THE BUDGET.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 34, 16 September 1871, Page 14

THE BUDGET.

(Independent, September 15.)

Retrenchment is generally the motto of an Opposition; and if, through the vigor of its battle cry and the force of ' the bright promises of its leaders, that Opposition should change its position and become the Government, then the promises generally prove fallacious, and the retrenchment vanishes into the airy nothing whence the cry arose. Singularly fertile is the genius of some political gentlemen whose expansive imaginations can supply all the facts that prudence and experience ultimately discover to be but misleading fictions. Nevertheless, frequently great, though rarely lasting, is the force of figures and figurative facts if they are propounded with that grave assurance which sometimes can pass for conviction. Many members will recollect the delusive visions of hope which the Hon Mr Stafford produced from the phantasmagoria of his interior consciousness when, exactly six years ago, he promised to a listening and credulous country a retrenchment of £300,000 on the estimates of the Weld Ministry. Dazzled by such a brilliant prospect, the people and the parliament took to their bosom and to office the stalwart promiser, and then—looked in vain for the prophesied saving, the promised retrenchment. With that unsurpassed power of assertion which marks Mr Stafford's parliamentary oratory, he affirmed, but never attempted to show, that this money had been saved ; and to this day the people have never seen how or wherein it was saved ; but all believe it to have gone to the limbo of broken promises and political cajoleries. Of course, though that is the usual practice of an Opposition, it can hardly be repeated by the same persons with much hope of success. Still it is not singular to find attempts of the kind made, for, after all, retrenchment is the best arrow in an Opposition quiver. It is rarely flown by the Government. There is the usual stereotyped phrase in the opening speech that the estimates for the year have been prepared with " a strict regard to economy ;" but we all know that that does not amount to a policy of retrenchment. The present Ministry is probably the first New Zealand Ministry who, as Mr Vogel put it, have brought down a retrenchment budget. Tn this instance the Ministry have really stolen the cry of the Opposition, and have, moreover, given evidence that that cry will not be a voice and nothing more. A few of the figures, as jotted down from Mr Vogel's lips as he delivered his statememt, will be useful and instructive, and will help to tell their own tale. We throw these into a tabular form, adding several calculations, show ing more plainly the results of the comparisons. The first table shows the estimated and actual revenue for the year 1870-71, with the difference between them :

Totals £1,051,050 £935,364 £116,135 This shows the large deficit on the year of £116,000. Comparing this deficit, as estimated with the actual falling off in the revenue as between the two years, we find the following result :—■

There has thus been a decrease, as Mr Vogel said, in the actual receipts, of £82,995,' or, roundly, of ten per cent, instead of a slight increase, as was anticipated at the beginning of the year. This decrease has unquestionably occurred from causes which the Ministry could not foresee, and to which some allusion was made here yesterday morning ; namely, the falling off in the price of wool, the consequent diminished amount of means in the hands of the people, the comparative stoppage of immigration, due to two causes—the flagging of provincial authorities and

the temporary loss of repute of New Zealand ; in short, poverty and Poverty Bay were great elements in reducing our Customs duties. Both evils are gradually being remedied; wool has risen and is rising ; flax is growing a regular staple ; our goldfields are recovering, and much gold country yet remains to be discovered. The native troubles, thanks to "good and safe" and wise management —nickname it as the war party may—are practically overcome, and the people of England are understanding the fact, and will still further recognise it when the proper immigration arrangements are made, and the true state of the country fully comprehended. It may be useful here to remind those who, w : th more vigor than prudence, have chosen to depreciate the financial efforts of Mr Vogel in London, that a comparison of New Zealand debentures with those of New South Wales or any other Australian colony, is a comparison unjust to New Zealand unless all the elements of difference are carefully taken into account. And the great difference in our financial value in the market is the legacy of the early war, and that left by that same Poverty Bay. Those who, with a view of depreciating the work of the ColonialTreasurer,omit these factors from their calculations, simply lay themselves open to contradiction from unassailable facts.

So much for the revenue, its decline and the principal causes of that decline. We come now to the expenditure. But first, it would be well to observe that although there are now some cheering evidences and some actual experience of growing improvement in the trade of the current year, the Colonial Treasurer has wisely not based any calculations of increased funds on that contingency. His estimates of revenue for the current year he has considerably reduced. Taking all available funds for the past year, and comparing them with the actual expenditure and liabilities, the results are as shown in the subjoined figures : Ordinary revenue, 1870-71 ••• £935,364 Add Sinking Fund released ... 5,384 Treasury Bills 50,000 Receipts to credit of votes ..• 25,073 Transfer from special fund ... 20,293 £1,036,081 Add amount of balance from previous year ... ... ••• 76,774 Making a total of £1,112,855 Expenditure 1870-71. Colonial charges ...£420,204 Unauthorised expenditure p ~. 34,767 Paid provinces for capitation and Road Boards 561,375 Excess of provincial charges over capitation during June 13,019 1,029,367 Interest on sinking fund paid in London to June 15th, on account of 1870-71 101,230 Total expenditure 1,130,597 Deficiency •■• £17,742 To this deficiency there fall to be added the further liabilities and engagements for the year, thus : Deficiency as above ... ••• £17,7*2 Treasury bills 50,000 Reserve account 1870-71 40,337 Miscellaneous 39,437 £147,516 Deduct account recoverable in respect of expenditure before 13th June ... 70,604 Total deficit £76,912 Add overdraft of £60,000, and the total deficiency will be £36,000. In the matter of the reserve account Mr Vogel promised to lay particulars on the table. Turning to the proposed expenditure for the current year, which Mr Vogel told the House would exhibit " astonishing reductions," we find that there are praiseworthy reductions, the announcement of which drew plaudits in a full Assembly from both sides of the House. Here are the items as jotted down from the Treasurer's speech, subject, it may be, to some slight correction when the authorised statement comes to be published. It must be borne in mind that Mr Vogel proposes to deal with the deficiency of £136,000 by spreading it over three years at the rate of 46,000 Z a year :

Last year the estimated expenditure, including road board allowances, was £1,084,000. This year, including an additional £50,000 to road boards, £40,000 of new expenditure (being the moiety of stamp duties to be applied to public works), and the £46,000 as a third of the deficiency of last year, making a total of what may be termed " extras" of £136,000. The proposed expenditure is nevertheless £101,548 less than that estimated last year. One more table, and we must leave the subject for the present. The following figures show the actual expenditure for 1870-71, compared with the estimated expenditure for 1871-72, exclusive of civil list and permanent charges :

This shows a net saving of £50,375 on these items alone. The budget sheet is a successful statement, creditable at once to Mr Vogel and to the Ministry, and satisfying a large numher of members who were waiting for the proposals of the Government. There may be and likely will be some alterations in details. Jt may be questioned whether there is at this moment a necessity for doubling the grant to road boards ; and one or two other items may perchance be altered. But as a whole the statement and its proposals are clear, definite, and statesmanlike, and the best proof of this is the credit which on all hands the Ministry has received.

Death of a Maori Prisoner.—One of the Maori prisoners, named Kireona, died in the Dunedin Hospital at 6 o'clock on the morning of the 6th inst, from bronchitis and glands of the neck. He was undergoing a sentence of three years' penal servitude for high treason. He was about 70 years of age, and leaves a wife at Wanganui. He belonged to the Wesleyan persuasion. Xireona was the hereditary chief of the Pakahohe hapu, but was supplanted by Tauroa, one of his fellow-prisoners in consequence of the latter's superior intelligence. Touroa visited him in the Hospital Morgue on Saturday evening. The Eev. Mr Eeid. Wesleyan minister, attended at the Hospital and celebrated the burial service in the Maori language. Attempted Suicide. —Last week a man named Stephen Carter was found in Cassidy's stables, Hokitika, with his throat partially cut, and a razor by his side. He was removed to the hospital. He had been in the local lunatic asylum two years ago, but had not lately shown symptoms of insanity. Maori Dictionary.—" A Dictionary of the New Zealand Language," by the Eight Eev. W. Williams, D.C.L., has been published. The work was printed in Germany, without the supervision of the author, and it is admitted that " a deplorable number of typographical errors disfigures its pages." It is referred to, however, as an excellent compilation, and, notwithstanding its faults, as the most valuable book of the kind yet published. Negretti Sheep.—Mr Green, of the Sands, Nelson, has imported a number of pure Negretti ewes and rams. They were bred by James Smith, Esq., of Grenfield Station, Otago, an old Nelson colonist. The Eev. Mr Neville. —We observe from the Sydney papers that the Eev. Mr Neville, the minister elect of Christ Church, Wanganui, was as far as Sydney, en route from Queensland for Wanganui, on the 25th August. Port Chalmers Tunnel.—-The work of excavating the Port Chalmers Eailway tunnel, which has-been for some time stopped, has been resumed. It is expected, should fine weather prevail, that the tunnel will be finished in two months and a half. The work is to be carried on night and day.

Year 1870-71. Heads Estimated. Actual. Difference of revenue. £ £ £ Customs ... 810,000 732,130 77,870 Warehouses... 4500 4,229 221 Stamps ... 77,000 55,621 21,379 Postal ... 52,000 43,086 8,914 Telegraph ... 25,000 22,545 2,455 Miscellaneous 90,000 77,751 12,249

Actual Revenue. 1869 70. 1870-71. Customs ... £808,418 £723,130 Warehouses 4,607 4,229 Stamps Post Office 62,410 47,883 55,621 43,08S Telegraph 17,473 22,545 Miscellaneous 77,566 77,701 £1,018.360 £9335,364

Civil List ... ... ... . ,.. £27,500 Permanent Charges ,., 321,269 Do Provinces ,.. 182,062 Public Domains and Buildings 2,550 Public Departments ,.. 62,115 Law and Justice ... 40,303 Postal, &c ... 116,631

Do Provincial ... ... ... . 24,200 Customs ... ... , 48,136 Native ... - ... . 24,233 Miscellaneous ... . 27,208 Militia and Volunteers , 28,398 £698,342 Capitation Charges £192,195 Special Allowances — Westland 1,919 Auckland 1,500 Taranaki 250 Wellington 750 Hawke's Bay ... 1,500 £198,114 £896,456 Add moiety of Stamps to be paid for public works .. £50,000 Add one third deficiency of last year 46,000 £984.456

Actual Estimated Exp. 70-71. Exp. 70-71. Public Domain ... 2,800 2,550 Public departments 44,533 62,115 Law and Justice... 60,886 40,303 Postal 140,949 140,831 Customs ... 56,617 48,136 Native 34,324 24,233 Miscellaneous 49,510 27,208 Militia, Volunteers 34,527 28,393 Totals ... 424,147 373,772