New Zealand Times (PUBLISHED DAILY.) FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 1877.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 4980, 9 March 1877, Page 4

New Zealand Times (PUBLISHED DAILY.) FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 1877.

Mr. who has just retired from the representation of Wellington in the Parliament of the colony, addressed his constituents last week in company with his fellow representative, Mr. Hunter. The speeches of both gentlemen will be. found reprinted in full in our present issue. That portion of them to which we desire at present specially to draw attention is that part of Mr. Pearce’s utterance in which he fairly met and answered the statements of the Economist (not the Spectator) as a local journalist, in ignorance of any newspaper Press except that under his immediate vision,, asserted). A communication, it may be remembered, appeared in .the Economist, in which, temperately enough it must be admitted, the financial position of Nqw Zealand was unfavorably criticised. Mr. Pearce, it. will be seen, gave actual figures which effectually rebutted the assertions' in the Economist; and we may now be permitted to point out how easily, by taking the returns attached to the last financial statement of the Colonial Treasurer, anyone could at the time the letter was ; written have satisfied himself as to the precise financial position of the colony. In table A. of that statement, the complete indebtedness of the colony was summarised, from which we find that of the General Government was at the time £13,962,810, whilst that of the Provincial Governments was £3,521,951. Of course these sums now form the whole general indebtedness of the colony, with the addition of the sums recently raised, concerning which, however, we will remark presently.. It is well, . however, to note the exact condition of this then total debt of £17,484,761. . Looking again at table A, we find that there-is to, be deducted from it a total of accrued Sinking Fund to • June. 30, ’ 1876, of £1,206,331 14s. 2d., : leaving, the total debt as £16,278,429 ssl lOd. : We are giving the. figures as they stood on the 30th June last, because they would have furnished reliable data for any writer like the one in the Economist. And looking at those figures, it would be found that of the colonial indebtedness £10,718,311 wa,s subject to the operations of a Sinking .Fund, of which £1,127,707 2s. 2d. had accrued,-whilst, with the exception of the North Otago District Public Works Loan, the whole :of the provincial indebtedness was provided for extinction by means of a Sinking Fund. Practically the financial position of the colony has not altered for the worse since the "Financial Statement, and the figures quoted by Mr. Pearce showing the financial condition of New Zealand are sufficient to prove this. But it must be., borne in mind that a large portion of our present indebtedness represents money borrowed in bygone years to be wasted on Maori wars—an indebtedness which the country bore without the develophienl that has" recently blessed it. It was to produce that development that our latestloanswere contracted, andthe expenditure of these has been upon reproductive public works, forming in themselves more than sufficient assets. It is for such a purpose, and such a purpose alone, that in time, to come New Zealand will go into the money market of the world, and this should be Dome in mind by those who venture to 1 criticise our finance. Avery excellent proof of the idea of ohr national financial stability entertained by those who are nearest to us, is shown by the loans recently obtained from the Banks of New South Wales and New Zealand. The former has lent the colony £500,000, and the latter £1,000,000. Both these sums have been obtained at 5 per cent, interest, and not 5£ peri cent.,; as,has been .stated by ignorant parties, and are available for■ future expenditure, being all that New Zealand Will requite for; a few years. A particular point ; in Mr. 1 Pearce’s speech was that in which he repudiated the theory advanced by some people for political purposes that the prosperity of the colony .'really only meant the spending of £10,000,000 in it, and that with a decrease in the, expenditure our prosperity, would disappear. Of course, this is known to be false, inasmuch as the coiintry on every side: gives evidence of the result of the development of its resources by a steady stream of immigration,; and the carrying out of railways, roa'ds, and other public works. Mr. Pearce alluded to one fact, 3iowever, which of itself dispels the cry about otir prosperity merely meaning the transient expenditure of, large sums of public money! He*pointed out. that as a matter of; fact a large amount of the Public Works; and Immigration Loans had never been spent in the colony, but the United Kingdom had got the'benefit of them, His statCmentonthisSubject was a general one,' but we have been careful to reduce it to particdlifs. '3 We find that of the, total - ! fpr T -:'piibUc works and immigration, only £6,8€!6,300 ' (during a period of some six,years, being in reality only equal to.au expenditure of. a little oyer £1,000,000 a year) was spent within the colony, whilst £3,250,000 was spent outside of, it for material .and in! payment of the passages of immigrants. These facts demand careful attention, for 1 they show that ! the present prosperous condition of the country is due to the stimulus' given to its settlement, permanent improvement,; and development by the great policy inaugurated and largely, carried, out by Sir Julius Yooel, and now being prosecuted with diligence and prudence by the present Ministry. W.e might also remark that, supposing the Government expenditure should require to be reduced to the extent of £500,000 per annum, the increase in the value. of our staple article of' export—wool—will more than equal this sum, and thus maintain the expending power of the colony.