THE YEAR'S FIANCE.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1123, 10 May 1911, Page 5

THE YEAR'S FIANCE.

» t < p SPEECH BY HON. J. A. MILLAR, c. — (1 BEST ON RECORD. t p EXCESS OF REVENUE £1,058,762 j* ti . ti REPLY TO MR. MASSEY. jj (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) Duncdin, May The Hon. J. A. Millar delivereda poli- 0 tical address in tho Garrison Hall to " (•' night, in tho presence of a large gather'ins. He said this was tho first occasion p on which tho official returns of tho year u had been given out in Duncdin. >>. o Deputy-Minister, ho thought that, seeing b Dunedin had been for a long time Ills J home, that town should have the lionour. Sir Joseph Ward had gone Home, 0 and within the next few weeks questions e affecting the whole of the Empire and -j its outlying Dominions would come, up joi p consideration. He had no doubt v Joseph Ward would take a leading pal „ in the discussion of these questions. p The Best Year on Record. t Coming to the financial side of his d speech, tho speaker said their finances a the present time were in the finest posi- j tiori yet attained. It was the best year from 11 financial point of view the cort ' l ' try had ever seen. The balance brought forward for the year ending April ..1, ' 1910, was .£132,316. The receipts (hiring J the year were:—Revenue, ,£10,297,0-o, ■ other receipts, «E250; making an excess foi • this year of .£1,053,762. ( A PP la "*?;> I 1!. 6 appropriations this year wero .£J,043,10b, being an excess of receipts over expentliturn of .£054,167. Of this amount J 000 had been transferred to the lull- = lie Works Fund, the balance at March e 31, l'Jll, being .£580,483. Tho increases ' of revenue as compared with the previous • year, in respect of tho following were:-* Customs, <£356,703; railways, .£225,49'..; stamps, *2280,328; land and incomo tax,, jC76,853, tho excess of revemio over the estimate for the year being .£685,418. 1 he actual revenue of the Consolidated Fund for 1910-11 was £10,297,023, as compared with J.'9,235,261 the previous year, show- j ing an increase of .£1,058,762. j Ordinary Revenue, > 1910-11. 1503-10. Inc. Dec. Customs 3,027,829 2,071,121 356,7(8 j Stamps (Stamp Department) 819,839 — — — Stomps (Postal Department) 816,306 1,345,817 298,328 — i Post and Tel. ... ■ i (cash receipts) 211.261 190,535 20,725 — ; Land tax .... 628,723 6*2,270 — 13.547 Income tax... 407,235 316,835 90,400 — Beer duty ... 118,100 115,369 2,731 — Hallways ... 3,483,755 3,285,253 225,492 - Registration and other • I lees 100,026 88,305 11,721 — Marine 45,933 42,918 3,015 — Miscellaneous 327,123 295, C 99 31,024 — ' Territorial re--venuo 255,032 202,587 52,446 - Endowment revenue ... 55,861. 67.143 - 11.281 Totails ...10,297,023 9,238,261 1,083,590 24,825 'Actual increase, £1,058,762. Comparing 1908 with 1909, tho revenue was:— ' • 1910-11 £1Q,297,023 1908-09 ; £9,001,185 Increase, £1,295,838. During the year tho Government had paid off .£100,0(10 of Treasury billi. When they had taken office in 1820 they had .£750,000 worth of Treasury bills, and these had now been all 'cleared off which had previously been left over year after year. , Public Works Fund, Speaking on the Public Works Fund, Mr. Millar said they had commenced with a balance from last year of (£312,366. Their receipts had been £1,93 : 1,712, made up of loan money (including premium) £1,984,742, transfer from revenue .SSOOiOOO, I 'arid '6'th'e'r • receipts .£6596, with the amount brought forward, - making a total of £3,103,614. ' The total expenditure, was:.appropriations, .£1,963,569, leaving a balance at March 31, 1911, of £1,140,045, which, with the balance of loan money to receivo of .0181,650, aggregates ,£1,5[21,695 as availablo public ; money to start 'the year with. If the rc- : venue kept up the same, as last year they would bo able to transfer .£600,000 to the Public Works account, giving them i 11,951,000, which would relieve the necessity of any Loan Bill next session. The ordinary revenue account for 1910-11 showed permanent charges =£3,642,850, and' annual appropriations ,£5,700,256, as against permanent charges <£3,514,409, and annual appropriations 476,513 for 1909-10, showing an increased expenditure of ,£352,184. Year by year amounts had been taken from the revenue account (said the speaker) and placed to the credit of the Public Works account. By this transfer the Government had looked after the interests of the public, works and saved interest of .£275,000 per annum. . There was no reason-to doubt but that the coming year would be as successful as in tho past, as tho revenue for tho four weeks was a little better than the corresponding four weeks, last year. ! The Public Debt. Referring to Mr. Massey's statement that the public debt was now .£80.000,000, he said that the debt when the Government took office in 1891 was .£38,830.350, showing an increase during the last twenty years of ,£42,247,772. When the speaker showed them the productive part of their loans it would be seen that there was a. great difference between moderate borrowing and the plunging alleged by Mr. Massey. The Government was, in fact, approaching the time when they wo.'ld not require to borrow any money because the repayments . were coming in so rapidly. (Applause.) ; The position was shown as follows:— Reproductive, £ Purchase of Native lands 977,812 Land settlement 6,304,026 • Loans to local bodies : 4,023,100 Land improvement 500,000 Advances to settlers 7,091,935 Advances to workers 811,765 Advances to dairy companies ... _1,781 State coal mines 170,000 State fire' insurance 2,000 . lie-erve fund securities 800,000 Bank of New Zealand jreferenco : shares 500,000 ! Nmv Zealand c0n5015...... 539,693 ; Waihou-Ohincmuri River improvement 100,000 Railways 11,0-1,918 Total ,£33,481,090 i Other Loans. 1 £ Public works, road?, etc 5,379,325 Increments by conversion 4,290,73 i Sinking fund accretions 392,580 Naval and military settlers 2 <,226 f Scenery preservation 40,000 - Grand total. 43,610,958 3 Less redemptions 1,363,186 Gross public debt to March 31, IS9I 38,530,350 Reproductive (railways .£14,550,000, other loans .£2,640,000), .£17,220,000 (44 per 1 cent.), non-productive .£21,610,350 (56 per s cent); total, .£38,830,350. ii Their borrowing showed reproductive r loans 77 per cent., 'non-reproductive 23 per cent. The public debt stood, as he had said, at ,£81,075,122. Of that amount ,£50,701,090 was reproductive, and .£30,370,132 non-productive. The annual in- . terest they were called upon to pay was ,£2,850,000. The interest-earning loans ® were as follow:— Interest Interest pavable. received. Profit, e j: £ £ l ' Railways 1,OS",910 1,190,910 103,000 Land for settlements 224,319 271,200 46,882 Loans, local bodies 125,000 112,531 12,409 t- State Coal Mines 4,550 4.550 — 1- Bank of N.L. e shares 17,500 48,750 31,250 h Reserve fund ti securities 28,000 20,3.15 1,065 n Advances to settlers 197,989 271,601 73,612 Consols 17,361 16,356 1,008 Advances to , Workers 32.650 39,858 6,972 5 > This shows a profit for last year of r- <£240,574. ■o Total interest on debt .£2,850,000 ! Interest earned 1,982,091 I Balance 867,909

Taxation. Mr. Massey accused the Government of increasing the taxation, in 1907 they took off the Customs duty .£102,000, nncl placed the taxation to pay lor that decrease on the shoulders able to bear it. The land and income taxes were increased. They could not afford to buy land at the high prices inline to-day when large tracts of hind were being locked up. Mr. Carroll said he was rover going to his peoplo in a pauperised condition, and lie was taking steps lo see that Ihoy had land left to their There were at the present time about 1,000,000 acre's in the North Island ft r '10,000 Maoris. After they had disposed of a million and a hall there would be left about two million and a half for the Maoris. The Railways. The total number of passengers carried on the railways for 1911 was 11,200,613, and the gross revenue for the Year was .£3,191,162, being an increase of JK44,3!)2 over the previous twelve month?. The working expenses hud (otalM .62,303.272, leaving a net revenue ot ,£1,100,910. The percentage of working expenses to earnings was 65.91', being a decrease of 0.84 on the previous year, and the percentage of net revenue to capital invested XI Is. 3d. per cnit., an increase oil the preceding twelve months of ss. 3d., the largest rate of interest earned since the railways were started. This percentage was no iess than 18s. Sd. per cent, higher than the interest in 1909, when he (the speaker) took over the nrlniinistration of the Department. Any stirplus oyer tho railways he intended to return in reductions and improved conditions of employees and wages. He was decided that long distance second-class carriages should be fitted up better than they were to-day. When in Australia lie noticed that grades and curves had been reduced. He hoped during the current year to commence to reduce grades in New Zealand. A grade of a minimum of 1 in 70 on straight roads as far as possible would bo introduced, and of 1 in 70 in curves. ?iloney thus spent would soon be repaid in the lessened expenditure on haulage. During the year ended, rolling stock increased by 14 engines, 26 carriages. 7 brake vans, and 17,689 wagons, bringing the total stock in use nt the present lime to 497 engines, 1166 carriages, 371 brake vans, and 17.659 wagons. Messrs. Price Bros,, of tho Thames, had in hand at the present time a contract for the manufacture of 10 Class A four-cylinder locomotives, 4 of •ii'liich had been already completed. To meet the anticipated increase in business in the near future, the speaker said orders for the construction of 52 engines, 53 carriages, 8 brake vans, and >1364 wagons were being placed with the railway workshons, and tenders would shortly, be invited for 10 locomotives in private workshops.

The Leader of the Opposition. The speaker said ho was getting-a little bit puzzled at Iho attitude of the Leader of the Opposition. He wa ( s now travelling the country and advocating tilings he haa formerly condemned. He had previously condemned the Otago Central railway, but now thought a commission should inquire into the position of that railway. Mr. Millar read an cxlrsct from a northern paper, statins that -Mr. Massey'liatl .'aid at ltaglau, speaking on thu recent <£5,000,000 loan, that New Zealand's credit, owing lo this borrowing, was the lowest of any Australian State. The position stated by Mr. Massey was absolutely incorrect. On March 3, a week before he spoke, New Zealand i per cents, stood at 10G. Si's at 971, and 3's at 86, while New South Wales was 1051, 98, and 87 respectively; Victoria, 1031, 9717 and 82. Tlio speaker quoted further comparisons, and said it would thus be seen that Now Zealand's i per cents, wero J!2 10s. higher, the 3i per cents. 10s. higher, and the 3 per cents. ]os. higher than Queensland, the State mentioned by Mr. Massey as holding a better position in the London market than New Zealand. He would like' Mr. Massey to reply to-that statement. The JU5,000,000 lc-an was not an cxnenshe onc. An impression was trying to'be made by Mr. Massey that the loan was costing them 7 per cent, for all time. Assuming the Government had got but ,£93 for that loan, it would only have cost them JC3 15s. per cent. Mr. Massey also said at Raglan that 90 per cent, of the public servants were put in by political influence, irrespective of'their capabilities. Ho challenged anyone, to say that they had not got the finest body of public servant? of any place in the world. -Not one-tenth of (he people of New Zealand wanted their Civil -Servants under a Civil Service Board. Mr. Massey did not seem to be logical. He wanted a Civil Service Board, but did not want Railway Commissioners. Tho' speaker concluded by referring to several of 'the Acts put on the Statute Book last session, and said anyone who carefullv invest tested their past legislation must admit its benefits to the country.