The Lyttelton Times. Saturday, November 28.

Lyttelton Times, Volume VIII, Issue 529, 28 November 1857, Page 4

The Lyttelton Times. Saturday, November 28.

From the two quarterly statements of the Provincial Treasurer's accounts which appeared in the Gazette of the 25th Nov., we gather several items of information as to the financial position of the province, calculated to place our resources in a very favorable light.

From the Ist April to the 30th Sept., the gross receipts from various sources amounted to £20,052 10s. 10d., and the gross expenditure to £19,235 2s. Od. The balance in hand on the Ist of April was £2449 7s. 2d. That carried to the Ist October £3 66 16s. Cd. At this rate we are receiving and spending at the rate of £40,000 per annum, exclusive of any debt or JKjrfrility whatever. The two gceafc. sources of revenue, the Gus-

totn3 Duties and Waste Lands, have become within the last year far more j prolific than they have ever heen. I The share of the gross Customs Duties I coming into the Provincial Treasury, viz., I 3-Bths, amounted during the half-year to I £3,748 2s. 6cL At this rate, the gross Customs Duties would nearly amount to £20,000 a-year. We may add to this statement Tof Customs receipts that the j delared value of exports from the province ! ; for the half-year ending 30th June, ex- j I ceeded that of the whole exports of the I preceding year. The great increase in the Customs re- I ; ceipts is a proof of the increased trade and ! wealth of the settlement; the large receipts in the Land Department not only show in- ! crease of wealth but give most satisfactory | proof of the success of the system of land 1 sales adopted here. At the present moI ment there is scarcely an adult in this proI vmce who is not a landholder. Most of | the sales have been in blocks of from 20 to I 50 acres, bought by bon& fide agricultuj rists; and yet those sales have amounted I during the half year ending 30th Sept. to | £7,114 os. 6d. More than a year has now | elapsed since the inauguration of our new | system of land sales and the incorporation I of the proceeds with Provincial Revenue. ! | It may be interesting to observe what f amount the waste lands has brought us | during- the year from the Ist Oct., when I the system began, to the present time. I For the year ending 30th September the I receipts have been as follows. \ Land Sales ...... ... £15,849 3s. 6d, I Pasturage Licenses... ... 7,074 Bs. 3d. I Timber Cutting Licenses 84 10s. Od. I Forfeited Deposits ... 42 Os. Od. t From the Ist October to the present I time the receipts have exceeded £5000. i So that in 14 months the Waste Lands [ have brought us more than £28,000. I The fees collected in the Resident I Magistrates' Courts at Christchurch, Lyti telton, Kaiapoi and Akaroa, amounted j during the last half-year to £288 4s. sd. | The fees for publicans' licenses to £600, I and for auctioneersMicenses to £320. The i fees taken in the Register Office show as I large an amount of increase in the business I of that department as elsewhere, amounI ting as they do, to £145 4s. ?d. The I receipts on account of immigrants'ibilla I and notes amount only to £828 Bs., out of a very large amount due. We understand ; that these payments do not come in as fast as they should, considering the prosperous state of all classes of the community. \ The heaviest items of expenditure are lon account of public works, education, \ immigration, surveys, and payment of the ! provincial contribution to the General Gov- \ ernment on account of Waste Lands. As to \ the last mentioned charge it will be rel membered that we are to contribute £4000 I pec.annum for thirty years towards extinction of capital and interest of the New | Zealand Company's debt; as the ! condition for getting our land fund withI out drawback. As our land sales j ; have turned out, this has proved a very j good bargain. The quarterly instalments \ Became payable from the Ist July; only i one payment of £1,000 therefore appears j in the last half-year's statement of account, j During that period, we find that£s,s63 ss. ! was spent on public works; £3,942 Bs. Bd. I on immigration; £1,355 12s. on educa- i tion; and £1,649 Is. 4d. on surveys. The ' expenditure on the Survey Department. ought, and is likely to be, much larger.'1 More surveyors are very much wanted to ! to put land purchasers in possession j of their sections; but they are not to be had in the province. We wish some properly ! qualified men would migrate here. Pay- i ments on account of salaries, exclusive of those of officers engaged on public works and surveys, but including those of police, harbour boatmen, &c, amounted during the half-year to £3,030 15s. 4d. The rest of the expenditure is made up of payments on account of a large variety of smaller items, for particulars of which we must refer the curious to the Gazette. i The figures to which we have drawn at- ; tention we think justify us in congratu-• lating the province on its financial prosperity.