THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1572.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1107, 14 February 1872, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1572.

Tub half-yearly report presented by the County Auditor, Mr Patten, to the Chairroan of the Council, with accompanying returns, has been before us for some days, but in the midst of other matters of not less import than official records, it has necessarily been reserved for attention till some more convenient season. We can now 1 only briefly refer to the contents of the report itself, leaving the arithmetical calculations of which it is the summary, until another time. The Auditor, as usual, has, forwarded to the County Chairman the Treasurer's account of revenue and expenditure for the half-year, the balance-sheet for the same period, and returns showing, by comparison, the amount of local revenue received during the half-years ending respectively in December, 1870, and December, 1871. Referring first to the statement of revenue, the Auditor notices the fact that, although the local revenue for the past half-year has fallen short of the amount estimated by nearly £2500, there is on the other hand the satisfactory circumstance that, compared with the corresponding period of the previous year, an increase of nearly i3OO is shown, the revenue for the halfyear ending the 31st December, 1871, having amounted to .£21,073, against "£20,583 for 1870. The first item upon which the Auditor .makes any comment is that of gold export duty. The amount brought to account is £8242 lls 4d ; the actual amount collected during the half-year, was lls 4d; the difference being £15. It appears, saya the report, that in consequence of no provision having been made on the County Estimates for the salary of the Clerk to the Bench at Greymouth from Ist July, 1871 (which had always previously been done), instructions were received by the Collector of Customs from the Colonial Treasurer to deduct that amount from the gold duty, and to pay it into the Public Account in repayment of a similar amount advanced to the Clerk as salary from July to September in 1871. In addition to this £75, a sum of £784, also export duty on gold, was paid into the County account on the 3rd January, 1872, and which clearly belonged to the revenue of the previous half-year. These two amounts would have brought the gold duty up to £9101, instead of £8242 as shown in the account, and in fact £101 more than the amount estimated. Next to the gold duty the Auditor refers to the items miners' rights, business licenses, &&, which show a decrease of £598 13s 4d compared with last year, but are counterbalanced by the land revenue, which shows an increase of £1726 14s lOd. No doubt, he says, the sale of sections in some of the townships in the County has caused a decrease in the amount received for business licenses, which was notaltogether unforeseen. With regard to any decrease that may have occurred in the amount received for miners' rights, the great difficulty experienced in the collection of this revenue is sufficient explanation as to its causd. On the next item referred to the Auditor ventures to make a congratulatory remark, although there may be some who may not share in his congratulations, or estimate the small amount involved of any great consideration. "I am glad to find," he says, "that the amount received for spirit licenses exceeded thatofthepreviousyear," but this excess, he adds, does not amount to more than one shilling short of twenty pounds.. The actual, figures were £5054 10s, against £5044 lls m 1870. The difference in the receipts of other items are immaterial, and ate not considered \by him to require any comment. He concludes this summary of the figures by stating that, in addition to the local revenue collected, the aum of £7500 (advanced by the General Government on the security of the released sinking funds on the Canterbury Loans) has materially assisted in reducing the liabilities of the County, which, beyond the amount owing to the Bank on the Ist of January, 1872— ; £6281 4* 2d— -are of no import. To this 'Statement of the affairs of the County are supplemented several suggestions as to ! details in connection with the County accounts, the preparation of the Estimates, and the system of procuring teni ders for supplies; and, finally, the Auditor

makes favorable notice of the new system of granting orders for such supplies, and the attention given to the provisions of the "County Amendment Act, 1869 "— matters which are of more immediate interest to the heads of departments than they are to those for whom, at the llsk of some dx r reading, we have quoted the foregoing figures.