The Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 1878.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 191, 9 August 1878, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 1878.

The Financial Statement of the Colonial Treasurer will, we believe, meet with general approval, although some of its details may not give entire satisfaction. There is nothing very startling in the proposals it contains, but some of them will be considered as steps in the right direction. After a few preliminary remarks the Treasurer proceeds to make a statement which at first sight may appear surprising, if not incredible," namely that the actual receipts for the last year had exceeded the estimate by over three-quarters of a million (£7G1,350\ and this in the face of the fact that the surplus of the previous year bad fallen short of what was estimated by £25,000, and that the railways had not realised what was expected from them by £54,000. It must, however, be remembered that the colonialisation of the land fund was proposed and agreed to after the Financial Statement was delivered last year, which accounts for considerably more than twothirds of what at first sight appears so enormous a discrepancy between the estimate and the actual result. The surplus in hand from last year amounts to £120,468, of which it is proposed to set aside £100,000 for the extension of the railway system. It would, we think, be more in accordance with justice and fairness to devote a portion of it to paying the subsidies of which the local governing bodies have been deprived during the past year. The revenue for the current year is estimated at £4,282,505, and the expenditure at £4,193,506, leaving a balance of £88,096 to be scrambled for in Committee on the supplementary estimates. The ad valcrem duties are fonud to be a mistake. Having shown that, while the revenue from every other source had displayed a steady increase, that derived from these duties had actually fallen off between 1875 and 1878, the Treasurer goes on to say:—" We may or may not accept the theory that the different results are only to be accouuted for by a large proportion of f radulent entries at the Custom House for which thead valorem gives superior facility," &c. It is quite clear, however, that Mr Ballance does accept the theory, and it is equally clear that, if he is correct in so doing, the mercantile community of the colony have not much to boast of in the way of honesty. The duties on several articles, including grain and flour, aie to be remitted. The farmers probably will object to this, while the general public will not be beuefitted to any appreciable extent, as the whole of the duty levied last year under these two heads did not amount to six pence per head of the population. The duties on tea aud sugar are to be reduced, on the former twopence, and on the latter a halfpeuny per lb. There is a little " blow " over this, and the very taking term " a free breakfast table " is introduced, only casually, but evidently with a view to effect. There 13 also a reference to the "substantial relief" thus afforded to the " laboring classes." When, however, we come to analyse this " relief " it is deprived of a good deal of the substantiality attributed to it. For instance the vvorkiug man who with his family consumes a pound of tea and six pounds of sugar per week will at the end of the year providing the retail dealer allows him to participate fully in the benefits of the reduction, which is at least open to question — have saved £1 Is Bd. Of course it is well to save even this small sum, but it is not much to boast about. Those who will really derive substantial advantage from the reduction are the large runholders and other employers of labor in the country districts who pay their servants so much a year and their keep. We are glad to see a sensible reduction in the duty on Australian wines, aud should be well pleased to find that the Government could see their way to remitting them altogether as they form a light and pleasant beverage well adapted for use in the New Zealand summer season. A heavier tax is to be imposed upon champagne and wines of that class, which is fair enough, the only question being whether it was worth while to make an alteration that is to result in the addition to the revenue of the paltry sum of £1000. The imposition of a laud tax was looked for, and will, we believe, meet with the approval of a majority of the people, but there was evidently an anticipation of the question being put, Why tax the man who has invested his capital in land, while others who have invested theirs in a different way are to be allowed to go scot free? The Treasurer therefore fortified himself with a reply to this objection by also imposing an iueome tax on Joint Stock Companies. But here another question will arise. Why, if a number of men of moderate means club together to develop a certain industry, should they be taxed, when the man who has sufficient capital to enter upon the same work with his owa

mean? isjjio.rean ke full pMt of .ills inrest^ niehfc? i?oir instance, supposing titafc Mea'srs Guthrie and Larnach had continued to work their factory, they would not have been asked tocontribute to the revenue from their pronts, but the members of the Joint Stock Company to whom they have sold out will be Called Upon to hart .with l\ per cfcht Upon tfie n*t income they derive from this soiircfe. . We have, however, wandered fpom the subject.of the laud tyx,,to which while generally approving of it we,ijee two objections. One is that tE* minimum vaiue of unimproved land is sefc down at XI per acre, and upon this valuation the tax must be paid. In this provincial district there nre thousands of acres taken up that in their original state were not worth a third of that sum, and there are thousands more that are not worth it now. Take; for instance; the pouters Hills. Who would venture to value them tit £1 per floret Tnh cither oWectioh to the liind ta£ .is that wriich is urged with thtic'h rttteb'ti agjrin'st the system of tollgates, namely, the eiiofifJoUs cost of collecting it. Nearly 10 per cent, of trie ; gross proceeds is to be expended upon gathering it .into the Treasury. The beer ta* is oue which' we must leave to the brewers to discuss. They are trie p^rfies principally interested, but as a class they are not wanting in ingenuity, and probably they will devise some means of compelling the public to heip them to bear this additional burden.