The Southland Times. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1872.

Southland Times, Issue 1628, 3 September 1872, Page 2

The Southland Times. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1872.

The amount of the public debt of the Colony, the annual charge for interest and sinking fund, and the proportion which these sums bear to the present population and resources of the country, are subjects of the greatest interest to all who desire to j form an intelligent opinion regarding | public affairs ; and, it may be added, of the highest importance to every member of the community who possesses what is commonly called a stake in the country, and whose fortunes accordingly are more j or less identified with its future prosperity, or the reverse. Much has been said of late on the subject of New Zealand finance, and opinions of the most opposite kind N have been publicly maintained, by men who ought to be well informed, but little information of a definite character has yet been presented to. the public, and that little has not often been put in such a shape as to be readily available for popular use. Two of our local representatives, for instance, Mr Bell and Mr Caldeb; addressed their constituents not. very long ago. Mr Bell, it will be 1-e---membered, took a hopeful view of affairs; while Mr Caldee mourned over the enormous amount b£ the public debt, and the financial, recklessness of the Govern-: ment. Neither of the speakers, however, attempted to support his position by a compreliensive~and "intelligible ~ statement in figures. Differing in everything else, they agreed iv this, and the consequence was that the audience, in both cases, went away not much wiser than they came. More recently, we have had the financial statement of the Colonial Treasurer,, a telegraphic summary of which appeared in the columns of every paper in "the Colony, our own included, and the report was certainly long enough to have furnished all the information that anyone could desire. But it was so full of errors, whether arising from' carelessness in its compilation or in its transmission by wire we. cannot, say, that for all practical purposes it was absolutely useless, as we pointed out at the time. One item, for instance, of £209,000 paid for interest and sinking fund, out' of .the | Public Works and Immigration Loan, which attracted ; some attention^ and respecting the accuracy of which we expressed a doubt, turns out to have been only £29,000 in the original statement. A copy of the printed statement, received per Phoebe, enables us to make this correction, and to furnish some additional information, not contained in the telegraphic summary. The statement, in its printed form, appears to have been drawn up with remarkable ability and care, as might have been expected from Mr Yogel, whose capacity to deal with figures is acknowledged by his bitterest enemies. Its general scope is sufficiently indicated by the telegraphic summary, the inaccuracies of which appear to be confined to the repetition of figures, a fatal defect of course. Appended tothe statement proper are a series } of ' tables, the bulk of which considerably exceeds that of the original document. I From the se tables, which contain an immense amount of information, very clearly arranged, we .select one, which contains a statement of the Public Debt of the Colony up to the 30th June last, with/the view of placing, its results before our ; readers, in a few round- numbers, which may be easily remembered.; it appears Lhat up to the date named, there

had been issued under the various Loan Acts, debentures to the amount of nearly £0,000,000, representing sums expended by the General Government, in. excess of revenue, during the period which has elapsed since the first establishment of the Colony, to the present time. To this must be added a further sum of £610,000, in Treasury Bills now hi circulation, representing sums spent • in excess of revenue from time to time. The two amounts together come to £6,500,000, which is the total amount of debt which the General Government has incurred' on account of its own proper expenditure. To this we must add. the Provincial debts, taken over under the Consolidated Loan Act, 1867, and subsequent Acts of more special application, including ; certain sums, raised under Provincial Ordinances ia Canterbury and Otago, which have not yet been converted into General Government debentures, but for which the Colony is nevertheless responsible. These come to very nearly £3,500,000 more, bringing the total public debt up to the respectable and easily; remembered-, figure of. £10,000,000; The exact jam ount,#s stated: in the table, is £9,983,341, or about £17,000 less than ten millions. ""From this Bum, .however, itsis proper to deduct the amount ''of sinking fund'which has accrued up to 30th. June, or £576,848, leaving the actual liability of the Colony at £9,406,493, or for the sake of simplicity, £9,400,000 This sum, therefore, we may.aesume represents the amount in which the Colony stands indebted up to the present time, . including the amounts recently raised, and which hiave not yet been expended, but exist in London and elsewhere, to the extent of nearly a million sterling, in the shape of money in the bank. The annual charge on this debt amounts to £616,000 ; of which £510,000 are . for interest, and £106,000 for sinking fund. This annual, charge ought of course, on all sound principles of finance, to be met out of the annual revenue arising from taxation and reproductive; works. It is hardly necessary to say that this has not hitherto been done, and the problem with which the financial reformer who next undertakes our aff.rirs will be confronted, is how it may best and most speedily be so done for the, -future. The. land : fund,, not being properly annual revenue, but rather the expenditure of capital, which .will, by and bye come to an end,, -is^ :noi-.. fairly available for thi3 purpose. The present annual income of the Colony from taxation -and reproductive works may be stated at about £1,000,000, or including Provincial . taxation, rather less than £1,100,000. So that if we are to pay our annual chargeof £616,000 for interest and sinking fund out of our income of £L, 100,000, it is very plain that we will have less than £500,000 left for the ordinary expenses, of Government, which would not be nearly enough for the purpose at our present rate of expenditure. ■ Nor does it appear possible, even to the most sanguine -economists, that our annual outlay can be reduced so as to fall within that sum. . ¥c shall take an .early opportunity ofc're.turnin^ 1 to this subject. ■' - ' i ' i. in i ' . ... V . .'-