8.—6

IX

THE PUBLIC DEBT. The gross public debt at the end of the financial year amounted to £90,060,763. The following table shows for what purposes the various amounts were borrowed:— £ Maori War . . .. .. " . . .. 2,357,000 Defence . . .. . . . . . . 3,653,452 Public Works .. .. .. . . .. 47,381,393 (Includes railways, roads and bridges construction and lands improvement, public buildings, telegraph and telephone lines, harbours and lighthouses, immigration, tourist and health resorts, development of water-power, development of goldfields and coal-mines.) New Zealand State-guaranteed Advances-— (Includes transferred liability.) Advances to Settlers Branch . . . . 8,225,644 Advances to Workers Branch . . . . 2,246,942 Land for Settlements Branch . . . . 6,871,161 Local Authorities Branch . . . . . . 2,258,000* Native Land Settlement Branch . . . . 516,100 Guaranteed Mining Advances Branch . . . . 15,000 Bank of New Zealand shares . . . . . . 500,000 New Zealand Consols . . . . . . . . 475,891 Purchase of Native lands .... .. .. 2,715,217 State coal-mines .. . . ... . , 225,000 Loans to local bodies . . .. .. .. 3,507,000 State fire insurance .. . . . . . . 2,000 Eeserve Fund securities . . . . . . . . 800,000 Scenery-preservation . . . . . . . . 60,000 Deficiencies in revenue, charges and expenses of raising loans, increase by conversion, &c, provincial liabilities and miscellaneous . . . . 8,250,963 £90,060,763 * Includes £153,785 advanced for opening Crown lands, £85,000 for Hauraki Plains settlement, and £35,000 for Rangitaiki land drainage. By sections 36 and 37 of the New Zealand State-guaranteed Advances Act, 1909, the amount transferred to the Advances Office is £20,132,817. Of the above £90,060,763, approximately £55,000,000 has been utilized in such works as construction of railways, telegraphs, and telephones ; advances to settlers, workers, and local authorities ; purchase of land for settlement purposes, &c, which are directly reproductive investments. The net debt amounted to £87,457,121, arrived at as follows :— £ £ Gross debt of the Dominion . . . . . . . . .. 90,060,763 Less sinking funds-— Government Loans to Local Bodies Acts. . . . 799,601 - Naval Defence Act, 1909 . . . . .. 102,028 New Zealand State-guaranteed Advances debt . . 932,978 Public Debt Extinction Act, 1910 .. . . 300,936 War and Defence loans . . . . . . 192,691 Canterbury Loan Ordinance, 1862 . . . . 23,838 New Zealand Loans Act, 1863 .. .. .. 251,570 2,603,642 Net debt 31st March, 1913 .. .. .. .. .. £87.457,121

ii—B. 6.