THE FINANCIAL STATEMENT.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1558, 14 May 1887, Page 3

THE FINANCIAL STATEMENT.

The Colonial Treasurer is to be congratulated on having made an exceedingly able Budget Speech, and the results of the operations of the past financial year are happily agreeably disappointing. No one would have been surprised had a deficit of a quarter of a million been announced; indeed the colony generally was quite prepared to learn that the receipts had fallen short of the expenditure by any sum between £200,000 and £300,000, It is, therefore, a great relief to find that although there has been a deficit, that deficit does not reach the half of the lowest of these figutes, amounting only to £92,000.- It is, of course, quite true that but for windfalls m the shape of unexpected releases of sinking funds, amounting altogether to about ,-£140,000, there would have been a deficiency of, roundly, a quarter of a million, and although the small" ness of the deficiency may therefore be said to be rather the result of good luck than of good management, the fact remains that the deficit to be provided for is a very much more manageable thing than the public anticipated. And if the Treasurer deserves no special credit for this unforseen piece of good fortune, so also he deserves no discredit for the fallingoff m some items of revenue, which it was impossible to foresee —as for instance m the railway earnings and m the Customs duties upon intoxicating liquors. The latter is not even cause for regret, but rather the reverse, inasmuch as the smaller consumption of spirits alone which represents a loss to the revenue of £20,060 m duties, means not less than £100,000 actual saving to the community. It is noticeable too that the year's deficit of ninety-two thousand odd is almost exactly accounted for by the falling-off m the railway revenue-— the exact figures being, Budget deficit £92,293, railway deficit .£92,302. As the railway returns are already improving to an extent which promises to bring up the receipts this year by fully that amount, it follows that the increased ways and means this year required will only be such as shall suffice to provide for the increased charges for interest upon the last loan say £60,000, plus the deficit of £92,000 with which the year commences, m order to enable equilibrium to be arrived at. This accordingly will be the outcome of the Budget proposals, which show an estimated surplus of £84,880, as against the deficiency of ,£92,293. Of course this result is not to be arrived at without additional taxation, part of which it i;

proposed to raise by increasing the amount and altering the incidence of the property tax, and part by an in-crease-of the Customs tariff for the double purpose of raising more revenue, and laising it m such a way;as to foster and encourage native industries and manufactures, The exemption is proposed to be retained, and the tax to remain at thirteen-sixteenths of a penny m the case of properties worth not exceeding while m the case of properties above that value there is to be no exemption, and the tax is to be raised to a penny. This is not only a just proposal m itself, but is a recognition of the sound principle of the measure of the sacrifice which will, we hope, lead eventually to a differential tax carefully graduated so as to fall with just proportional weight m respect to all classes of the community. The tariff proposals are also, m our opinion, wise and well-con-ceived. There is no attempt to throw additional burdens on the shoulders of the poorer class by the raising of the duties upon tea, sugar, and other articles of general consumption, which cannot be produced m the Colony, and the increases asked for are all m the direction of placing local manufactures at an advantage, as compared with the manufactures of foreign countries. This is, however, unquestionably, pto tanto a protective policy, and will as such be ! strenuously resisted by the bigotry of freetraders. Indeed, it is not at all impossible that the rejection of the tariff proposals may be the result. In that case, of course, Ministers will appeal to the country and abide the issue. That issue, if Colonists are awake to their own interests, they have no reason to fear.