The Dunstan Times. FRIDAY, AUGUST 30, 1872.

Dunstan Times, Issue 541, 30 August 1872, Page 2

The Dunstan Times.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 30, 1872.

eaththeßuleof MenENTiRELY justd le pex is mightier than the sword.

iile congratulating the Honorable Colonial Treasurer upon his annual get, we cannot, after looking •y into the items, but come to onclusion that the most has been of the situation. The various t under the head of loans loom isly in the future, especially we come to consider that we very little in the shape of per- ■ improvements representing M-ge indebtedness as 1,667,294/. at of that 711,611/. already 1. Of the items expended •ct benefit has accrued to us ; ae up-country districts miglrt s ill have formed some’portipn hatka as .Otago for . all the .* / Lave received out of the

expenditure under the Immigration and Public Works Loan. The items are interest and sinking fund, 20,000/.; departmental expenses, 24,000/.|; roads in North Island, 120,000/.; railways, 241,000/ ; water supply, 2,000/.: ptirchase of land in North Island, 49,000/.; immigration, 42,000/.; telegraphs, 68,000/.; coal mines, 6,000/ ; payments to road boards and provinces, 100,000/. : Greymouth protective works, 3,000/.; discount and charges, 39,000/. Out of all this large amouilt the Gold-fields have only received 2,000/ for water supply. Positively the smallest item has been devoted towards the development of an industry upon which must hinge the probabilities of the repayment of the whole of this loan, and we would ask the Colonial Treasurer : Is the present assistance to miners, about which so much parade is made, to partake the shape of a reality, or only to become a delusion and a snare 1 Of all the applications for assistance in this and other districts adjoining, nothing has been received but promises, and the prevailing opinion is that nothing more will. Ro-ids in the North Island—l2o,ooo/ is a sum that we do really begrudge; more especially when we take into consideration that it is now more than ten years since gold was iound at the Dunstan, and we have no passable road, but one continuous sea of mud between this and Dunedin, we must envy the Maoris in the matter of roads. Taking the statement as a whole, there appears little cause for congratulation. The only satisfactory item is that there exists 10,500/. to commence the, year with, the lull expend! ture of the past having been provided for. After dealing with the question of ways and menus, the Honorable the Treasurer draws a comparison of taxation between New Zealand and the United Kingdom, and informs us that, were we taxed at the same rate per head as the inhabitants of Great Britain, our annual revenue would have been 1,200,000/. in 1870, as agains 294,000/, the amount actually collected. Were we taxed equally with the people in the Old Country, it would be a sorry day for the Colony. England has no waste lands to fall back upon to assist in making up her revenue. Everything must come out of the pockets of the people, I and were the same the case here, pro- | gressiou would be at an end. People j emigrated to the Antipodes to escape taxation, or at least some of its evi s and, if we may take the Treasurer’s statement as a sign .of the times, the cheering prospect exists of finding they have only stepped from the fry-ing-pan into the fire. New Zealand has made undeniable progress, but it must be solely attributed to the goldfields, as, without them, it would have been in the unfortunate position of Tasmania; but a continuance of this increase must not be calculated upon or liabilities incurred upon any such assumption. As an elaborate compilation, we give the Honorable the Treasurer great credit for his production ; but we hope to see the next, time something tangible in the shape of permanent improvements for all our lavish expenditure.