THE The Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. FRIDAY, JANUARY 19, 1872.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1085, 19 January 1872, Page 2

THE The Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. FRIDAY, JANUARY 19, 1872.

Ouu County Chairman, Mr Lalunan, must either have been excessively facetious or remarkably innocont when, in his oponing speech to the County Council a fow days ago, ho stated that notwithstanding a falling off in the revenue the financial position of the County might be considered sound, and it would only require a judicious exercise of economy to enable them to meet all liabilities. At the conclusion of his speech he congratulated "the Council upon the fair prospects the affairs of the County offer ; and he had no doubt but that on the completion of the main trunk line of road, together with a liberal supply of water works, every branch of industry throughout the County will be revived." It was quite refreshing to read this in these hard times, and all kinds of visions of seasons of future prosperity rose before us. We hoped that the tide of Westland's adversity had turned, and that a season ol prosperity upon a sure and firm basis had arrived. But when these hard facts anc figures the Estimates were laid before the Conncil all' hope died away, and we coulc see at once that Mr Lahman was indulging in " a goak" or attempting to mislead the members of the County Council, when he congratulated the members upon the fair prospects of the County and its sound financial condition. The plain facts are that the present revenue of the County will not meet its ordinary working expenses ; every available pound is swallowed \vp in salaries ; and were it not for the fact that money from extraneous sources is unexpectedly falling in, the County Chairman would have another tale to tell. To go back a little, in order to make the financial position of the County plain, the County Chairman estimated the revenue for the half-year ending the 3lßt December last, at £23,550, and the expenditure at £28,018. To start with, £5000 more than the ordinary revenue had to be provided from, some source or other, and this was arranged by the Chairman obtaining the sanction of the Council to raise £5000 from the Bank of New Zealand by means of what he calls " deficiency bills," but which were in reality bills given against the amount of Westland's share of the Canterbury Loan Sinking Funds, which had then fallen in. Notwithstanding this extraneous aid, we find that the receipts for the last half-year were over-estimated. The following is Mr Lahman's own statement of the facts of the case :— " I regret to state that the revenue for the financial half-year just ended has not nearly realised the estimated amount. You will perceive that the receipts show a deficiency of £2475 18s 3d upon the amount estimated, although, compared with the receipts of the previous six months, it is only £848 9s 7d. The deficiency on gold duty amounts to £756 3s 4d ; on spirit licenses, £445 10s j on incidental receipts, £333 6s Id ; on tolls, punts, and ferries, £308 10s lid — altogether amounting to £1781 Is 6d, against which an increase is shown in land revenue of £129 5s Bd, and in mining revenue, &c, of ,£174 17b 9d — altogether amounting to £304 3s 5d." So that there really was a falling off in the estimated revenue for the last six months not of £2400, as stated, but of £7400. In the face of this, Mr Lahman comes down to the Council, and for thepresentsixmonthsproposes estimates for the expenditure of £31,400, or .£BOOO more than the estimated revenue for the last six months, and more than £15,000 over the actual receipts. But this is not all, for he estimates his expenditure at £33,583, only another £2000 over his already excessively estimated revenue, instead of leaving a margin for any votes of the County Council during the present session. Even at this early period of the session we find that the County Council has voted between £6000 and £7000 fora road fromKanieri to Kokotahi. Several other notices of moion have been given for the construction of roads and tracks in various parts of the County ; but where is the money to come from ? It is impossible that any of these works can be constructed, because already the Chairman proposes to spend £2000 more than he expects to receive, and it is only the playing out of a farce for members seriously to propose the carrying out of any public works during the next six months beyond the miserable few mentioned in the Chairman's Estimates. The manner in which these Estimates have been bolstered up in order to deceive . the public may be seen by a glance at one of the items set down as revenue — Deficiency Bills, £8000. A strange source of revenue truly ; one would naturally suppose those ugly pieces of paper would be set down on the other aide of the ledger. But what the Chairman means by the item and what he will probably explain to the Council to-day is that as there are still about £9000 of the sinking funds due to the county. He intends to borrow £8000 on that security from the Bank of New Zealand, and treat it as ordinary revenue. This is a false position for the County to be placed in, and no one knows it better than Mr Lahman ; but so long as he can make his term of office comfortable he cares for nothing else. The hopeful and sound condition of the County is this, that its ordinary revenue does not meet its ordinary expenditure, and but for the lucky windfall of these sinking funds, it would have been hopelessly insolvent. Beyond carrying on the ordinary functions of Government, all that it is proposed to spend on public buildings, roads, and works during the current six months is £8800 j deduct from this the expected £8000 from the sinking funds, leaves £800 as the balance after paying departmental expenses ; and remembering that the proposed expenditure is put down at £2000 over the estimated re-

venue, leaves the County in debt £1200 for the six months, without a public work of any description being carried out in the county. What hope, then, is there for the Kokotahi Road, the German Gully track? Ac, &c. The fact is, the sooner the farce is played out the better ; but no doubt Mr Lahman will do his best to keep it alive until his term of office has expired.