THE FINANCIAL CONDITION OF THE COLONY.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XI, Issue 137, 1 June 1876, Page 2

THE FINANCIAL CONDITION OF THE COLONY.

[Communicated.] Everybody talks about the political crisis that is impending in New Zealand, but few realise the nature of the criois. The abolition of the provinces occupies the thought* of the public to the exclusion of tint far more burnin;; questi >n — that question which must and will force i:self on our &t tent ion in the course of a few weeks — the money question. We owed in round numbers on the 30th June, 1875, more than seventeen and a half millions sterling, since increased; we have to pay out; of the colony a sum of a million sterling annually as interest; we have to provide •bt sides for the most expensive civil service in the world in proportion . to population; and we have a costly force of miitia, volunteers, and Armed Constabulary to maintain. How is it all to be done? 7he revenue is falling off. instead of increasing, the impetus given t.> commerce an! industry by the large expenditure on public works must soon cease, our productions have not increased in anything like the ratio of our expenses, we shall aeon find ours Ives for the first time in our history as a colony with no European money to spend, and the question of all questions is what shall we do? ' The subject is perhaps of les* practical importance to Nelson than to any other province ia New Zealand, and can therefore be discussed in the columns of a Nelson paper more faitly, more impartially, and above all more frankly, than in papers published in those provinces which are moTe populous and more Wf alihy. Par as Nelson Ins had but little share of the extravagant expenditure of the last three or four yeaia, as she has has not seen any of that extra-

ordinary fluctuat'on in the vain* of property, or that wild spirit of .speculation 'which has prevailed in the so-called " flourishing" and ■" advanced " and '• energeth " cities of New Zealand, so, she has but little to lose. Of some of our cities it may be said, to parody a famous sayipg,4hat.M«CVogel onhla 'accrs^on; to'powe'* found theni wood, and; left them' 'stone and brick, but if Nelson is only wood, yet she may thank her happy fate, th .t her citizens can sleep quietly in their beds without being alarmed by the sound of the firebell two or three times a week, and that there are ndt more '"' batikruptcie* and compositions with creditors : among her trading class than there are in England. Otago is generally considervd by its inhabitants ns in every respect superior to any part of Great Britain or any other place in the world, but it has never yet boasted of its proud preeminence in respect to its Gazette, that it contains more more bankrupts than the London Gazette. Although Nelson will enjoy a comparative immunity from the commercial depression, which will f o'low the inflated expenditure of the last three or four yetrs, yfeit she must partake to sirae extent in- the prosperity or. misfortunes of the colony. ; It ii well, therefore.ito ook the financial condition fairly and fully in the face. It is uieless to attempt to conceal the facts of the case, or to imagine that by blinding ourselves to the danger of the position we en save burselves from it. Briefly then, we have a population of,, we may say, 850,000. inhabiting a country which would support with comfort ten times the number. The climate of this island it good, and for the moit part it is not incompatible with the ponnr'asinn of as much inte'lectual and bodily vigot by its inhabitants as they would possess in Groat Britain. Whether the North Island hny not ultimately be found to become the habitation of a native race which will hot be more Industrious or energetic than the Italians or Spaniards is a qtiestion which another generation wilt decide. The soil and climate of this colony are fairly good, but there is nothing in New Zealand to compete with the rich lands of North America, and we may put aside as completely visionary any idea of rivalling America or Australia in the production of breadstuff's. The first harves's from a virgin soil may possibly pay to \ export, but after a while, when manure and careful cultivation become necessary, distance and. the price of labor will handicap us too, heavily. We <• have some minerals, but none, except possibly some Bilver mines, that at present will piy ;for working. Wo can export wool and 'flax and kauri gum, and that is about all, except gold, which costs more than its value. This is not the rose-co'ored description tv be found in New Zealand handbooks and immigration agent's lectures, but we are not now touting for immigrants, so possibiy we may be permitted to tell the truth. We have never yet, as a colony j lived ; without the introduction of money from Europe; we have never yet lived on our own products. First there was the Imperial expenditure on th* troops, then on the war, lastly loans for defenc? and "general purposes"— (delightfully elastic term I) New Zealand has, ever since she existed as a colony, been in part dependen't on the Introduction! of European capital. To what an enormous extent this expenditure must have contributed to the enriching of the mercantile .and landed interests may be thown from one fact ' The disbursements and transfers in the last financial year (1874-5). for ; which t'-.e accounts are publiahej, amounted, . according to table 9, page 28, of the Financial Statement made by the Colonial Treasurer, to nni less a sum thin £9,472,096 18s 7d (nine mi'lions. four hundred and seventy-two thou- : aahd and ninety- six pound*, nineteen shillings = and seven pence). A .certain part of this consisted of transfers from one account to another— a system about which we shall have a few words to say In a future paper — but. «»ven deducting these, the total expenditure cf the colony was over eight millions sterling. [to be continued.]