WELLINGTON NEWS

Hokitika Guardian, 2 June 1926, Page 4

WELLINGTON NEWS

THE COUNTRY’S FINANCE.

(Special to “ Guardian.”)

WELLINGTON, Wav 31

ft is very difficult, in view of the drastic alterations made in the presentation of accounts, to really get a fair grasp of the country’s balance sheet for the past year. The receipts for the year amounted to £2-1,725,762, and the expenditure to £23,570,053; there was thus a surplus of £1,155.670. There was brought forward from the previous year £1,150,806, and there is now carried forward £1,428,092, so that the actual increase amounts only to £277,286. The principal revenue increase was obtained from Customs and tjie increase amounted to £814,488; Stamp and Death Duties yielded £110,526 more, and Postal and Telegraph £370,853. The Customs revenue amounted to £8,393,876 as compared with £7,500,388 in the previous year. This is the largest single item of revenue and the immediate outlook is endangered because of this. There is no doubt that the country has been over-exporting during the past two years, and has thus over-run the constable. Now it is necessary to curtail imports, and the process has begun. The purchasing power of the people has been greatly reduced owing to the contraction in the exports and to the necessity of providing heavy millions for meeting outside obligations. That trade is not as active as formerly is evidenced by the numerous special sales that are being run by retailers, and also to the increase in the number of empty shops. When the imports shrink the Customs revenue will shrink hut the shrinkage in the current financial year will not he as great as it is likely to lie in the year following. Thus Llic outlook is not as promising as one would like it to he. for it is not the Customs revenue alone that will suffer, but the railway revenue, and the Postal and Telegraph revenue and the receipts from various other Departments must also suffer through the contraction of trade. The railways are credited with having paid £1.913,311 as interest on railway capital liability which is equal to about 4 per cent, on £47.850,000. but for losses on branch railways the Consolidated Fund lias boon drawn upon for £344.829, which rather discounts the payment referred to above. The outlook is distinctly unpromising for besides the shrinkage in revenue the probability is that the expenditure will increase because of unemployment and distress. Of course if the values of our primary products advance the situation would ease considerably, and adjustments would cause neither diffieultv nor inconvenience. THE WOOL MARKET.

The London wool sales which were interrupted by the strike will be resumed on June Ist and it will not he until flie following day that we shall know how the. market re-opened. There is promise that values will he up to the pre-strike level. The latest news from Bradford is to the effect that the quotations for tops arc unchanged and that a little more business was passing, hut users were nervous owing to coal restriction. Supplies of coal are dwindling and the rationing has been made, more severe. The coal strike, however, is likely tr> end at any moment and if it terminates in a day or two the wool market will remain steady. The average price obtained for last season’s clip was £l7 Is 8d per bale, or iust under a shilling per ll>.. while the dip of the previous season made £29 ss, or nearly 20d per lb. This big. drop in price lias nnturnllv set some farmers thinking, and their thoughts, have developed into the belief that n Wool Board on the lines of ike Heat Board would change lhc situation. A Wool Board could not do any more tb-n the Wool Committee is doing now. Wool, unlike butter and cheese and meat, is sold locally, and buyers come here from all consuming centres. A Wool Board could not make these buyers pay a farthing more than the value of the wool on the day of the sale. A Wool Board may be able to arrange freight and insurance, but the same service could ho rendered by the Agricultural Department without any cost to the wool growers. What consumers of wool everywhere want is reasonably priced wool, or wool at the right price, and the right price is the price at which goods move into Ihc possession of the linal consumer. What is needed is the production of a he.tter class or grade of wool. For a long time crossbred wool was regarded as a by-product, mutton and lamb being the main products, but now it is being recognised that wool can be improved without hurting the mutton or lamb.