PARLIAMENT.

Dunstan Times, Issue 1105, 29 June 1883, Page 3

PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Wednesday, June 27tu, 1883. [Br Electric Telegraph.] On the House assembling at 7.30 p.m., the Treasurer delivered HIS FINANCIAL STATEMENT. Mr Hamlin, it will be within the recollection of the Committee that one of the ohj nets which Parliament had in view in 1879 was making the financial vear terminate on the 31st March instead of the 30th June in each year, was to enable the Financial Statement and the Estimates for the year to be prepared and placed before Parliament •non after its meeting, as the convenience of members would permit. In accordance, therefore, with the spirit of thai arrangement I have selected this evening as the most convenient for delivering the annual budget and placing in the hands of hon. members the estimates for the year. In submitting the budget thus early for the consideration of the Committee, I venture to reiterate the hope which I expressed last session, that the House will consent to the appointment of an early day for the discussion "f the irapo tant question of finances, the Government being most desirous that the subject should receive the early attention of the House, in < rder that it may be fully and exhaustively discussed while hon. members are fresh and vigorous. Last year I had the pleasure of announcing a very substantial surplus upon the financial transactions of the year, and although I am not in a position this year to show so large a surplus for reasons 1 will presently explain. The financial results of the year have been satisfactory, the surplus, although small, fully justifying the action of the House in reducing taxation for the financial year which ended on the 3lst March last. It will not he necessary, lam happy to say, to trouble hon. members on the present occasion at any great length, as the form of our public account now permits a clear I statement of our monetary transactions and position to be made within a very reasonable compass ; but I must ask for the kind indulgenee of Committee while submitting some / details of past transactions and the proposals of the Government for the present year. 1 f 'How the usual and most convenient course of considering first the expenditure of the ordinary revenue of the year 1882 83. The expenditure tor the year under permanent acts of Parliament was estimated at L 4.627.512, including L 1,284,848 for interest, and L 270.000 for redemption of debt, and the amount voted for departmental services was L 2.166.795, the total estimated expenditure therefore sanctioned by Parliament was L 5.694,228, the total actual expenditure proved to he L 3 638,484, being L 55.834 less than estimated. The only item in the expenditure which calls for special remarks -is that of defence, hon. members will see when the accounts are cl -arly laid before them, that for the first time for some years the total cost of this service has been paid out of the orlina y revenue without any c rntribution in aid from loan, this we are enabled to do in consequence of the large surplus of L 203 683 brought forward from the year 1881 82, but the principle of paying the whole cost of the armed constabulary out of revenue has so much to commend it, that 1 hope we shall not again consent to charging any part of that cost against loan, whilst it is possible by any reasonable effort to provide the necessary means from ordinary revenue. With regard to rai'way theamonntexpemled was only slightly in excess of the vote, notwithstanding a very considerable increase of traffic during the year. Full particulars of the expenditure in connection with the service will he given by the Minister of Public Works when ho mak-s his annual staterae t. The outstandind liabilities of the ordinary revenue account on the 31st March, 1883, were estimated at L 176.530, particulars of which have been laid before the House bv the audit office under section nine of The Public Revenue Act, 1882, these liabilities are as hon. members know included in the estimated expenditure tor the current year. The liabilities outstanding on the iilst March, 1882, amounted to L 164.394 at the close of the present year, they amounted to L 165,514. It will thus be seen that in the ordinary course of things, without either hurry or delating exoenditure, the liahilities on this account from year to year may he fairly estimated at from £169,900 to £189,900. The practice began in 1880 81 of making the payments within the financial vear the exoenditure of the year without regard to date of service or supply, and so the method of throwing hack on the revenue of the previous year expenditure made in respect fof liabilities outstanding on the Ist March has greatly simplified the public accounts, and has w irked sarisfactorily. ordinary revenue of the year 1882 82. The estimated revenue for the year, exclusive of the cash derived from Land Sales, was L 3,393,500. The actual amount paid into the pul die account, after deducting refunds, was L 3,470.250, being L 76.759 in excess of the estimate, and a reference to the comparative returns of estimated and actual receipts, which will be appended to th® v Statement when published, will show mei/ibera the extent to which the several head’., of receipts exceeded, or fell short of the I 'dmate. It will be observed from that re .+"n that the only class of revenue which A short of the amount esrimatod was CuaT fd.s, the receipts being L 1,494,463 as avahj. ; 1 last year of L 1.500,9 iO, or L 5,537 ,e"s than estimated ; the total amount yielded in excess of the estimate, by the other classes of revenue, was L 82.287. of this sum 1-23,690 came from registration, and other fees. This large increase is attributable to an under estimate of the probable receipts of duty on lease and conveyance of native lands. It will be remembered that the Stamp Act of 1870 offered the alternative of anticipating the annual payments of these duties by a composition paid once for all, a provision which has been acted on beyond ray conjectural estimate. From this source of revenue we received L 25.251 during the year. The revenue from stamps was L 10,389 in excess of the estimated amount, included in this class are the duties under the Stamp Act, Postal Revenues tees, and fines of the Law Courts, Land Transfer Fees, for all of which there is now only one description of stamp in use. The treasury is consequently able to apportion the moneys received from sales of stamps to the classes of revenue to which they relate, the same course that of permitting one kind of stamp to be used for all purposes has been followed to some extent in other colonies ami in England, and no practical inconvenience has resulted, while to the public the change has been a great advantage. The telegraph revenue was LS,l3sin excess of the estimate; the receipts from depasturing licenses, rents, etc., were also in excess L 10.073. The railway receipts, notwithstanding the large reductions in the Tariff, yielded more than the estimate by L 13.740 ; this has been due to an increase in the passenger traffic, and in the tonna -e of goods earned, and to an unprecedented increase in the quantities of live stock moved, the latter result being doubtless due to a large extent to the

activity of the new refrigrating industry, The previous bad season led to a somewhat diminished grain traffic during the year, the traffic arising from the last grain season I chiefly falls daring the current year, so that we have not yet realised the results. land fund, 1882-83 The total amount expended during the year out of money derived from sales of land was L 190.180, of which 1.41,758 was expended under permanent Acts of the General Assembly and L 155,342 out of the votes for the service of th < year. The amount estimated to he expended wis L 41.500 under permineub Acts, and £195,337 under the Appropriation Act, making altogether L 236.837 ; the actual expenditure was, therefore, L 39.736 less than the estimated amount. This result is mainly due to the absence of expenditure out of the vote of L 30.000 for rates under the Crown and Native Lands Rating Act ef last year. The liabilities outstanding on this account on Slat March, 1883, amounted to L 27,430. At the close of the previous year the amount was L 25,188. The former amount is exclusive of rates on Crown Lands for the past year, estimated at L 200.000, in -aspect of which no demands have yet been made in consequence of the valuation rolls, which the Property-Tax Commissioner as directed by the Rating Act, 1882, to return, not being completed. No monies were transferred to the main road account during the past year, no demands on the treasury for payment haying been made on that account. The receipts from sales of land amounted ,to L 272,305; the amount estimated to be received was L 355,000 ; the receipts, therefore, fell short of the estimate by L8i,695 The receipts of the year having been L 272.305, and the expenditure L 197,180, the excess of receipts amount to L 75.204, adding to this sum the balance of L 11.360 in hand at the beginning of the year, we get a credit balance of L 86.564 on this account at the close of the year 1882-83 The whole of this balance Oeing within the sum of HOO.OQO, authorised by the Roads and Bridges Construction Act, 1882, is to transferred to the main road account, to which 1 have just referred, and will be so transferred in such sums as may from time to time be required. PUBLIC WORKS FUND. The appropriations granted out of the public work fund for the year, ended 31st March last, amounted to L 1,727,729, exclusive of the vote tor land purchases, L 82.455. The actual expenditure was, however, oifly L 867,194, exclusive of L 29.843 for land purchases. The principal items of this expenditure were—railways, L 433.520 ; goods, L21(),650 ; public buildings, L153.U71; and other services, L 67.959. A good deal of misapprehension appears to exist in the country, and is not altogether absent from the minds of hon. members, as to the reason for the great difference between the amounts voted and that spear, upon public works, the Government often being blamed on the one hand for asking for votes fur very much larger sums than it is intended to expend, and on the other hand for not spending within the year the who e of the sums voted, it is practically impossible that tiro periods of execution of large works should be adjusted exactly, or even very closely to the periods of the votes, These letter are in fact authorities for the payment of the year, and for engaging the Colony in operations which must extend beyond the year, and the engagements of one year become in part necessary and properiy expenditure of the next, and foliowing years, and the only means by winch Parliament can obtain practical control over the expenditure is by voting such a sum in respect of such works as it may determine shall he undertaken as will cover not only the probable expenditure within the year, but liabilities incurred under contracts or ongageiuetts which may remain uncompleted at the end of the financial year. Particulars of the expenditure of the past year will be found in a table annexed to this statement, hut of course much fuller information on the subject will in due course be given be the Minister of Public Works. The liabilities outstanding at the end of the year, exclusive of those for laud purchases, amounted to L861,8J1, which added to the amount expended, L 867 194 gives a total of L 1,729,955, as against L 1,727,729 voted for the year. Hon.'members will perceive that in speaking of the expenditure of the public works fund, and the outstanding liabilities at the close of the year, I expressly excluded the expenditure and liabilities in respect of land purchase. 1 did so because I think it is de sirable to keep the liabilities on account of land purchases entirely distinct from the other liabilities of the public works fund, as they stand on an entirely different footing from the return of liabilities laid before the House by the Audit Office. It will be seen that the land purchase on Slat March amounted to L 309.299. At the close of the present year the amount was L 335.876, ami last year the House was informed that probably not more than L 200.000 would be required to complete the purchase of these blocks which the Government had decided to acquire. As aheady stated the amount expended last year was L2O 843, out of a vote for L 52.455. The difference between the amount voted and the expenditure being attributable tc the non-completion last year of the purcha-e of all blocks of land in the Provincial District of Hawke’s Bay. Tke balance of the public works fund remaining unexpended on 31st March last, including the balance of the loan of 1882, to be received, estimated at L 65.000, amounted to L 117,725, consisting of cash. On the 31st March, 18S2, the gross public debt of the Colony amounted to L 29.946 711 subject to a deduction of L 2.266,418 for accrued sinking fun I. From 31st March, 1882, the debt was L 3,935,741, and the sinking fund increased to L 2.571.829, the net debt being thus L 2,778.528, or L 1,049,890 more than it was in the previous year. The only addition to the public debt during the past year was the loan of L 1,000,900, authorised last »ession, of which I shall have something to sav presently During the year we were enabled however, out of moneys at cmdit of the public works fund requiring temporary investment, to reduce the amount of guaranteed debentures outs’anding 31st March, 1882, by 1.264,700, and to tike up temporarily debentures for L 319.500 issued under the Treasury Bills Act for 1870 89, upon w h ich advances had been obtaine I ; alsoT.33ooot the immigration and public works loan 1879 we also redeemed out of the special sinking funds, L 2200 debentures of the North Otago District Public Works loan, which with L 67.800 personally redeemed, completed the redemption of de bontnres of that loan. Further, the sinking fui ds were increased during the y ar by 1,305,411. These suras, added together give L 895.000, which deducted from L 1,000,000, leaves L 104.859, the sum by which I have state 1 the public debt was increased during the past year. When however we hj ive raise I the amount represented by Imperial guaranteed debentures in hand L 400.0000, and debentures for L 323,301, temporarily tiken out of moneys at audit of public works fund, tho net pu' lic debt of the C Jooy will amount to L 2,850,581, in accordance wi hj the provision of Tr asury Bills 1879-80. It will be remembered that Government proposed, with the concurrence of the House, to convert these debentures into 4 per cent

inscribed stock, I regret that circumstances have not yet proved sufficiently favourable to the successful operation of this proposition, but so soon as a fitting opportunity offers it is the intention of Government to inscribe these debentures into loan of LI, 000 000 raised in January, 1883. Papers relating to the negotiator! of loan of LI, 000.OOd raised last January will shortly be laid before bon. members, ft will bo re mo nhered that the loan was issued in form of 4 per cont. inscribed stock, and that it was ffered to public'by loan agents through Bank of England, at a minimum of L9B 10s. per cent., the average price at which it was placed being L9B T2s sd, the stock is n >w quoted at 102,1, the total amount paid by the Bank of England to loan agents after payment of commission, stamp duty, and other expenses was L 972.297 14s 91. On no previous occasion has any loan bean raised at a price so favourable to the Colony, and the success which attended the judicious Negotiations of loan by the loan agents. Sir Penrose Julian, and Sir E. D. Bob, and the present price of stock are therefore fitting subjects for congratulation. Prior to t! e loan being offered to the public, full inf ir mation regarding the o-ogreas and prosnsot of the Australasian Colonies, including New Zealand, was published in London by the Agent General in a verv able paper read at the Colonial Institute, and earlv discussed in the public Press. Not only the favorable rate therefore at which the loan was placed, but present prices of our 4 per cent inscribe I tsock, and other loans show that, notwithstanding reiterated statements to the <1 is paragement of our credit, there is in the money market of the world confidence in the resources of the Colony and its ability to meet charges of ite public debt, and so long as our finance is prudently managed, and affairs of the Colony are directed so ns to promote settlement on its lands, and the development of local industries, there is no reason to doubt tha k onr credit will he well maintained, andihat w« shall he able to ohtain from time to time upon reasonable terms such moneys as may be required to carry on our public w odes.