Financial Position of the Colony.

Manawatu Herald, 11 April 1903, Page 2

Financial Position of the Colony.

Prior to the banquet tendered to Mr R. McNab, M.H R. at Gore on April 4, Mr Seddon addressed a crowded public meeting. Sir Joseph Ward and several members of the Legislature were present, Mr Seddon said the financial position of the colony was never so good Compared with last year some figures of the revenue for the year just ended were: —Customs, 1902 £2,334,000, 1901 £2,200,000 ; railways, £1,960,000 against £l,860,000; stamps, £976,000 against £908,000; land and income tax, £497,000 against £491,000; beer duty, £90,300 against £90,234 ; registration and other fees, £78,000 against £31,436 ; miscellaneous, £130,000 against £133,700; territorial revenue, £230,000, against £249,619—a total comparative approximate improvement on last year of £275,430. The approximate surplus of receipts over estimates was—-Customs £114,000, railways, £85,000, stamps £78,000, land and income tax £12,000, registration and other fees £Bsoo,'marine £I9OO, miscellaneous £5,000 — a total over estimates of £302,500. He was unable at present to give the actual expenditure, but the figures given showed he had not been far wrong in estimating the surplus at between £250,003 and £300,000. The imports for tha year just ended were £11,484,000 and the exports £15,003,000, a record for the colony. He was delighted to find this hand some sar P" s which, after paying interest on the public and private indebtedness left a margin of cash to come into the colony as the result of trade with the outer world. Last year when the margin of exports over imports would not do this, critics had assailed the position of the colony. L'-'b them now do justice when the tables were turned. Our trade was distributed for the year, ended December 31st, 1902, as follows : Imports—From United Kingdom, £6,851,452 ; from America, £1,821,056; from elsewhere, £3,143,315, total, £11,376,723 Exports—To United Kingdom, £9,450,648; to Australia £2,684,350; to South Africa, £754,050; to elsewhere, £755,920; total, £13,644,977. In 1895 our imports from America were £400,000, now they were £l,321,965 He believed we should get all we could from the Mother Country.