B.—No. 2b.

FINANCIAL STATEMENT.

9

THE NORTH ISLAND EOADS ACCOUNT stood thus on 10th September, 1872 :— Or. £ a. d. £ s. d. Amount authorized to be raised ... ... ... 400,000 0 0 Dr. Expenditure, 1870-71, less credits ... ... 51,909 14 9 1871-72, „ 68,565 14 0 Account passed by Public "Works Department from Ist July to 10th September, and Advances outstanding ... ... ... ... ... 14,893 10 5 Liabilities on Contracts to date ... ... ... 34,247 0 1 „ Day labour and piece work ... ... 3,300 0 0 Estimated cost of raising £400,000, at i- per cent. ... 2,000 0 0 174,915 19 3 Leaving a balance of ... ... ... ... £225,084 0 9 for works and Departmental expenses. Of that amount, however, nearly ] £60,000 is pledged for works north of Auckland, and £"11,000 will probably be required for maintenance of roads and contingencies during the ensuing year. THE LAND PURCHASE, NORTH ISLAND, ACCOUNT stood thus on 30th June. I have not been able to get it brought down with sufficient accuracy to 10th September: — Or. £ s. d. £ s. d. Amount authorized ... ... ... ... 200,000 0 0 Dr. Expenditure, 1870 to 1872, less credits ... ... 49,662 5 6 Liabilities ... ... ... ... ... 14,162 1 10 Estimated cost of raising ... ... ... 1,000 0 0 64,824 7 4 Leaving a balance of ... ... ... ... ... 135,175 12 8 THE TELEGRAPHS ACCOUNT stood thus on the 10th September : — Or. ' £ s. d. £ s. d. Amount authorized to be raised ... ... ... 60,000 0 0 Dr. Expenditure, 1870-71, less credits ... ... 26,585 710 1871-72 ... ... ... 31,501 6 1 „ to 10th September, 1872 ... ... 3,592 9 8 61,679 3 7 Liabilities and engagements ... ... ... 13,704 6 7 • 75,383 10 2 Expenditure in excess of amount authorized ... ... ... 15,383 10 2 This amount, together with provision for further extensions, my predecessor proposed to meet by allocating the unapportioned amount of the Immigration and Public Works Loan (£40,000) to Telegraphs. In this I coincide with him— at any rate, to the extent of £30,000 for the present; for I think experience has shown that telegraphic expenditure has been fairly and progressively remunerative to the general revenues of the Colony. The summary of these various accounts, included under the general head of Immigration and Public Works Loan, is as follows : — £ s. d. Railways—Balance of entire Loan not yet expended or hypothecated 451,321 2 10 Immigration „ „ „ 868,714 2 7 Gold Fields Water Supply „ „ „ 231,855 9 6 Roads, North Island „ „ „ 225,084 0 9 Land Purchase, North Island „ „ 135,175 12 8 Telegraphs and Unapportioned „ „ 24,616 9 10 These figures, depending as they do so largely on Engineer's estimates, cannot, of course, be relied upon as strictly accurate, but only as a fair approximation. But a very disturbing item here occurs. The £100,000 last year paid to Road Boards out of this Loan was never apportioned to any particular branch of 3