THE FINANCE OF ABOLITION.

Evening Star, Issue 4251, 11 October 1876, Page 2

THE FINANCE OF ABOLITION.

The following is the statement issued by the Colonial Treasury, showing the effect of the abolition of Provincial Government in Otago:— The proposals of the Government applied to the revenue and expenditure of Otago for the past year would work out thus: —

I will now proceed to show liow this revenue of L437.82610s 5d is proposed to he expended under the Government proposals. Capitation, L 2.161 12s 9d: Payment of this sum would cease; nnd in the summary of Gain and Loss, to which I shall presently refer, this sum will be entered ns a loss. Eoad subsidies: Under the proposals of the Government the subsidies payable out of Consolidated Fund to Road Boards in the Province of Otago will amount to L 19.830. and those to Municipalities to L 15,214; in all, L 85.044, which sum is entered in the summary as so much gain. Crown lands, L 193.317 12s sd, will remain, ns before, provincial revenue, but will be subject to certain charges, to which I shall refer in dealing with the expenditure side of the account. Goldfields revenue, L 37,696 Os 6d, and gold duty, L 12.647 8s lid, will be handed over to the Counties and Road Boards. Harbor and jetty dues, L1,4058s lid will be taken over by the Colony. I accordingly set it down as a loss. Assessment on stock, L 52.858 11s 3d, will remain as heretofore in the land fund. Dock dues, L 2.261 12s Sd, will remain as at present. Tolls on roads, L 10,045 6s, will be handed over to the Counties.

Dog and goat tax, L 1,877 9a 6d, and Licenses, L 6.403 8s 6d, will be paid over to tho Boroughs and Counties in which they are levied. , Education fees, rates nnd rents L 5.786 10s 9d will be paid into the land fund, and devoted to educational purposes. Railways, L 104.807 Is 9d. The receipts from railways will ~e paid into the Consolidated Fund of the Colony, and I have accordingly entered the ip the gun and loss statement u a lose.

Inter st, L 505 6s lid, Will pa*H td tbi Credit (of the Colony, ano I set it down as a loss. Incidental receipts, L 6.020 17s 7d.—This snm is made up of a variety of Items, about one-half of Which will be taken by the Colony i the other half will remain for expenditure in the Province-—say loss on this item, L 3,0:0. I have thus completed my eSdUPnatiou of the Provincial Treasurer’s statement Of the feV(-nu«; and, so far, have shown, in respect to each item, the (fain or loss which w.-uld have taken place hod the propt sals of the Government been in opo-fttlou during the Provincial financial year last nast. 1 will now show to what extent the Province is affected as regards expenditure. First, then, the interest and sit-king fund ott the Provincial permanent debt is in future to be charged Upon the land ftlnd, instead of being paid as heretofore out of the Capita'ion allowance granted by the Colonial Government. As the capita* ion grant will cease under the abolition pto* postals, X set down .this item, amounting to say LBO.OCD, fts a logs of that difloilUt: Then the Province is to be charged With 2 pet Cent, oil the sum already expended in the construction of railways, lc.*s the Provinces* share of the Middle Island itallWtty Fund, sa y 2 per debt, oh t1, 744,900, equal to L 31,886 per annum; this sum 1 also enter aS & loss. Ou the other hand, by the existing system, the land fund of the Province is liable by law to a payment of 6 pel? cout. inf crest <sil the sttm expended Upon railways open for traffic. The sum Bo posable in rWpwst of failwaya opened prior to 30th June, 167(5, is L 1,067,372 1/a Id, find the interest chargeable thereon is L 61.042 6a Bd. I hdVo treated the snm of L 34,886, payable under the abolition pPd-pc-Bals, as a loss, ana as the ftbove-mentione I sum of L 64,042 6s 81 will no loheW be charged, I set it down as a gain of that amount. I now coble to the gain accruing to the Province from its being relieved of the cost of tlioHO sfirVifies which will in future be maintained out of the consolidated revenue; and I have accordingly tnkeu out from the Provincial Treasurer’s statement for the j ast year the actual sums expended on those semees. They are as follows (and in order to facilitate reference amJ verification, I quote opposite to each the page of the ‘ Gazette’ on which the several items appear):—

There are, no doubt, other items of expenditure made last year by the Province which will in future fall upon the Colony, such as—

„ 356, Compensation to officers... 1,294 12 11 and others. I am, however, content to take those I have already enumerated, amounting, as has been shown, to 1,130,520 18s 4d. The transfer of these services represents so much gain to the Province, and I have summarised the amount accordingly. The total gain or loss upon each item of revenue and expenditure will now stand thus; —

There are yet other items of gain, however, which must not be overlooked: I refer to the departments and services which will shortly be abolished. A reference to the Provincial Treasurer’s statement shows that the expenditure of the year ending 31st March, 1876, on these services was as follows:

This sum of L 14,669 2s 7d represents actual gain to the Province, although that gain is not accompanied by a corresponding loss to the Colony. I add it accordingly to the balance of gain previously stated, and show a total gain upon the operations of the past year of L 18.904 4s 2d.

£ s. d. £ 8. d. Total revenue of year ended March 31,1876, os stated by Provihcial Treasurer in ‘ Provincial Gazette’ of 16th June, 1876, page 348... 524,124 5 5 Deduct from this the sums derived from adventitious sou- ces the receipt of which is not affected by the principle of abolition, viz., North Otago loan Otago Public Works Ad6,840 e 0 vancea Act ... ... 29.791 13 4 Released sinking fund... 17,404 4 2 Sales Government Buildlogs and land 9.279 19 3 Repayments 9,697 19 9 — 72,013 16 6 452.110 8 11 I also deduct the sum of L14.283 18s 6d received from the General Government, as .. ... 14.283 18 6 Subsidies to Road Boards; that sum having been paid over to the Road Beards as an instalment of the measure of Abolition —it would not have been paid under ordinary circumstances. and', in order to reduce the Provincial revenue to its proper terms, I deduct it from the account. The balance left — L437,826 10s 5d—represents the Provincial revenue proper, made up of the following items: — Capitation 2,161 12 9 Crown lands 193,347 12 5 Goldfields revenue 37,696 0 6 Gold duty 12,647 8 11 Harbor and jetty dues 1,405 8 11 Assessment bn stock ... 52,858 11 3 Dock dues 2,261 12 8 Tolls on roads 10,045 6 0 Dog and goat tax 1,877 9 6 Licenses 6,403 8 6 Education 5,780 10 9 Railways 104,807 1 9 Interest 507 8 11 Incident' 1 receipts ... 6,020 17 7 437,826 10 5

Pago 356, Police £ B. d, 24,938 3 11 >i 356, Gaols 9,955 5 9 » 357, District gaols 3,578 7 9 „ ■> 857, luspectiou of sheep 2,145 9 9 „ 358 to 362, Railways 66,500 12 7 I, 863, Harbors 4,631 19 6 >i 864, Luua tic asylums 5,954 15 10 „ 365, Goldfields department 7.806 3 3 866, Printing, stationery, advertising, fuel, light, and general contingencies, say 2.000 0 0 >, 372, Additions and repairs to public buildings, court house, police buildings, gaols, lunatic asylums. So., say 3,000 0 0 £131,520 18 4

Page 357, Miscellaneous L 8. d. 1,913 18 0 „ 366, Geological survey 918 13 0 i, 362, Part of the charge Provin. oial Engineer’s department 5,833 12 3 „ 366, Expenses witnesses Crown prosecutions 36 6 6 „ 366, Escort service 833 17 9

GAIN. On RevenueGrants to Municipalities and Road £ s. d. Boards On Expend! tu-e— Iiiuerest on railways (heretofore 35,044 0 0 charged at 6 per cent.) 61.042 6 8 Cost of services transferred 130.520 18 4 L229.607 6 0 LOSS. On Revenue— Capitation 2,161 12 9 Railway revenue 104,807 1 9 Interest 507 8 IL Incidental receipts (half) On Expenditure— Interest on debt (heretofore paid 8,010 0 0 out of capitation) 80,000 0 0 Interest at 2 per cent on railways... 34,886 0 0 £225,372 3 5 Balance of gain to Province 4,235 1 7 £229,607 5 0

£ 8. d. Page 355, Superintendent anl Executive Council • •• tt» 5.321 15 9 Page 355, Provincial Council IM T-* 3.868 11 11 Page 362, Provincial Treasurer’s Department ... TtV 1,86S| 2 4 Page 366, Miscellaneous, Viz. Expenses at elections £284 14 6 Printing ‘Gazette’ 1,881 13 5 Telegraph 770 5 7 Home Agency 602 15 3 Immigration Agent 576 3 10 4,115 12 7 Total additional gain ... ... £14,669 2 7