THE Grey River Argus. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1866.

Grey River Argus, Issue 124, 27 October 1866, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1866.

The statement of the revenue and ex penditure of the Provincial Government for the financial year ending the 30th June has been laid before the Provincial Council. The total revenue is put down as £483,023, and the total expenditure £552,351, being an excess of expend*'. ture over revenue of £79,328. The reveuue was derived as follows : — Ordinary revenue arid incidental receipts, £139,095 ; landfund,^lßs,sß^ ; gold duty, £45,247 ; raised by loan, £113,098. The expenditure was distributed in the following manner : — Ordinary, £70,245; land and works, £112,623; railway and harbors, £139,043; gold fields, £224,440. As the last item is the one in which wetake the most interest, we may as well inform our readers how the amount is made up. It is as. follows : —

To the above must be added incidental charges on the transmission of money, and the liqxiidation of an overdraft at the Bank of New Zealand, Hokitika, at the commencement of the year. As to the actual financial relations between the West Coast Gold Fields and the Government, the " Press" makes the following remarks : — " The above is the actual expenditure on the government of the West Coast. The sum total which appears in the accpixntsj .£224,44:0 lQs 9d, being made up by interest, &c., incident to the transmission

of money and the payment of an overdraft to the local Bank at the' commencement of the year. Less only by a small balance in the Bank at Hokitika, this account appeal's now to be overdrawn by £105,295 5s 7d, a sum which has clearly been advanced out of the provincial chest in excess of the West Coast Revenues. Of the sum of £143,201 spent on public works for the gold fields, we find that only £53,725 12s- Id is charged for the cost of the road from Hokitika" to Arthur's. Pass, so that even were no part of that road charged against the West Coast, the Gold Fields Account would still appear to'be overdrawn by about £50,000." We cannot of course quarrel with the conclusions arrived at by our contemporary, as they are undoubtedly correctly drawn from" the statement of accountsBut we must again point out the injustice of charging some of the items of expenditure above mentioned against current revenue. We have on former occasions urged that the cost of the road to Christchurch ; public buildings, and the telegraph should be capitalised and defrayed . out of the Provincial loan. Were this done the indebtedness of the West Coast gold fields would be reduced by £70,000, less the sum for interest. This would bring die amount down to about £30,200, which could easily be met by judicious financingUnless our members urge this arrangement, the indebtedness of the district will afford' an ever ready excuse for curtailing the expenditure and for delaying many much needed works. The actual revenue contributed by the West Coast for the period included in the financial accounts was as follows : — Land sales, £ A 365 13s; Customs, £40,466 11s lid; other " receipts (fees, licenses, minor's rights, aud gold duty), £71,110; sale of debentures, £3272— total, £119,220 5s sd. Thoie can be little doubt of the revenue of the current year being considerably in excess of that of the last ; and we trust that not only will the Government find itself able to recoup the excess of past expenditure, but to devote a large proportion of the revenue to the necessities of the district His Honor has invited the Council to meet him in a liberal spii-it with respect to " opening up the amazing resources of Westland by means of various public works throughout its districts." A great future is in stove for Westland if o:ily its great resources are properly developed, and to. accomplish this development shoukl:be the most anxious study of the ''Government and Legisi lature.

Commissioners department... x965 2 9 Treasurer's ... 211 2 2 Waste Laiuls Board ... 332 15 0 Surveys 7601 0 5 Engineer's Department ... 1667 2 2 Meteorological Observer ... 20 16 8 Administration of Justice ... 19,556 310 Hospital and Charitable Aid 6970 13 9 Harbors 3226 9 S Gold Escort ... 9146 5 4 Public Buildings IS, 124 10 7 Public Works 143,201 7 11 Miscellaneous 3973 14 3 Telegraph 3180 6 2 Survey of Native Reserves ... 1222 3 2 Native Land Purchase ... 20 0 0 Assessors' salaries ... 112 10 0 Expense of Elections ... 64 I 0 Cattle Inspector 15 5 0 Hokitika Fire Brigade ... 250 0 0 Unvoted expenditure ... 315 6 8 Total ...£220,170 16 6