Untitled

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 16, Issue 807, 25 July 1870, Page 2

Much has been said and written during the late discussion of the Government scheme, concerning the probability of the judicious expenditure of the loan, supposing it to be raised. It is only fair to presume that the same Ministry that raises the money will have control over its expenditure, and the only criterion we have of their future course of action is to be derived from their past history. If we judge of the probable relation of future results to present estimates, by what has taken place in the past, the prospect is far from re-assming. Mr Yogel himself tells us that there has been a vast discrepancy between the actual accounts of the past year, and his own estimates of them. For instance? the liabilities for the past year were estimated at £230,799 ; but he gives the actual amount at £273,361, — showing an excess of nearly £43,000. This was on an expenditure of one million, and for a period close at hand—the yoar following the estimate. During ten times that period, and dealing with ten times that amount, with far more deficient data on which to build, we can only look for a still greater divergence between what are little better than hap-hazard estimates, and probable results,