The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING GISBORNE, AUGUST 30, 1906

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1847, 30 August 1906, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING GISBORNE, AUGUST 30, 1906

This I'iunncial Statement, so anxiously waited for and so promptly submitted to tile House on this occasion, is one that in many respects will rival all its p.edeccssors. To say that it is a clear exposition of the colony’s busiuoss transactions for tho past financial year would be to give it credit for a character that it can lay but a very distant claim to, and tho ambiguity with which it surrounds the various items dealt with still maintains the reputation of its “ wizird ” author It may b 9 that tho departmental reports that are to follow will clear up these ambiguities and make tho Statement clear to tho ordinary student; but without the Public Works and Railways Statement, the Lauds Report, and the

“ B. 1 ” return to refer to, the Statement itself is jv3 inscrutable and mystifying as the canals on the planet MarsFigures, of course, aro alwaj’s elusive, and delusive, and may be used in such a variety of ways by clever manipulators that they aro almost capable of establishing that logical absurdity, the proving of a negative. They have in this case at.anyrate proved that while we can boast of another record surplus ” of £788,765, or an excess of nearly £25,000 over its predecessor,' wo have found it necessary to add £2,279,000 to our public indebtedness. M-re novices in finance will find it difficult to understand how it is that thero can be a surplus at all when it is either wholly or partly made up of borrowed money as long as the amount of that borrowed money remains as great or greater than it was at the beginning of the financial period to which the alleged surplus relates : but jtMffcfcruerely a ma|,t3vr. of book-keep--

thing about tlioso tilings is that thoro aro ho many accounts and so many trims fora from sorno iceounts to otliors that it is next to impossible for outsiders to keep tlio run of thorn, and thou when wo are told, as for example in the present Statement, that the Land for Settlement, Account has ro-

coivod a sum of L-192,428 from “ loan and other receipts, 1 ' and undor another heading wo find that no loss than £()07,7d0 has been raised by way of loan “ for tho purpose of closor sottlomont,” wo wondor what has become of tho bulk of that loan wlion it doos not appear to luvvo found its way past tho Consolidated Fund into tlio Lind for Settlement Account. Wlion wo liavo to swallow conundrums liko this for 1 tho want of full information all that wo can do is to opon our mouths a little widor and swallow tho whole Statement, well lubricated with blind faith in tho unorring accuracy of tho Treasurer. Thore is only ono other alternative, and that is to wait the dotailod statements and unravel the ma/.o ; but whilo we wait our time may be profitably employed in another enquiry, oneo rnoro having reference to this over-present rocord surplus. Again, to tho ordinary mind an inoreaso of £2H,000 in the surplus over

last yoar’s record would sooui at first view to establish in the administration an indisputable character for economy and “ sound finance,” but when we find that tho buoyant rovonuo oxcoeded the estimate by no less a sum than £181,75'.) and tho unexpended votes to a much greater sum, it is a mattor of somo curiosity to find out what she actual surplus for tho year should really bo sot down at if everyone got their duo. But those are quo3tions which wo cannot attempt to answer, for the very sutficiont reason that the data is not available, notwithstanding tho effusiveness of the alluring Budget of 1900. But it is not alone in tho mattor of figures and accounts that tho Statement oxhibits its mysticism, and it might reasonably have been oxpccted that on such a question of policy as tho mattor of land tenure, for instance, that the pronouncements of the Treasurer would have been more clear. As it is, however, the reader of the Statement has to put on his com sidoring cap aud assume a mood of sustained thoughtfulness for quite a while before he can come to any

dcfiuite conclusion a 3 to its meaning, and then ho cannot ho quite sure that ho understands it thoroughly. The one thing certain in regard to it is that the Leasehold Party has triumphed to some considerable extent, although the new scheme was evidently intended to placate both the leaseholders and freeholders. It is quite certain, as far as the latter are concerned, that the attempt has signally failed, and the not result may bo described as a hybrid schome of attempted conciliation. This too is the main plank iu the platform of the Government, and the one about which thero should not be the least misunderstanding, for upon such a question the Government could never reasonably hope to steer a middle course successfully ; but this they have c'early attempted to do, and the result will be quite different from their expectations. Yet the Budget is not without its merits in some respects, and the concession to the persistent clamors of the Opposition for a more I satisfactory system of audit of the

public accounts is not the least cheerful cote of impending successes from the same source in other directions. People will be ready to hail with delight the concessions announced in the postal and telegraphic rates, but our emphatic contention is that a real Liberal Treasurer would, before corn* sidering any such things, have made the o moro necessary concessions in the Customs duties on the necessaries of life that have beon so long demanded and so long dangled before voters’ eyes from the hustings. What has the Budget to say on this point ? Meroly this, that more than £05,000 has been scooped through the Customs over what the Treasurer expected during the year, or more than double ihe increase in the surplus, and yet not a penny is to bo conceded to those who find it most diliicult to pay the increase of cash into the State coffers. But such is Liberalism, and such also are some of the brilliancies of the Budget of 1900.

About l>.oo this morning a fire broke out in a four-roomed cottage in Mill road. The house, which was occupied by an older'y man, a Mr Crawford, was totally destroyed, nothing being saved, A thoroughly quiet pony is advertisod for. A sleeping or aotivo partner is wanted in good paying business.

The annual football fixture between Poverty Bay and iJanko’s Bay has been fixed for September 8 'h at Gisborne. At the Magistrate's Court yestorday a prohibition order against a Kataka resident was granted. The Dunedin Drainage Board reeoived to appoint Mr Cardue, of Sydrcy, to roport on tho entire drainage system. The Works Committee of the Borough Council inspeoted the Cook Monument yesterday and oons'dered what oould be done in the way of putting the road in grod repair prior to tho unveiling ceremony. It was decided to have the road levelled ofl and motalled, and a's r to take other etepa to make the locality look as attractive as poss’ble. la ibe practical musioal examination in connection with*Trinity College, London, held at tho Convent of Mercy yesterday

by Me Charles Edward?, L8.0.L.. the following pupils were successful : Senior division (pase), Aileen Kenoaly7B; lotormod ate division (pass), Lylio King 75, Kathleen Martin 02, Emily MoConvilie 62; Junior division (pass), Henry MayDard 04 ; Preparatory division, Dorothy Martin 04, Mary Martin 82, Winifred Malono 85, Gertrude Parker 74 Mr John F. i’cttic, auctioneer, valuator atul general conmrissiotr agent, who lias purchased the old established auction business lately carried on by Messrs Pain Pros., in Lowe Street, has an inset in this

issue. Regular weekly sales will be held every Saturday, when produce, furniture, and sundries of all kinds will be offered ; also during the week special consignments of fruit, furniture, etc., will be sold as occasion demands. Arrangements may bo made for special sales of household furniture, etc., cither at the residence of the vendor or at the Auction Mart Land and other general commission business will be also conducted. This department of the business will have Mr Pettie's personal attention, and clients may rely upon receiving his best services.