The Dominion. MONDAY, DECEMBER 27, 1909. AUSTRALASIAN TREASURY ACCOUNTS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 699, 27 December 1909, Page 4

The Dominion. MONDAY, DECEMBER 27, 1909. AUSTRALASIAN TREASURY ACCOUNTS.

■ In tho. Sydney Daily Telegraph of a recent date,'is given the . actual revenue and expenditure of the several States: of;the Commonwealth for: tho past financial year, with the Estimates for tho current financial year. The figures for the .Common- 7 wealth are also given. . Wo propose adding tho New Zealand .figures'!® enable a complete comparison, to be raado. ; W<jvpurpose omitting' ;the Commonwealth figures, dealing only with tha Statemonts of tho several States., The Now Zealand figures' it: is. necessary; to state,. do not take, note of tho Supplementary, Estimates, but just deal with the figures supplied in Tables 7 and 8 attached to tne Budget.' /Tho Australian'revenue estimates for the'' current financial ye&r show in the aggregate an increaso:ofi£447,766,over, those of 1908-9, whilo tho New Zealand Budget estimates an: increase of' £18,815. ' Tho rovenue-figures aro as under.:— *: . Actual. Estimates, . V' N:, ' 190S-9. 1909-10 \ . N.S.W. ... 13,687,275 13,642,250 *^020 Victoria ■ ... 8,195,403 8,427,650 +232,247 Q'land 1 '... 4,766,244 4,837,817 +71,573 S. .'Australia 3,551,189 • 3,549,849 *1,340 "W. Australia 3,267,014 3,436,118 +169,101 Tasmania ....' 93-4,405 955,612 +21,207 <£34,401,530 X34,8i9,296 Non- Zealand. 9,001,185 .9,020,000 +18,815 .£43,402,715 JE43,869,293 +^466,581 *Docrcaso +Increase.

The estimated expenditures of the Australian States show in the aggregate an increaso of £630,958, or £189,192 more than' the incnase shown in.the revenue. '.Ttie' New Zealand expenditure is estimated at an increase of £230,365, while the ostimated increases in revenue is only £18,815. Tho' expenditure on l'evenno account compared with the actual of last year is as under:— ,' > ■ Actual. Estimates. 1908-9. 1909-KL £ £ * £ N.S. Wales 13,270,521 13,162,528 M 13.993 Victoria ... 8.018,613 8,121,263 f372,G25 Queensland 4,756,303 4,834,0H t77,738 S. Australia 3,259,417 3,525,151 1205,734 W. Australia 3,368,551 3,386,624 t!8,073 Tasmania 960,237 977,018 f1G,781 X 34,306,630 +,£636,958 New Zealand 8,785,513 9,015,878 t230,3C5 '' .£{2,455,185 .£43,322,508 +.£867,323 *Docrea.ie. tlncrease. i Victoria, South Australia, and Now Zealand show very substantial increases in their estimates of expenditure. Tho total increase is not large whun compared with the total expenditure, but it is obvious that thc_ rate of progression cannot bo maintained, especially in- New Zealand, where a single year of depression has caused extraordinary in- ' .oonvenionco. Tho surplus and deficiencies show as undor:— 1908-9... 1909-10. Actual. Estimate. N.S. Wales - *410,754 ■ *479,722 Victoria' 4 146,700 '6,382 Queensland *9,9tl *3,77(1 S. Australia *291,772 «24,698 W. Australia .... +101,537 *49,434 Tasmania +25,832 +21,406 *.£731,798 *JC5i2,6(i6 New Zealand "184,321 *185,4-13 .£916,119 .£731,109 *Surplus. tDeficit. Tho Now Zealand surplue includes «ho amount of £184,321 brought forward from 1308-9', so that on tho strict accounts for the year the revenue is expected to yield enough "to meet tho' oxponditurc and leave a balance of £4122. The New Zealand estimates cannot be relied upon, for they are not even approximately correct. For years past tho system adopted hero is to undor-estimate tho revenuo and over-estimate the expenditure, so that tho resulting Biirpluß-is many times greater than tho estimated surplus. Last year proved an exception to the rule, and tho surplus was comparatively small, but this was duo either to tho optimism of tho Minister for Finance, who professed to believe that the American financial crisis would not affect New Zealand, or to tho party

necessities of the.Government, which required the presentation of a pleasing financial forecast on tho evo of the elections. .- .' ~ /- .- _ Another interesting table is the increase shown in the indebtedness during tho past financial year. The figures are as under :— 1908. ■ 1909* tncreaso. N.S. Wales 87,035,825 90,307,418 'i 2,671,593 Victoria '.. 63,305,487 •■ 55,099,902 1,794,415 Q'land ...41,704,407 43,776,067 2,011,600 S. Australia 29,985,858 30,436,183 450,325 W. A'tralia 20,493,618 21,951,753 1,458,135 Tasmania ■ ■ 10;i50,233 ■ 10,134,914 — ,'. £243,335,488 251,706,237 : 8,370,749 N. Zealond 66,453,897 70,938,634 4,484,637 . ; .£309.789,385 322,644,771 12,855,386 For loan-raising New Zealand takes the foremost place, and of the total increase last year tho Dominion accounts for nearly 35 per cent. The figures, wore inflated because of the Manawatu railway purchase K .but pvrn.iLjE2^dnd!ich. ; ,o....nuyw-v ■..«..''-1

■ , , . .- .....J^..«^.»o-" maimler were anxious to get ■ away for Christmas. It was at once recognised that; there • was something, more at'*isaue ; than the .rights or; wrongs' of '•■ Mr.'•. Eeeves's : claim to remain, in the service of New Zealand as the Financial ' Adviser in London. A new issue was, raised: namoly,. the claim of the Gbvernment to impose its will, by hook,or by crook, W the podplo!s Assembly, If the Prime Minister had rein, troduced the-vote in f such a : form 1 as would.,:amount to .a.recognition : pf, his duty \of obey ing: l>, Parliament, , very httlo would) have been said. Tho vote" jould hayb been a'greed'.to, and the session would probably have been ended by now. He could have done this by letting the , item,' which originally avipeared as "Financial Adviser to the Gbvornmentj London —£400," ■ appear as "Payment in discharge of liabilities incurred to Mr. W. P. 'Reeves." Instead , of taking this course, the Prime /Minister reinstated, the vote j in the, brig : ; inal terms, , and ahriounced'iii effect that he did not; recognise_ the'validity of the original decision of the House. : ;:,':;■''■.-'•;. ■;,. j''.■'■ ■'-:;'

Now, it should not need pointing out that if the Prime Minister odjocted to the original decision of Parliament—if he felt strongly that Parliament acted wrongly—his only course was either to resign his office, or to accept that decision. Tho Government chose, however, neither to resign nor to act in conformity with Parliament's direction. It I decided to do by trickery what it failed to' do By straightforward ' means. It chose its opportunity. It | had no right of any kind to seek to ' overthrow tho voto of the House. It would have committed an offence against democratic principles if even in a full Houfao it had reintroduced tho rejected vote; for by doing so, it would have affirmed the claim oi the Executivo to flout tho right of the people's representatives to givo orders to their servants. But what aro wo'to Bay when it takes ■advantage of the reduction of the House to 42 members to reverse a decision that was arrived at by a House in which 60 members voted, and when practically all were in attendance in Wellington. At the beginning of tho debate, the Peime Minister, confident no doubt in his ability to do as ho chose, and ignorant of the limits of tho Eeform party's endurance, declared in the bluntest way that he wished to reverse a vote to which he was pleased to impute invalidity. He was not satisfied, he explained, that tho Houso had known what it was dong! And this although on the previous occasion when the . matter was under discussion he had used all his arts and a flood of words in defence of■■:tho voto! Yet at the end' of the debate on Friday he was actually disclaiming any intention of reversing the former vote! Similar inconsistencies appear throughout his contributions to Fridays' long discussion. Over and over again the Opposition offered -to compromise on the most reasonable and honourable basis. They wero ready to voto tho payment' of every penny due. But how. much actually was due to Hit. Reeves?' Even on this small point the Prime Minister could, not bo candid. At; the boginning of the debate ho said it was the greater part of the sum proposed. Towards tho end of the dobato ho said that the liability was tho full £400. The Opposition went further than they ought in the way of offers of settlement; yet the Prime Minister would accept no abatement of the terms he' demanded —lorms which, as we have shown, wero an affront to Parliament that is practically without parallel in the history of democratic Assemblies, Ho was doubtless relying, as he has so often been able to rciy with confidence, on his, ability to confuse the issuo so far as the public of tho Dominion is concerned, and to throw doubts on the motives of tho critics. We aro confident that he has this time made a miscalculation, lao position is so clear that misrepresentation is .impossible.. Tho Opposition will, we presume, persist

in itS cause. Whether it will succeed in forcing tho. Government to accept the decision of Parliament as .recorded on December 3 may bo open to, doubt, Ministers 'have shown on previous occasions that they can force their followors; to sacrifice their, opinions and respond to tho party whip. But whatever happens inthis respect the country .will nave ■ reason to thank, those members— and ; Opposition—who: have stood firm on the important.issue raised. Every hour of debate will make more clear' the iac'fc that the Ward Administration Iβ 1 seeking to introduce in all its nakedness the doctrine that Parliament and ■ tho people are the servants.of the Ministry—that: tho. people are the vassals and the Ward Cabinet the over■lords of the men'and women of tho Dominion. . . - ' .