THE FINANCIAL STATEMENT.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XI, Issue 173, 13 July 1876, Page 2

THE FINANCIAL STATEMENT.

No. 11. [COHMUSIICATBD.] Since the previous article was written we have had the opportunity of perusing the full report of the Pr* miet's Financial Statement, and although it hib failed to convince us of the existence of a surplus for last year, and still less of a Burplus for this, it has completely ctnnged our previous opinion of the character of Sir Julius Yogel. Iv common with most other people we had an idea that he was an able, energetic, and clear-sighted man; according lo Mr Waterhouse, somewhat domineering over his colleagues, evßn when nominally a subordinate member of the Ministry, a man of great intellectual vigor, acute in his perceptions, audacious in his plans, b il 1 and persevering in their execution. But his Financial Statement reveals him in a new light, and a much more amiable charactt r. Look, for example, at the way in which ha speaks of a wicked practice, of which, uppatently, hi only heard on his recent visit to Europe—" log rolling." We put it, as lie does, in inverted commas, to stiow how new and strange the phrass is in New Zraland "Mr O'Rorke," says the Premier Bolemuly, "ldreided doing away with the provinces because I thought we should have to sit here in judgment on local works, and that gradually we should find creeping upon us the demorali-ing Bystem of mutuil compromise called by t'>e Americans ' log-rolling.' " Ol sancta simplicitasl Can anything be more touching! To think that Sir Julius Yogel who has been a member of tbe Otago Provincial Council, and of the House of Representatives for so many years, should " dread " as a p .ssible future occurrence that we should find creeping upon us the system of logrolling. It is clear that he never knew an instance of anything of the kind in his life. Sweet innocent! One can almost see the blush of outraged modesty mantling his marble brow if he were told that such things have been known even in immaculate New Zealand, and tbat the "system of mutual compromise," as he delicately terms it, is not quite unknown in the classic precincts of the Provincial Buildings, Dunedin, or even in the Gothic lobbies of the House of Representatives, Wellington. Then, again, in apologising for making the J manual Statement before the accounts |or

the year are complete, thus necessifatir.£ those numerous and very serious errors we eh ill presently point out, he siye: — s> I once before produce 1 ihe Budget umier similar circumstances, and the difficulties it cntnili d on me were such that I think I told the Committee that I would not agaiu be tempted to the task," But yet he was tempted, and Ikg his names ike Julia in Don Juau he yielded to the temptation. As the Prime Minister has probab'y never read such a naughty bojk as Don Juan, we will quote the stanza just alteriog the feminiue to the masculine to suit the occasion: — '• And Julius' roice was lost, except in sighg, Until too late for useful conversation; The tears were gushing from his gentle eyes, (I wish, in-leed, thoy had not had occasion;) But who, alas, can lore and then be wiee? Not that remorse did not oppose temptation; A little still he strove, and much repented, And whispering " I will ne'er consent "— consented." Such a pity it is that this soft amiability of character led him into the mischiet of yielding. For if he had only resolved to resist those artful designing people who have been " tempting " him, and had taken mire time in the preparation of his Budget, he would sorely htve discovered that £10,132 178 lid plua £23,327 9s 8d amount to £33,4fi0 6s 9d, and not to £20,000. Yet at p*ge7of the Financial Statement, he puts down as the net expenditure of the Railway Stores account £20,000, while if he had consuite! thit interesting periodical the New Zea'and Gazette, p.p. 45 and 341 of this year ha would have found that the expenditure of the Railway Stores account "fop the quitter ending December 25, 1875, is set down as £23,327 9jB.J, and for the quarter ending 31st March, 1876, it is £10,132 7s lid, making a total, as stated above, of rather more than thirteen thousand pounds beyond the amount stated by Sir Julius. Now, as the writer of the papers on " The Financial Condition of the Colony " pointed out, these Etilway Stores were not set out ia the Eatimites under a separate heading— they were included, as they ought to be, under the general expenditure of Railways. But here again the innocent simplicity of the Premier's character shows itself. He evidently c >nsiders that railways are like the toy-irains of children, that they only want a shove behind, and they will go on of themselves without such superfluous articles as coals and oil. No doubt he has been told this by that deep, designing man, the Commissioner of Kailways, and he implicitly believes it. The items included under the heading " Stores " are as follows:— Maintenance of way Fuel and water supply Oil, tillow, and other stores Locomotive repairs Carriage and waggon repairs Fuel, lighting, and general stores Printing, stationery, and tickets Contingencies (sweet item that ! ) Now, when we find a man calmly telling the Colony that the Railways show % aurp'us of expenditure over income, when all these items of expenditure, to the amount of £33,000 are omitted, we feel that he is ioo good and pare for this wicked world. The revenue from Railways was, according to pjge 8 of the financial Statement, £57 459 The expenditure was (page 7) ... 50,160 Balance... „. , £?,';99 This may be deducted from the total expenditure on Stores £33 460 7,299 £28,161 Showing a net loss on tho working expenses, nothing being allowed for interest on capita', of more than twenty-six thousand pounds, or something very like 50 per cent on the revenue. Wow this is not a cheering prospect, and it would not encourage English capitalists to lend us money to mike more railways; but we feel sure that when Sir Julius Vogel finds how geoßsly he has bet n deceived, he will immediately telegraph to England the true figures— that the receipts were £57,459, and the expenses £83.82n. How he must regret that the Cable is broken, and that the intelligence may not reach England in time ! Then, again, Sir Julius eavs (p. 3):— "If hoa. members will tura to Table G accompanying the financial Statement made by my lion, colleague la«t session, they will find the credit balances of the Immigration and Public Works Loan, and General Purposes Loan, set down eb £2,187,088 11s 8d and £67,0-52 8s 4d respectively. These sums added together make a total of £2,254,151 ;' and then the Premier goes on to siy» with an airy grace peculiarly his own when dealing with iarge sums, "from which I wiil deduct £1.050,000, the amount of drafts on the Loan Agents outstanding on the 30th June, 1875 (which drafts, I may state in passing, have all beon retired), and commence ray statement of the Public Works account with the balance of £1,204,151 then remaining." This is certainly an easy way of disppa : ng of a million at-rling in a parenthesis, but we will take the liberty of examining into this a little more minutely. Without losing ourselves in Table G, let us see what the Hon. Major Atki> son says abont this trifle. At p. Bof his Financial Statement he says : — " The co'ony has a balance of cash amounting to £2,167,896 8s 7d yet to expend, subject of courss to outstanding liabilities, made up as follows : — Then he gives the items, headed " Amount raised, but not expended." Now did the phrase " outstanding liabilities," include the sum <f £1,050,000 sterling? If so, was this a fair and proper Statement ? Would any priva e persou be considered us speaking tie truth if he said, " I borrowed last year £4000 ; of this I have a balance in cash at my Bankers of £2,167 yet to expend, subject, of course, to outstanding liabili iea," when hs knew all the time that bills actually due at the time, and which must in due course have been presented for payment, had reduced that balance by & thousand pounds ? Is this the way ia which the finances of the colony are to be laid before the representatives of the taxpayers ? Is it fair, or ju«t, or honourable, to deal thus either with the taxpayers or thtir creditors? Can i uch r course of conduct adopted by New Zealand's foremost public men, and condoned as it is by a corrupted pub'ic opinion, lead to anything but bankruptcy and disgrace ? Is this what New Zealand has fallen to — a colony which was formed on the highest principles and launched into existence with the loftiest hopes and noblest aspirations ? Is ehe to degrade h<rself to the level of Pan or Venezuela, and find her name a bye word of i scorn and contempt on every Stock Exchange in Europe, and the object of anger, indipnation, and reproach in the Mother Country? But this is not all, nor the worst. Again, Sir Ju'ius Vogel stands up before the representatives of the people and asserts that U e interest of the loans is paid out of revenue and not out of loan, when the accounts of the co!o:iy, published in its own official Gazette, show as plainly ai figures can show that the interests has been and must be paid out of loan. With a Customs' revenue of £1,200,000 annually, how can we possibly pay more than a million of interest ? Everyone knows that the Customs are the principal source of our revenue, and that the others are merely auxiliary and for the most part swallowed up by the departments from which they proceed. Look at the Postal and Telegraphic department — receipts, £ 1 56,200 ; expenditure, £217,461— a loss of sixty thousand poundf. And this docs not include the money paid from loan for telegraphs and post offices, amounting to £37,000 ra ra. But we have already reached the limits marked out for us, and can only beg that any ( member of the House of Representatives who

rray read this paper will look closely into the ac ounts, and refuse any money vote until iud and clear statements of leveuua and expenditure are laid before the House