Untitled

Clutha Leader, Volume III, Issue 135, 9 February 1877, Page 3

The following is a condensed report from Hansard of Mr Murray's speech in the Assembly referred to in his speech at Milton :—

They were now asked to vote on the supplementary estimates the large sum of L 215,000; and they were asked 'to vote a large sum on the Public Works estimates, to be paid out of loan. His honorable friend the member for Akaroa had well pointed out on a late occasion that the ordinary revenue would not by a very large sum meet the expenditure. No reply was made by the- Treasurer to that statement, so that the honorable gentleman's arguments appeared to be incontrovertible. He would show, from figures taken from the Treasurer's own statement submitted to the House, the state of the ordinary revenue and expenditure, putting aside all manipulating of accounts, and charging and countercharging-, and supposing the whole of the revenue were put into one common purse : —

Statement Fo. 2. £ £ Ordinary revenue, 12 mos. 1,716.850 Railways „ „ 690,000 Land revenue from rents, deferred payments, &c. 151,240 Education, rent. 1 -:, nnd fees 72,320 Ordinary expenditure ... ... 1,895,203 Railways 621,516 Education 213,968 Crown and confisctd lauds, ordinary man'g'm't Land Court, &c 30,188 Charitable 34,270 Municipalities 150,000 £2,630,410 £2,845,145 2,630,410 214,735 Treasurer's over-est. for qr. (£12,894 x 4), Customs ... 51,576 Deficiency on year 266,311 Extraordinary receipts,— £ £ Land sales, estimate ... 453,980 Bxtraord'y expenditure, — Surveys, &c 86.025 Road Boards ... 96,000 £453,950 £182,025 182,025 Surplus apparent £271,995 1876-7— .Es-mtATE No. 2. £ £ Apparent surplus from land sales . ... ... .... 271,955 Treasury statement, of bal- | ancos due on Land Fund • (for 12 months) to— Taranaki ... £ 26,260' Canterbury 150,212 Otago ... 2,488 178,960 Apparent Burplus land sales 92,995 Deficiency, ordnry revenue ... 266,311 92,995 266,311 .92,995 Deficiency for year to be met by . Treasury bills ... £173,316

And if to this we add the supplementary estimates of L 210,000, the deficiency would be increased to L 388,316. ■ He would ask, was there a prospect of the Customs revenue being maintained or increased so as to make up this deficiency ? He .said unhesitatingly jthat* this deficiency would not be recouped. If they cbn'sidered the enormous amount of money which had' been spent on public works, the enormous increase of indebtedness, and the consequent effect upon, trade during the last few years, they, would find that it was ' extremely probable that the Customs revenue would not only not be increased, but •would be largely dirnihished. He would now -refer to the general increase of indebtedness. during the past few years, and^thisAwas. a .matter which he would especially bring under the consideration of honorable members. He found . the -population of the Colony in 1876 to be 375,856; while the total increase! of debt since 1870 had been L 25,501,550, giving'a debt increase per head of L 67 ,55. ,; Great; Britain had a .population of 32,000,000, and calculating at 'the like amount per head, the totals if that

country had increased- her debt -at4he same rate as New Zealand, would~be L 2,160,000,000,, 160,000,000, or about thrice her national debt. It might be asked, howhad this debt been incurred ? If honorable members would': refer to the imports and exports,. they would find that during the past three years, the imports had exceeded the exports by the 'sum .of L 7-060,992. Some honorable members held the belief that an excess of imports' over exports -was a sign of great prosperity in a colony, and that if, New Zealand continued to import more than, she exported she would be enriched thereby. The hon. gentleman quoted from Professor Cairnes to show that this was an utterly mistaken notion. He would not detain the Committee by going very fully into this. question,- and would only show how the facts he had adduced would bear on the future prospects ofthe colony,: — : 1876.— Colonial debt and covered l^.ties- •■'•' •••' '"'••• "- ' '..'£19,543, 19<1 JLiabihtj.es over assets and authorised ■ loans ... :.. ... ... „ , , , £19,979,744 Doubtful assets if recovered ... 242,386 £19,737,358 Expenditure Immigration and Pub- .'A lie Works to 30th Juno, 1875 ... £7,081,460 1875 to 30th June, 1876 ... ... 2,669,641 * T .,,,. _ 9,751,"10 l Liabdities 983,253 „ . , 10,734,354 Provincial liabilities 750,000 • £11,484,354

Funds available, as per " Immigra- : tion and Public Works Appropria-' tion Act, 1875" ...£11,290,190 Debt unprovided for ... ... 194,164 To which will have to be added any of the sum of £2^2,368, put down. as assets in "Immigration and Public "Works Appropriation Act, 1875," which .may not be recovered. Yearly debt, oharge on debt, etc., as ' above „.. £1,015,000 Mortgages since 1870, ..-■.•■ £8,364,112, at Bperceut. £668,000 Municipal, Harbour, &d, £1,000,000 at 6k percent. 65,000 Banks, £9,115,191 ; Colol. Funds, say £4,115,191 ; Foreign do., £5,000,000 -say dividends and interest, average 8 per cent 400,000 ' ' ' ' 1,133,000 ;No.TE.— Bills of sale, liens, &c., on crops, stock, and station securities by other than banks not -included. No mortgages before 1871 ,- included. Those will, as estimated, considerably exceed allloans by colonists to colonists, and by colonists to Government and other bodies.

£2,178,000 Note.— To this should be added remittances to absentee proprietors, a very large amount, which cannot be easily ascertained, if at all. Note.— Fall in September- quarter, 1876, £185,894x4, £743,576.

It would thus be seen' that, putting it in the most favourable aspect for private- and colonial debt charges, the sum of L 2,178,000, 178,000 had .to be sent out annually from the_ colony to meet liabilities. During the past .year the exports from the colony amounted to L 4,693,032 ; and if they deducted these debt charges, L 3,178,000,, 178,000, a balance was left of L 3,0 15,032 to pay for imports, j but the imports in 1875 reached L 8,029,172, thus showing a deficiency of 15,514,1-10. That, to his mind, proved that the colony could not continue to import so largely as it had done. Goods and property would fall in value, and money would increase in value. That would continue until, in the natural course of trade, the proportion ofthe imports to the exports was of a more healthy character. To this enormous amount of importation, to this vast increase of public and private indebtedness, amounting to the large sum qf. L 25,000,000 during the last five years, was to be attributed a great amount of the prosperity of the colony, which had been attributed to what was magniloquently called the heroic policy of olomsfiti n, and to me great scheme of public works, under which New Zealand was to advance to a foremost position among British colonies.