FINANCIAL STATEMENT.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume III, Issue 419, 14 October 1876, Page 2

FINANCIAL STATEMENT.

We have not room for the lengthy Statement delivered by the Colonial Treasurer on Monday evening last. The following excerpta will be interesting :— Total ways and means, £1,658,146. Members will observe in this sum that I have not included certain advances, amounting to £256,845, repayable by the provinces. These advances are not an available asset, nor can any large part of them be recovered without taking revenue, which it is now proposed to devote to local uses. Ido not, however, propose to abandon these claims ; they will he charged as a liability against each province, but honorable members will, I think, agree that they should be omitted as an asset from this account. It will be seen that J have included inuiy available balance the proceeds of the one million debentures recently disposed of in London. These debentures, as is shown by papers already in possession of the House, bear interest at five per cent., and have been sold at aud a little above par. 1 have also included the £800,( Xit I of Imperial guaranteed debentures at their nominal value. I do not intend at present to sell these securities, but shall obtain advances upon them as heretofore as occasion may require. Of the available balance of £1,658,146, a large amount is required for works already under contract; and we propose to ask for appropriations to the extent of about tw’o millions, most of which will be required within the year. AVe would gladly ask for a less amount, and my honourable colleague, the Minister for Public Works, will endeavor to restrain the expenditure as far as is compatible with prudence, but considering the urgency aud importance of the works proposed to be executed, we do not think it wise to ask for less than the sum I have mentioned. Hence it will be seen that additional ways and means to the amount iu round numbers of £350,000 will be required to carry on our public works and immigration during the current year. As it is impossible to pass a complete Education Bill this Session, and as it. is now only necessary to provide for the six months, ending on the 30th June next, it has been determined to leave the charge for education, upon the Land Fund, the fees where now payable to the Provincial Governments going in aid of that fund. I hope members wiil approve of this arrangement. The Government desire to see education so far as it is not maintained by endowments, provided for from the Consolidated Revenue, but looking at all the circumstances of the colony, they have come with regret to the conclusion that the cost of education for the present year must be a charge upon the Land Fund. It will be observed that only six, instead of nine months' subsidies, are asked for Municipalities and Road Boards; but as it would be manifestly unfair that these bodies should suffer by the alteration, I propose to ask for authority to charge the other 3 months’ subsidies against the revenue receivable on account of the provinces to the 31st December next. I now'come to the land fund.against which it is proposed to charge interest and sinking fund on provincial loans and liabilities, surveys, and waste lands administration, half subsidies to counties nnd road boards, nnd for the six months, ending 30th June next, education and museums, and one half the maintenance of hospital and charitable institutions. I append tables showing the estimated receipts and charges in each province for six months. The result is not very satisfactory, showing as it does deficiencies in most, of the provinces, amounting altogether to about £145.000, which wiil have to be made good from consolidated revenue. To make good the deficiencies to which I have referred, there will be the surplus of the Consolidated Revenue, and for the balance it will be necessary to issue Treasury Bills, as contemplated in the Abolition Act of last session. This is not to my mind a satisfactory method of finance, but much as I may dislike the method by which I propose that the exigency shall be met, I am encouraged by the conviction that the necessity is but temporary, and that the expedient adopted is justified by the peculiar circumstances of the case. I wish I could inform the committee that it. was unnecessary to ask for further borrowing this year, but that, I regret to say, is practically impossible. It would be so manifestly’ unwise to stop at this juncture the important works now’ approaching completion, that 1 do not hesitate to ask for further funds to continue them. Our proposals are to ask authority to raise £1,000,000 for the following purposes—£3so,ooo additional ways and means to June next; £250,000 to provide for probable contract, and other liabilities of the provinces requiring to be met between December and June next, the actual amount of which I have no means at present of ascertaining, and which I hope I may have over-estimated, and £lOO,OOO for such expenditure as the House may direct between the close of the present year, and the date at. which funds for the continuance of our public works can be provided. AVe have reason to believe that all the funds we shall require can be obtained without having recourse to the open market. I shall next session submit for the consideration oF the House a scheme based upon carefully prepared professional estimates showing definitely, aud in detail, w’hat works are required to complete our railway system, and the cost of such completion, and shall then ask the House to consider the arrangements necessary for completing. The scheme I shall propose is to spread over a series of years the raising and expenditure of the moneys required, and thus to keep the annual charge for interest on the debt within the compass of our growing income. 1