THE FINANCE OF ABOLITION.

Evening Star, Issue 4248, 7 October 1876, Page 2

THE FINANCE OF ABOLITION.

(By an Accountant.) Such bold assertions have been made as to the effect of Abolition on Otago in respect to finance that it is time a statement was made by someone who has really studied the duestion in an impartial spirit. It has been stated that Otago loses L.150,000 0rL200,000 a-year; that her railway profits go to Wellington; that she pays henceforward out of land fund what has hitherto been paid out of her Customs revenue, &0., &c. Now, all this is absolutely untrue, if it is intended to represent the effect of the measures at present before the House. I see that the Government are issuing a statement to show what the real effect will be, and I will defer details until that reaches me. But in the meantime I would point out that our railway "profits" simply represent receipts over and above working expenses • that if interest were charged to the land fund as by the Immigration and Public Works Acts of 1871 and 1875, it can be charged on all finished portions of lines at six per cent, on the capitalised cost, there are no "profits" left at all, and therefore Otago loses nothing by this arrangement—in fact, at present the interest due, I believe, considerably exceeds the profits, without allowing anything for renewals of line and Elant. As regards the two per cent, contriution towards interest on all lines in progress, some fair objections may be made - but, after all, it is only a part of the interest for which the Province is fairly liable. The land revenue, which is nowsecured to her, has largely gained by the making of the lineß; and, even if the whole interest had been charged year by year on the landfund, there wouldhavebeennogrcathardship. The making one common purse for all the lines throughout the Colony is certainly in one point of view an objectionable expedient ; but its actual effect on Otago revenue has been enormously exaggerated. Then with regard to the interest on Provincial loans, which is in future to be paid out of land fund. This amounts to about L 70.000 per annum. But is there no contra to pat against this apparent loss ? Henceforward the. oost of police, gaols, lunatic asylums, and that of education and certain oepartmenal expenditure will come out of the eon. solidated fund, and LIO.OOO per annum is also saved by abolishing " Executive and Provincial Council;*' and, although we bejieve on the whole there win be sure loss if we regard the 2 per cent, contribution from Land Fund as aportion only of a just debt for which the PrWnee gets a valuable return in the shape of Railways and increased receipts fromland: the utmost limits of that loss, so far as the figures can beat present ascertained, will not be abeve £20,000 per annum, and the increase in the upset price of land if passed, will more than cover it. All the other Brovini cial revenues are absolutely secured to us by the Abohtien Act, and the Acts founded upoi it; and the only difference is that it is differently distributed and placed entirely under the control of local bodies. The statement that has been circulated in the City shewing that Otago only got back 42 per cent of her contributions for eighteen yean to the general fund is entirely misleading, meomuoh as it does not point out that the it*

malndar wu •pant in servioM in whioh Otago isasmuch interested as the refet of the Colony; and that she was quite in as good a position in respect to perfection of expenditure as Canterbury and Auckland, except with regard to some insignificant amounts against the Provinces of Taranaki and Marlborough. The only ground of complaint as regards the other Provinces was an over expenditure averaging L 6,000 a year in Kelson and Wellington. Although clear enough from a careful perusal of the document, all this may easily be overlooked by a superficial reader. Th 3 amount expended Jout of loan in Ct .go is, however, set down as L 663,535, and it is only when reading the d ciunent carefully that one observes, from certain small figures at the top, that this was up to 30th June, 1874, only. Otago's real receipts out of loan up *to date are over two millions, and unless all the lines now in progress are completed will be nearer three millions, including eost of immigration, instead of 1.600,000. It is scarcely creditable to business men to put forward such statements as these without note or comment, as if they represented the real truth at the present moment for the sake of a party cry. With every respect for some of the gentlemen comprising the Political Association, I must express my surprise that they lend themselves to- such misrepresentations.