated Debentures issued, — Under "The Treasury Bills Act, 1879" ... Under "The Treasury Bills Act, 1880" ... 1,242,000 0 0 590,000 0 0 1,832,000 0 0 Total £5,795,934 1 0
Salanee on 31st March, 1882,— Cash in the Public Account ,.. „, ... Advances in the hands of Officers of the Government, — Colonial Foreign ,., ... 5,887 10 10 800 0 0 4,673 2 6 6,687 10 10 iand Sales, — Ordinary ... ... ... ,,. ,,, On Deferred Payments ... 11,360 13 4 225,857 14 11 46,417 5 5 272,305 0 4 Total £283,665 13 8
7J O
No. 1.
CONSOLIDATED FUND for the Financial Year ended 31st March, 1883. ACCOUNT.
ACCOUNT.
3
£ a. d. £ s. d. s. EXPENDITURE. Permanent Appropriations, — Civil List Interest and Sinking Fund Under Special Acts of the Legislature 26,109 4 11 I,5fi6,44l 4 2 48,736 4 8 1,641,286 13 9 Annual Appropriations, — Class I.' —Legislative ... ,, II. —Colonial Secretary „ III. —Colonial Treasurer „ IV.—Minister of Justice „ V. —Postmaster-Greneral ... „ VI.—Commissioner of Customs „ VII. —Commissioner of Stamps „ VIII. —Minister of Education „ IX.—Minister of Native Affairs „ X.—Minister of Mines „ XI. —Minister for Public Works „ XII. —Minister of Defence ... 42,013 10 9 228,919 18 9 62,365 5 1 116,257 17 4 247,819 19 2 73,811 5 7 26,033 8 8 300,784 7 5 21,912 18 5 12,951 3 7 621,172 2 7 238,552 7 2 Services not provided for ... ... ... 1,992,621. 4 6 4,473 15 8 3,633,381 13 11 Treasury Bills redeemed, —■ Under " The Treasury Bills Extended Currency Act, 1873" Under " The Treasury Bills Extended Currency Act, 1876" 180,000 0 0 60,000 0 0 Under "The Treasury Bills Act, 1879" ... Under "The Treasury Bills Act, 1880 " ... 240,000 0 0 1,242,000 0 0 590,000 0 0 ,832,000 0 0 Balance on 31st March, 1883,— Cash in the Public Account Advances in the hands of Officers of the Government, — Colonial Foreign 22,302 6 11 57,042 8 6 6,204 11 8 2,072,000 0 0 79,344 15 5 85,549 7 1 Total £5,795,934 1 0
Permanent Appropriations,— One-third of Proceeds of Land sold on Deferred Payments paid to Local Bodies New Plymouth Harbour Board Endowment, Ellesmere and Forsyte. Reclamation and Akaroa Bailway Trust 15,432 9 11 21,973 1 10 4,353 2 3 Annual Appropriations,— Class XIII.—Minister of Lands ... „ XIV.—Colonial Treasurer ... 41,758 14 0 153,452 0 6 507 6 9 153,959 7 3 1,383 8 7 Services not provided for 1 Balance on 31st March, 1883,— Cash in the Public Account Advances in the hands of Officers of the Q-ovemment, — Colonial Foreign 197,101 9 10 81,928 0 0 3,967 9 4 668 14 6 4,636 3 10 86,564 3 10 Total £283,665 13 8
8.—2.
TABLE
STATEMENT of the RECEIPTS and EXPENDITURE of the ACCOUNTS OF
DEPOSIT
Treasury, Wellington, 16th April, 1883.
4
RECEIPTS. £ s. d. £ 6. d. £ s. d. Balance on 31st March, 1882,— Cash in the Public Account .., 5,441 15 10 Revenue appropriated to Local Bodies, — Pees, Enes, &c. ... ... Revenue from Lands made over ... G-old Fields Revenue Gold Duty 5,839 5 3 8fifl 16 0 25,(566 4 6 24,243 1 6 56,635 7 3 Counties Separate Accounts, — Revenue of Counties in which " The Counties Act, 1876," is not in full operation ... 907 0 2 Advance Account, — Recovered 478 7 2 58,020 14 7 Total £63,462 10 5
Balance on 31st March, 1882,— Cash in the Public Account Advances in the hands of Officers of the Government, — Foreign 29,937 17 10 34,578 18 1 64,516 15 11 Lodgments, — Armed Constabulary Eeward Fund General Assembly Library Fund Miscellaneous Nelson Eifle Prize Fund Nelson Eifle Prize Fund Investment New Zealand University Endowment, Canterbury ... New Zealand University Endowment, Westland North Otago District Public Works Loan Act Eailway Servants Fund ... Thames Gold Field, European Account Thermal Springs Districts Act, 1881 Waitara Harbour Board Sinking Fund Westland Loan Act Eedemption ... Working Eailways Deposits 261 1 1 135 0 0 59,634 3 0 148 7 11 700 0 0 296 1 4 7 12 6 5,213 3 9 65 14 9 901 13 5 698 2 0 41 3 1 06 15 4 2,510 13 6 70,709 11 8 Total £135,226 7 7
0
8.-2.
fvJO. I—continued.1 — continued.
CONSOLIDATED FUND for the Financial Year ended 31st March, 1883. LOCAL BODIES.
ACCOUNTS.
JAMES C. GAVIN, Secretary to the Treasury. JAMES B. HEYWOOD, Accountant to the Treasury. Examined and found correct: JAMES EDWARD FITZGERALD, Controller and Auditor-General.
EXPENDITURE. £ s. d. £ b. a.- £ s. d. Revenue paid over to Local Bodies, — Fees, Fines, &e. Bevenue from Lands made over ... G-old Fields Revenue Grold Duty 5,836 13 1 904 8 6 25,512 14 7 25,071 18 4 57,325 14 6 Counties Separate Accounts, — Amount distributed amongst Road Boards where "The Counties Act, 1876," is not in full operation 998 12 4 Balance on 31st March, 1883,— Cash in the Public Account. Advances in the hands of Officers of the Government, — Colonial 58,324 6 10 5,092 9 1 45 14 6 5,138 3 7 Total £63,462 10 5
Withdrawals, — Armed Constabulary Reward Fund Canterbury Surplus Land Revenue General Assembly Library Fund ... Miscellaneous Nelson Rifle Prize Fund Nelson Rifle Prize Fund Investment North Otaj'O District Public Works Loan Act Thames Gold Field, European Account Thermal Springs Districts Act, 1881 Waitara Harbour Board Sinking Fund Westlaud Loan Act Redemption Working Railways Deposits 238 12 6 5,742 6 3 135 0 0 61,825 4 6 195 0 0 800 0 0 5,213 3 9 863 19 2 97 10 0 41 3 1 138 2 6 943 9 8 Balance on 31st March, 1883,— Cash in the Public Account Advances in the hands of Officers of the Government, — Colonial ... ,.. ... ... ... Foreign 76,233 11 5 37,226 17 2 1,400 0 0 20,365 19 0 21,765 19 0 58,992 16 2 Total £135,226 7 7
8.—2.
6
TABLE
STATEMENT of the RECEIPTS and EXPENDITURE of the PUBLIC
Treasury, Wellington, 16th April, 1883,
£ s. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. RECEIPTS. Balance on 31st March, 1882,— Cash in the Colony and in London, and in transits, to London Advances in the hands of Officers of the Government, — In the Colony ... In London 647,646 1 2 7,142 8 5 53,176 16 8 60,319 5 1 Investments, — Wanganui Harhour Board Debentures Duntroon and Hakateramea Railway Company Debentures New Zealand Government 10-40 Debentures Treasury Bills, representing balance of Advance to Consolidated Fund 17,000 0 0 20,000 0 0 44,000 0 0 600 0 0 81,600 0 0 " New Zealand Loan Act, 1882,"— Partial Proceeds of Second Issue of 4 per cent. Inscribed Stock at 98£ "Immigration and Public Works Loan Act, 1870," — Debentures due 15th April, 1882, renewed ' ... Special Beceipts under section 9 of "The Railways Construction Act, 1878 " 920,000 0 0 27,900 0 0 4,897 15 3 789,565 6 3 952,797 15 3 Nora.—Balance on 31st March, 1882, subject to Liabilities,— Balance as above ... ... ... £789,565 6 3 Balance of Imperial Guaranteed Debentures unissued ... ... ... ... 135,300 0 0 Total ... ... ... £921,865 6 3 £1,742,363 1 6
8.—2
7
[Vjo. I—continued.1 — continued.
WORKS FUND for the Financial Year ended 31st March, 1883.
JAMES C. GAVIN, Secretary to the Treasury. JAMES B. HEYWOOD, Accountant to the Treasury. Examined and found correct: JAMES EDWAKD FITZGERALD, Controller and Auditor-General.
£ 8. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. EXPENDITURE. Annual Appropriations, — Class I.—Immigration „ II.—Public Works, Departmental „ III.—Railways „ IV.—Surveys of New Lines of Railway ... „ V.—Roads ... „ VI. —Land Purchases ... „ VII.—Gold Fields Roads „ VIII. —Waterworks on Gold Fields „ IX.—'Telegraph Extension „ X. —Public Buildings ,, XI.—Lighthouses and Harbour Works ... „ XII.—Charges and Expenses 3,999 5 8 12,870 13 11 348,127 14 8 583 16 10 201,166 15 6 29,843 15 9 9,438 14 5 6,834 7 8 18,653 13 4 153,071 18 10 24,598 2 5 516 5 10 Railways General Account under section 4 of " The Immigration and Public Works Appropriation Act, 1882" ... 809,695 4 10 86,817 2 5 Services not provided for 896,512 7 3 525 5 6 Debentures of " The Immigration and Public Works Loan Act, 1870," redeemed Temporary Advances on security of Imperial Guaranteed Debentures of "The Immigration and Public Works Loan Act, 1870," repaid ... 27,900 0 0 897,037 12 9 292,600 0 0 264,700 0 0 Balance on 31st March, 1883, — Cash in the Colony and in London Advances in the hands of Officers of the Government, — Colonial Foreign 1,189,637 12 9 63,776 19 7 8.823 0 3 136,825 8 11 145,648 9 2 Investments, — Duntroon and Hakateramea Railway Company Debentures " Immigration and Public Works Loan Act, 1870," 4£ per cent. Debentures "Treasury Bills Act, 1879," 5 per cent. Debentures ... "Treasury Bills Act, 1880," 5 per cent. Debentures ... 20,000 0 0 3,300 0 0 220,000 0 0 100,000 0 0 343,300 0 0 Nora.— Balance on 31st March, 1883, subject to Liabilities,— Balance as above ... ... ... £552,725 8 9 Estimated balance of Proceeds of New Zealand Loan, 1882, to be received ... ... 65,000 0 0 Balance oi Imperial Guaranteed Debentures unissued ... ... ... ... 400,000 0 0 Total ... ... ... £1,017,725 8 9 552,725 8. 9 £1,742,363 1 6
8.—2
8
TABLE No. 2. STATEMENT of the Estimated and Actual Expenditure of the Consolidated Fund (exclusive of Accounts of Local Bodies and Deposits) for the Financial Year ended 31st March, 1883; also of the Estimated Liabilities on 31st March, 1882 and 1883.
Estimated Liabilities on 31st March, 1882. Estimated Expenditure of 1882-83, which included provision for Liabilities outstanding on 31st March, 1882. Actual Expenditure of the Year 1882-83. Estimated Liabilities on 31st March, 1883. £ s. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. Ordinary Revenue Account :— Permanent Appropriations,— Civil List Interest and Sinking Fund Under Special Acts of the Legislature .. 168 0 0 24,000 0 0 29,750 0 0 1,554,848 0 0 42,914 0 0 26,109 0 0 1,566,441 0 0 48,736 0 0 165 0 0 4,470 0 0 957 0 0 24,168 0 0 1,627,512 0 0 1,641,286 0 0 5,592 0 0 Annual Appropriations,— Class I. —Legislative ,, II.—Colonial Secretary ,, III.—Colonial Treasurer ,, IV. —Minister of Justice ,, V.—Postmaster-General ,, VI. —Commissioner of Customs ,, VII.—-Commissioner of Stamps.. ,, VIII. —Minister of Education „ IX. —Minister of Native Affairs.. „ X.—Minister of Mines „ XI. —Minister for Public Works- ,, XII.—Minister of Defence 25 0 0 14,881 0 0 767 0 0 3,305 0 0 12,939 0 0 1,849 0 0 1,150 0 0 2,340 0 0 2,737 0 0 8,550 0 0 71,754 0 0 19,578 0 0 43,001 0 0 232,851 0 0 58,379 0 0 110,130 0 0 238,021 0 0 80,333 0 0 24,543 0 0 308,890 0 0 23,392 0 0 28,947 0 0 628,638 0 0 283,581 0 0 42,014 0 0 228,920 0 0 62,365 0 0 116,258 0 0 247.S50 0 0 73,811 0 0 26,033 0 0 300,784 0 0 21,913 0 0 12,951 0 0 621,172 0 0 238,553 0 0 719 0 0 16,604 0 0 6,480 0 0 3,016 0 0 9,920 0 0 3,394 0 0 1,326 0 0 2,500 0 0 1,939 0 0 6,805 0 0 82,735 0 0 35,500 0 0 139,875 0 0 2,066,706 0 0 1,992,624 0 0 170,938 0 0 Services not provided for 351 0 0 4,474 0 0 Summary. Permanent Appropriations Annual Appropriations Services not provided for 24,168 0 0 139,875 0 0 351 0 0 1,627,512 0 0 2,066,706 0 0 1,641,286 0 0 1,992,624 0 0 4,474 0 0 5,592 0 0 170,938 0 0 Totals, Ordinary Revenue Account.. 164,394 0 0 3,694,218 0 0 3,638,384 0 0 176,530 0 0 Land Fund Account: — Annual Appropriations,— Class XIII.—Minister of Lands ,, XIV.—Colonial Treasurer £ s. d. 11,805 0 0 £ s. d. 164,829 0 0 30,508 0 0 £ s. d. 153,452 0 0 507 0 0 £ s. d. 13,331 0 0 Special Appropriations,— One-third of Land Sales on Deferred Payments New Plymouth Harbour Board Endowment Ellesmere and Forsyth Reclamation Trust Services not provided for 11,805 0 0 195,337 0 0 153,959 0 0 13,331 0 0 13,384 0 0 20,000 0 0 15,432 0 0 14,109 0 0 20,000 0 0 21,973 0 0 1,500 0 0 4,353 0 0 1,384 0 0 Totals, Land Fund Account 13,384 0 0 41,500 0 0 43,142 0 0 14,109 0 0 25,189 0 0 236,837 0 0 197,101 0 0 27,440 0 0
9
8.—2
TABLE No. 3. COMPARATIVE STATEMENT of the Estimated and Actual Receipts of the Consolidated Fund for the Financial Year ended 31st March, 1883 (exclusive of Revenue of Local Bodies and Deposits).
TABLE No. 4. STATEMENT of the Actual Revenue of the Year 1882-83, as compared with the Estimated Revenue of the Year 1883-84.
s—B. 2.
I Diiee: inces. Estimated. Actual. I More than Estimate. Less than Estimate. Oedinaky Revenue Account:— Customs Stamps Property-Tax Beer Duty... Railways ... Telegraphic Registration Marine ... ...' Miscellaneous £ s. a. 1,500,000 o o 434,000 o o 150,000 o o 60,000 o o 940,000 o o 85,000 o o 36,000 o o 15,000 o o 45,000 o o £ s. d. 1,494,463 8 9 444,389 2 o '57,793 9 4 62,639 8 3 954,740 3 1 93.135 3 4 59,690 8 4 15,656 10 6 49,169 11 11 £ s. d. 10,389 2 o 7.793 9 4 2,639 8 3 14,740 3 1 8,i35 3 4 23,690 8 4 656 10 6 4,169 11 11 £ s. a. 5>536 11 3 Tbbbitobial Revenue : — Depasturing Licenses, Rents, Ac. 128,500 o o 138,573 7 5 10,073 7 5 3,393,5°° ° ° 3,470,250 12 11 82,287 4 2 5>S36 11 3 76,750 12 11 S.536 n 3 Land Fund Account :— Land Sales 354,000 o o 272.30S o 4 81,694 19 8
Actual for 1882-83. Estimated for 1883-84. Obdinaby Revenue Account: — Customs Stamps Property-Tax Beer Duty Railways Telegraphic .. .. .".' Registration and other Fees .. Marine Misoellanoeus Depasturing Licenses, Rents, &c. Miscellaneous £ 1,494,463 444,389 157,793 62,639 954,740 93,135 59,690 15,657 49,170 132,809 5,765 £ 1,520,000 457,500 168,000 62,000 1,020,000 100,000 35,800 16,000 40,000 130,300 4,200 Land Fund Account :— Land Sales — For Cash On Deferred Payments 3,470,250 225,858 46,447 3,573,800 199,350 76,250 Totals .. £3,742,555 £3,849,400
8.—2.
10
TABLE No. 5. The PUBLIC DEBT of NEW ZEALAND on 31st March, 1883.
Annual Chakqe. Debenttjbes and Deficiency Bills in ClECTTLATION. Loans. Sinking Funds Acceued. Net Indebtedness. Interest. Sinking- Fund. Total. Amount. When Redeemable. Rate. Amount. Rate. Amount. TTndek Acts of the Colonial Goyeenment :— j Ordinance of Legislative Council New Zealand Loan Act, 1856 ... < j £ 375.°°° 25,000 50,000 50,000 £ 3" > 500,000 On presentation January, 1888 October, 1888 October, 1889 June, 1894 £ s. d. ... > 446,000 o o £ s. d. 311 00 54,000 o o p. cent. 4 £ a. d. 20,000 o o p. cent. 2 £ s. d. 10,000 o o £ s. d. 30,000 o o New Zealand Loan Act, i860 New Zealand Loan Act, 1863 ... ■{ j li 488,000 500,000 201,500 236,000 93,900 93,100 I \- i,5i9>4°° i J 1 July, 189 1 1 November, 19 15 15 March, 1891 15 June, 1891 15 December, 1891 73.H9 3 6 J. 533,888 o o j 19,950 16 6 985,512 o o 6 r 5 1 4 5,586 o o 24,400 o o 20,000 o o 12,090 o o 14,160 o o 5.634 ° ° 2 1 1 1,862 o o 4,880 o o 5,000 o o 4,030 o o 4,720 o o 1,878 o o 7,448 o o 29,280 o o 25,000 o o 16,120 o o 18,880 o o 7,512 o o 2 2 2 Consolidated Loan Act, 1867 ... jj 64,000 13,000 600,000 50,000 25,000 75,000 250,000 > 4,660,IOO 36 years from issue 1 January, 1893 15 April, 1913 [-1,416,958 o o ■ J r 5 4 5 4* ■! 4 5 4 4* 4 I 4i 229,155 o o 3,200 o o 1 45,831 o o 274,986 o o 3,200 o o 520 o o 520 o o r y 1,000,000 years from issue 31 December, 1885 1 July, 1910 15 April, 1913 15 July, 1906(5/30) 30,000 o o 2,500 o o 1,125 ° ° 3,000 o o 12,500 o o 1 6,000 o o 36,000 o o 2,500 o o 1,125 ° ° 3,000 o o 12,500 o o Defence and Other Purposes Loan Act, 1870 -j I 7,439,842 o o (1 2,100,000 372,100 24,600 200,000 500,000 y 3,196,700 36 years from issue 15 April, 1913 15 April, 1913 1 June, 1907 1 Feb., 1904 (5/30) 105,000 o o 14,884 o o 1,107 o o 8,000 o o 22,500 o o 1 21,000 o o 126,000 o o 14,884 o o 1,107 o o 28,000 o o 22,500 o o Immigration and Public Works Loan Act, J 1870 ... ... ... "> 2,000,000 o o 2* 20,000 o o U Immigration and Public Works Loan Act, ( j ■873 I 1,500,000 500,000 I 2,000,000 12,969,611 1 Feb., 1904(5/30) 15 July, 1906 (5/30) ) I 5 67,500 o o 25,000 o o 67,500 o o 25,000 o o 753,062 o o Carried forward ... ... 2,469,995 3 6 10,499,615 16 6 627,861 o o 125,201 o o * On the 'hole of the one millio on of Imperial Gruars ,nteed Debentures.
11
8.—2.
TABLE NO. 5— continued. The PUBLIC DEBT of NEW ZEALAND on 31st March, 1883— continued.
Annual Charge. Debentures and Deficiency Bills in Circulation. Sinking Funds Accrued. Net Loans. Indebtedness. Intebest. Sinking Fund. Amount. When Redeemable. Rate. Amount. Rate. Amount. Brought forward ... £ 12,969,611 £ s. d. £ s. d. 10,499,615 16 6 p. cent. £ 8. d. 627,861 o o p. cent. £ s. d. 125,201 o o £ s. d. 753,062 o o Undue Acts of the Colonial G-overnhent — continued. f 12,300 49.5°° 20,900 18,500 6,200 87,900 54,7°° 500,000 1 1 492 o 0 2,47s ° ° 836 o o 740 o o 279 o o 4i395 ° ° 2,735 ° ° 25,000 o o 2,500 o o 180,000 o o 50,000 o o 125,000 o o 254,848 o o 26,200 o o 492 o o 2,475 ° ° 836 o o 740 o o 279 o o 4,395 ° ° 2,735 ° ° 25,000 o o 2,500 o o 180,000 o o 50,000 o o 125,000 o o 254,848 o o 26,200 o o [ General Purposes Loan Act, 1873 ... -j u ■ {■ 750,000 J 15 May, 1914 15 December, 1888 15 October, 1883 15 October, 1913 15 October, 1885 28 November, 1884 28 November, 1914 15 July, 1906 (5/30) 15 April, 1894 1 Feb., 1905 (5/30) i Mar., 19 18 (10/40) 1 Mar., 1918 (10/40) 1 November, 1929 1 November, 1889 \ J 750,000 o o 4 5 4 5 5 5 5 4 5 Westland Loan Act, 1873... Immigration and Public Works Loan Act, 1874 New Zealand Loan Act, 1876 New Zealand Loan Act, 1877 New Zealand Consolidated Stock Act, 1877 ... New Zealand Loan Act, 1879 Treasury Bills Act, 1879 ... Treasury Bills Act, 1880 ... 50,000 4,000,000 1,000,000 2,5OO,OOO 6j37I,20O 524,000 1,221 9 8 48,778 10 4 4,000,000 o o 1,000,000 o o 2,500,000 o o 6,371,200 o o 524,000 o o 1,022,000 410,000 l I,432,OOO 1 January, 1886 j,432, 000 o o 5 71,600 o o 71,600 o o Undek Acts or Ordinances op the late Provincial Governments :— Auckland Loan Act, 1863 Wellington Loan Act, 1866 Nelson Loan Act, 1874 Lyttelton and Christchurch Railway LoanOrdinance, i860 Canterbury Loan Ordinance, 1862 ... Otago Loan Ordinance, 1862 31,600 i3,5°° 18,000 "1 f" 280,300 1 June, 1896 1 July, 1886 Various ii,9i3 7 7 7>939 3 2 2,964 7 9 38,579 15 2 19,686 12 5 5,560 16 10 ] 8,000 O O 38.484 1 7 •9,835 I2 3 78,120 4 jo 6 8 7 1,896 o o 1,080 o o 1,260 o o 2 2 632 o o 270 o o 2,528 o o 1,350 o o 1,260 o o 77,700 22,800 116,700 30 years from issue 50 years from issue 1 July, 1898 6 6 6 4,662 o o 1,368 o o 7,002 o o 2 I 1,554 ° ° 228 o o 1,167 ° ° 6,216 o o 1,596 o o 8,169 o o J Advances on Security op Dbbenttjres : — Immigration and Public Works Loan Act, 1870 Treasury Bills Act, 1880 ... 29,877,1 n 400,000 80,000 j 1 June, 1907 1 January, 1886 2,571,829 5 3 ... 27>3°5, 281 '4 9 400,000 o o 80,000 o o 27,785,281 14 9 # 1,392,229 o o 4,000 o o: 129,052 o o 1,521,281 o o ... ... S 4,000 o o ; 1,525,281 o o I Totals ... ... ... ! 1 1,396,229 o o I 3°,357,"i 2,571,829 5 3 129,052 o o * Rate 0 Note. —The above total of £30,357,111 is exclusive of if interest varies. £50,000 for Deficiency Bills temporarily issued.
8.—2
12
TABLE No. 6. Estimated Receipts and Expenditure of the Ordinary Revenue Account for the Financial Year ended 31st March, 1884.
RECEIPTS. £ . I £ ■ £ EXPENDITURE. £ £ Ordinary Revenue :— Customs ... ... ... Stamps Property-Tax Beer-Duty Railways ... Telegraphic Registration and other Fees ... Marine Miscellaneous 1,520,000 477,500 168,000 62,000 1,020,000 100,000 35,800 16,000 40,000 3,439,300 Permanent Appropriations :— Civil List... Interest and Sinking Fund ... Under Special Acts of the Legislature 29,750 1,567,430 48,514 1,645,69Territorial Revenue :— Depasturing Licenses, Rents, &c. Miscellaneous 130,300 4,200 134,500 Annual Appropriations :— Class I. Legislative ,, II. Colonial Secretary „ III. Colonial Treasury „ IV. Minister of Justice ,, V. Postmaster- General and Commissioner of Telegraphs ... „ VI. Commissioner of Customs „ VII. Commissioner of Stamps ... „ VIII. Minister of Education „ IX. Minister of Native Affairs „ X. Minister of Mines ,, XI. Minister for Public Works „ XII. Minister of Defence 41,843 220,677 48,466 118,184 246,997 86,800 25,858 307,045 23,118 18,883 672,456 205,475 Balance on 31st March, 1883 Deficit on 31st March, 1884 | 3,573,800 35,549 52,147 £3,661,496 2,015,80! 3,661,491 Total £3,661,491 Total
13
8.—2
TABLE No. 7. Estimated Receipts and Expenditure of the Land Fund for the Financial Year ending 31st March, 1884.
RECEIPTS. Proceeds of Land Sales — Cash Deferred Payments £ 199,350 76,250 £ 275,600 EXPENDITURE. Permanent Appropriations — One-third of proceeds of Sales of Land sold on deferred payments ... ... ... ... ... New Plymouth Harbour Board Endowment Ellesmere and Forsyth Reclamation and Akaroa Railway Trust £ 20,000 13,600 3,000 £ 36,600 Balance on 31st March, 1883 .... Annual Appropriations — Class XIII. Minister of Lands — Crown Lands Department... Crown Lands, Miscellaneous Coal Fields Survey Department Mines ... Class XIV. Colonial Treasurer — Rates on Crown Lands 21,444 13,407 200 111,729 10,500 • 40,000 197,280 233,880 128,284 86,564 Balance on 31et March, 1884 ... £362,164 £362,164
8.—2.
TABLE No. 8. STATEMENT showing the Total Ways and Means of the Public Works Fund and the Total Net Expenditure to the 31st March, 1883.
14
WAYS AND MEANS. £ s. d. £ s. d. NET EXPENDITURE. £ s. d. £ s. d. Loans: — Immigration and Public Works Loan, 1870 Immigration and Public Works Loan, 1873 Immigration and Public Works Loan, 1874 General Purposes Loan, 1873... New Zealand Loan, 1876 New Zealand Loan, 18 7 7 New Zealand Loan, 1879 New Zealand Loan, 1882 4,000,000 o o 2,000,000 o o 4,000,000 o o 750,000 o o 750,000 o o 2,200,000 O O 5,000,000 o o 1,000,000 o o Immigration ... ... ... ... ... Public Works Departmental ... Railways, including Surveys of New Lines Roads Land Purchases Waterworks on Gold Fields ... Telegraph Extension Public Buildings Lighthouses and Harbour Works Charges and Expenses Contingent Defence,.. Coal Mines Interest and Sinking Fund Miscellaneous Public Works ... 1.929.752 '6 6 183,446 8 10 10,224,450 12 5 1,564,876 16 8* 897,212 17 3 517,603 8 2 438,685 8 s i»i39>'77 7 1 214,444 16 9t 765.535 3 10 392,218 19 3 10,835 8 o 218,500 o o 557.278 1 6 Receipts in Aid :— Contributions of Canterbury Province for Railways Stamp Duties to 31st December, 1876 ... Transfer from Confiscated Lands Liabilities Account Proceeds of Railway Material handed over to Cook County Council Special receipts under Section 9 of " The Railways Construction Act, 1878 " ... 56,000 o o 264,657 16 4 I9'9 63 1 3 19,700,000 o o 4.96.S 7 4 i9. 054.»i8 4 8 41,159 8 6 386.743 13 5 Balance on 31st March, 1883, — Cash in the Public Account in London and in the Colony Imprest advance in the hands of officers of the Government Duntroon and Hakateramea Railway Company Debentures " Immigration and Public Works Loan Act, 1870," 4i per cent. Debentures "Treasury Bills Act, 1879," 5 Per- cen t. Debentures "Treasury Bills Act, 1880," 5 per cent. Debentures Imperial Guaranteed Debentures unsold Balance of New Zealand Loan, 1882, subject to Charges and Expenses of Raising 63,776 19 r 145,648 9 2 20,000 o o 3,300 o o 220,000 o o 100,000 o o 400,000 o o 80,000 o o Total £20,086,743 13 5 Total £20,086,743 13 5 * Including £470 ij 11) _, . ., , _ ., ,, f Including £80,802 o 4 j Transfer «= d from class Railways."
15
8.—2
TABLE No. 9. STATEMENT of the Estimated Liabilities chargeable on the Public Works Fund out standing on the 31st March, 1881, 1882, and 1883.
TABLE No. 10. Table showing the Total Value of Imports and Exports of the Colony in each Year from 1868 to 1882.
31st March, 1881. 31st March, 1882. 31st March, 1883. Annual Appeopbiations :— Class I.—Immigration ,, II.—Public Works Departmental „ III.—Eailways .. „ IV. —Surveys of New Lines of Eailway ,, V.—Eoads and Bridges ,, VI.—Land Purchases VII.—Gold Fields Roads „ VIII.—Waterworks on Gold Fields ,, IX.—Telegraph Extension X. —Public Buildings .. „ XI.—Lighthouses and Harbour Works „ XII.—Charges and Expenses of Eaising Loans Contingent Defence Miscellaneous Public Works £ s. d. 664 1 6 647 18 3 428,687 1 8 406 6 8 74,411 2 5 997,725 0 0 £ s. d. 110 8 3 255 11 1 320,019 11 10 234 15 0 117,840 15 2 338,876 10 3 £ s. d. 20,565 0 0 902 7 5 533,243 16 7 1,600 14 6 168,670 5 11 309,299 0 0 17,695 9 9 15,659 14 2 9,000 0 0 82,862 2 3 10,661 17 2 11,029 17 8 6,665 16 9 3,500 0 0 84,457 9 1 7,554 11 8 33,249 18 5 100 0 0 38,591 8 10 761 0 9 Totals 1,585,512 15 5 880,276 9 10 1,171,160 7 9
Year. Impi >rts. Bxpi irts. 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 £ 4,985,748 4,976,126 4,639,015 4,078,193 5,142,951 £ £ 4,429,198 4,224,860 4,822,756 5,282,084 5,190,665 £ 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 23,822,033 23,949,563 6,464,687 8,121,812 8,029,172 6,905,171 6,973,418 36,494,260 5,610,371 5,251,269 5,828,627 5,673,465 6,327,472 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 28,691,204 8,755,663 8,374,585 6,162,011 7,457,045 8,609,270 39,358,574 6,015,700 5,743,126 6,352,692 6,060,866 6,658,008 30,830,392 99,674,867 83,471,159
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TABLE No. 11. TABLE showing the Value of Wool, Gold, Grain, Kauri Gum, Tallow, and Sawn Timber exported from the Colony in each Year from 1868 to 1882.
By Authority : Geobge Didsbuey, Government Printer, Wellington.—lBB3.
Year. Wool. Gold. Grain, Kauri Gum. Tallow. Sawn Timber. 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 £ 1,516,548 1,371,230 1,703,944 1,606,144 2,537,919 £ 2,492,793 2,341,592 2,163,910 2,788,368 1,730,992 £ 114,468 96,441 141,135 164,494 178,965 £ £ 72,493 111,307 175,074 167,958 154,167 £ 3,288 13,935 75,583 67,208 68,788 £ I £ 7,878 14,849 11,137 14,200 19,431 £ 695,503 67,495 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 2,702,741 2,831,696 3,398,155 3,395,816 3,658,938 1,987,425 1,505,331 1,407,769 1,268,559 1,476,312 J.,U-L| jUUO 136,832 291,112 231,457 338,792 277,453 85,816 79,986 138,523 109,234 118,348 67,118 65,366 • 55,865 109,896 156,552 iiO,OUi , 27,764 33,410 16,096 33,726 26,006 7,645,396 137,002 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 454,797 3,292,807 3,126,439 3,169,300 2,909,760 3,118,544 1,244,192 1,134,641 1,220,263 996,867 921,644 508,981 561,134 906,870 996,503 922,169 132,975 147,535 242,817 253,778 260,369 178,502 145,595 146,535 120,611 165,938 757,181 ; 1,440,780 28,982 18,782 40,321 65,119 94,493 15,616,850 i I 2,250,380 40,339,981 24,680,658 5,866,806 452,194 Grand total £75,030,799.
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Bibliographic details
FINANCIAL STATEMENT (In Committee of Supply, Wednesday, 27th June, 1883), BY THE COLONIAL TREASURER, THE HONOURABLE MAJOR ATKINSON., Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1883 Session I, B-02
Word Count
16,037FINANCIAL STATEMENT (In Committee of Supply, Wednesday, 27th June, 1883), BY THE COLONIAL TREASURER, THE HONOURABLE MAJOR ATKINSON. Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1883 Session I, B-02
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