The Evening Star SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 1873

Evening Star, Issue 3160, 5 April 1873, Page 2

The Evening Star SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 1873

The New Zealand Gazette of the 27th ult., contains statements of the Revenue and Expenditure of the Colony during the quarters ending 30th September and 28th December of last year. It would be as tedious to transcribe all the items of these accounts, as it would be unlikely for any one to read them ; because clearly to understand a Government Balance Sheet, many explanations are needed, respecting details, Avhich would hardly repay the trouble of investigation. There are, however, certniii broad features that are generally interesting, for they tend to throw light upon the progress of the Colony, and these we present to our readers. In the following statement, the first set of figures represents the receipts and expenditure under the specified heads for the September quarter, and the second for December. Wc pTiTce-'tho .receipts first.

Consolidated Fund. —Ordinary Revenue ; Customs, L 202,925 10s 2d, L 181,752 IGs Id; Stamps, Ll«,3{f4 16s 3d, JL16,073 18s ; Postal,

L 11,754 12s lOd, L 10.493 19s 8d; Telegraphic, L 2,424 17s Id, L 8,867 12s 6d: Judicial, L 7,824 12s sd, La,854 7s Id; Registration and other fees, L 7,590 7s Gd, L 5,91? 2s; Incidental, 1/2,547 17s Gd, L 4,542 ss. Recoveries from Provinces: From Otago, on account of balance of debt June 30th, 1872, L 9,000, LG,OOO. To the credit of votes, L 1,882 7s 7d, L 579 12s Gd. Transfer from the Public Works account for interest and sinking fund on the Immigration and Public Works Loan, LII/ 250, L 24,000. Recoveries on account of payments from revenue of previous years, LI 2, G35 18s 4d, Total receipts, L‘282,595 Is 3d, L27G,711 11s lOd.

It will be observed that the statement for December, being made up to the 28th of the month, is half a week short of that for September, which is brought up to the 30th. The average receipts per week are somewhat over L 21,000; therefore adding the half, say LIO,OOO, to the revenue for the quarter for the sake of comparison with the previous quarter, would bring it up to L28G,711, which would be somewhat in excess of the previous quarter. The expenditure during the two quarters from the Consolidated Fund is set down at L212,1G8 19s 7(1 in September, which includes LI 00,000 Overdraft and Deficiency Bill. In December the expenditure is stated to have been L 305,730 Is lid. The receipts and payments on account of special funds alibi’d no test of the material condition of the Colony. Many of the statements are more matters of account—transfers from one department to another ; it would, therefore, be waste of time and labor to encumber our columns with them. The detailed accounts specify the amounts received from the various Provinces, and as a comparison of the Customs revenue indicates the commercial activity of each, it will be interesting. In the general balancesheet, under the head of “ Customs,” is included not only import duties, but a variety of receipts from rents, seizures, and fees, which are not included in the following figures. They are duties on imports only, and, as before, we place the amount received in September first, and the second set of figures represents the receipts in December. The total amounts were 1/200,591 Is lid, L 179,201 IPs Id. The receipts from the various Provinces were ;—Auckland, L 47,956 Gs4d, L39,80G 3s; Taranaki, L 1,712 Is 4d, L 1,359 19s ; Wellington, L 21,910 4s Bd, L 21,301 13s Gd; Hawkes Bay, L6,2G8 7s sd, L 5,970 12s 2d; Nelson, L 18,720 6s, Liu,926 2s 8d ; Marlborough, L 2,129 IGs lid, L 1,475 7s Id; Canterbury, L 27,135 5s Bd, L 24,435 11s 9d; Westland, L 14,920 3s, LI 1,763 19s Gd; Otago, L 59,838 10s 7d, L 57,149 7s sd. The Middle Island still contributes to the Customs revenue a very much larger proportion than the North; quite as great as some four years The amounts are —North Island, L77,84G 19s 9d, L 68,438 7s 8d ; Middle Island, L 122,744 2s 2d, LI 10,750 8s ad. The difference is sufficiently great to justify a determination on the part of the representatives of the Middle Island to have a proportionate outlay on Public Works and Immigration.