THE WELLINGTON CITY COUNCIL.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 229, 29 January 1876, Page 10

THE WELLINGTON CITY COUNCIL.

(From the New Zealand Times.) We have received a printed of " statements of the accounts of the Wel- " lington City Council on the 30th Sep- " tember, 1875." These accounts are unaudited, for the reasons stated by the auditors in their report already published in our paper. The auditors' report, together with the report of the special audit, committee of the City Council, approved of and adopted by that body on the 6th of January, is likewise printed with the statements of accounts ; and a note, without signature, closes them in these words: " The books of the Council '' will hereafter be kept by double-entry, "in accordance with the recommendation "of the auditors." Now we cannot help expressing our regret that something like a trial balance-sheet was not prepared by order of the Council. It would have been informal, no doubt, but it would have assistedthe ratepayers to understand the disjointed mass of figures which have been presented to them as the result of the past year's transactions. We do not pretend to be able to do what the auditors professed their inability to accomplish, but we think we can assist the public to something like an approximate idea of the financial position of the Corporation of Wellington, as disclosed by the accounts before us. There are four accounts, - - general, waterworks, wharf, and reclaimed land, —and under their respective headings the items of income and expenditure are printed. On the general account we have these results disclos.d : Year ended September 30, 1875. Receipts £7931 10 11 Borrowed from wharf account 2456 10 6 Bank overdraft .. . • 9306 7 5 Expenditure .. ..£16,501 2 0 Bank overdraft, Ist Oct.. 1574 3,133 6 10

It therefore would appear that during the financial year, ended September 30, 1874, the Wellington City Council went into debt £8629 lis. Id. on the general account. The overdraft at the bank was increased by £6173 os. 7d., and £2456 10s. 6d. was borrowed from the wharf account, being the balance to credit of that account at the close of the year. Of the expenditure, £547 10s. 2d. was interest paid on bank overdraft, and £1579 12s. for salaries. As this last included the salaries of all the administrative officers, together with those of valuator, auditors and assessors, it does not appear large. Indeed, we should say, for the work necessarily done it is too small by a great deal, and will not at all bear comparison with the money paid for similar services in Dunedin, Christchurch, or Auckland. For the other items of expenditure we refer our readers to the detailed statement. The statement of assets and liabilities of the general account shows a debit balance of £6901 12s. 3d., but as only about £IOOO of the estimated assets appears to us to be realisable, this statement may be set aside. Of course, it is something to know that the city possesses a certain quantity of plant which is estimated to be worth so much money. Beyond this the statement is practically valueless. The liabilities at the close of the year, including bank overdraft, but excluding debt to wharf account, was £10,271 ss. 3d. If the wharf account be credited with its balance, the total liability at the close of the year, on the general or city account, would be £12,727 15s. 9d. From this, as we have already said, about £IOOO available assets may be deducted. The auditors disallow " assets and " liabilities general account, waterworks 11 account, and profit and loss waterworks " account," for being incorrectly drawn and because they do not balance. Seeing that the waterworks account current for the year is blended with the capital account, this is not to be wondered at. The receipts and expenditure on the waterworks account current for the past year show a profit of £687 ss. 5d., not ss. 4d., as per printed statement of profit and loss. It is only one penny out, but it is as well to give the waterworks the benefit of it. The Council appears to have consolidated its waterworks debt by borrowing from the bank and paying off its liability to the Wellington" Trust, Loan, and Investment Company. The bank overdraft on waterworks capital account now stands at £33,434 3s. 4d. An expenditure of £3336 7s. Id. was carried to capital account last year. Looking at the statement of assets and liabilities, we find a considerable discrepancy between the account for 1874 and the same account for 1875, in the item ei estimated value " of waterworks, or amount spent on " capital account to 30th September, " 1875." The following abstract will show what we mean : Estimated value, September 30, 1574, as per annual accounts .. .. £27,C09 17 5 Expenditure, capital account, 1575, as per ditto 3,336 7 1 Total value .. .. 30,946 4 9 Estimated value, Sept. 30, 1575, as per accounts ..35,967 18 9 L'nexplained balance £5,021 14 3

We have no doubt this discrepancy is susceptible of explanation, but it is not apparent on the face of the accounts before us. Arrears of water-rate for 1875 footed up £1025 17s. sd. ; outstanding rates for 1874, £32 4s. The wharf account shows a credit balance. Thus : Receipts £6575 8 4 Expenditure 4118 17 10 Credit balance .. £2456 10 6 Contrasting the harbor revenue of Wellington with that of Auckland, it must be apparent that a change of system here is urgently needed. The "rent" of Wellington wharf, stores, &c, amounted last year to £6556 13s. 4d. There are some trifling items of revenue belonging to the harbor which have gone to the general account. Taken altogether, however, the income from the port and harbor, inclusive of dues paid into the Provincial Treasury is not nearly so beneficial to the public as it might be under a Harbour Board, as at Auckland and Dunedin. We shall illustrate our meaning from the accounts now before us : Wellington Harbor, 1875. Rent, wharf account .. .. £6556 13 4

.We epiote these figures in detail as showing approximately what revenue might be derived from the port and harbor of Wellington if the sole control was given to a Harbor Board. Its valuable endowment would not be permitted to remain useless, and its wharf and surroundings would pay the public very much better than at present. Anyhow the wharf account shows a credit balance of £2456 10s. 6d. on the past year, which the City Councillors calmly transfer to the general account, excluding it from their statement of assets and liabilities on that account.

Fortunately for all parties the reclaimed land account is exceedingly simple. The rent amounted to £2071 12s. lid., and was paid into the public account of the colony, in accordance with law, to meet interest on the colonial advance. The cost of collecting these rents would appear to be charged to some other account, or else, unlike all other rents, they cost nothing to collect. We fear we have wearied the patience of our readers in presenting this summary of the city accounts, but the large questions involved must be our excuse. In conclusion, we must again express our regret that the City Council should have issued the accounts in their present shape.

The members of the City Council have endorsed at their meeting on Friday the appointment by a committee of the whole of a wharfinger. We condemned that appointment, and we now condemn its endorsation. We have known acts of a committee formed of a whole Council, of far more importance than that of Wellington, upset by the members in Council assembled. Therefore, it is idle to talk of stultification unless the Council adopted the committee's report. However, the matter has now got beyond external influence for the present, and Mr. Reeves is wharfinger ; so that it will be no use to reiterate the very excellent reasons why Mr Reeves should not have received his appointment. Indeed Mr. Reeves' letter of application for the office would seem to show that he was predestined for it, since he calmly suggested the subordinates whom he would like to have chosen. There is a cut-and-dried appearance about the whole thing that we do not like* and that we are pretty sure the public will not like. And this brings us to another aspect of the question. Councillor George was good enough yesterday to remark that in reference to this question : " He did not care " what the Press said. The Press knew " nothing of business, and was simply " influenced by a desire to get popular " applause. It was led by popular " clamor, and its opinion was quite un- " worthy of attention in such a matter." Now, it so happens that on the question of the appointment of Mr. Reeves the Press of the city is unanimous. The opinions put forward by us yesterday were also enunciated yesterday evening by both our contemporaries at greater length and, it may'be, with greater force. It may be fairly said that in this case the Press does represent the public. But Councillor George is one of those gentlemen so ineffably satisfied with his own opinions that he is blind to the contempt in which they are held by sensible men, and considers that all who differ from him must of necessity be animated by motives beneath contempt. We really do not

need to argue this point with Councillor George. His remarks about the Press, when we consider what the man, as a public man, is, are not deserving of notice. We are unaware of a single claim that he has to speak of what is right or wrong in public affairs. His qualifications in this respect are of the smallest. He is a very elegant secretary to the gas works ; he is accidentally a member of the City Council. He speaks of the Press in a stylo which combines the refinement of a simulated gentility with the forcibleness of a ganger. His words have no weight, and may be permitted to pass.

General account — Weighbridge .. -. £87 15 0 Boat license .. ■. 8 S 0 Boalmen .. .. .. 0 8 0 06 11 0 £0653 4 4 Aucklakd Harbor, . 1875. Wharf tolls £2127 0 0 Do. license fees 172 10 0 Goods wharfage 5933 17 10 Export do. 414 6 8 Shipping do. 1458 9 2 Watermen's license fees 18 0 0 Harbormaster's fees 170 16 0 Harbor dues 137 0 10 Pilot do 1637 9 0 Crane do. 81 1 6 Gridiron do 85 10 0 Fines breaches of regulations 23 8 0 Fender fees 25 1 0 £12,284 10 0