THE RETRENCHMENT, SCHEME « SAVING OF £233,000 EFFECTED. THE RAILWAY VOTE. Wellington, August 23.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 294, 29 August 1888, Page 6

THE RETRENCHMENT, SCHEME- « SAVING OF £233,000 EFFECTED. THE RAILWAY VOTE. Wellington, August 23.

Early in the session it was announced that the Government had succeeded in making reductions in the public expenditure on salaries and wages, and through dismissals, to the extent of £233,000 per year, but no particulars wei'd given as to how these savings had been effected, and up to the present such information has not been placed before the public. It may interest your readers to know in what departments economies have been practised. The reductions on last year's votes show that the saving of £233,097 i& made up as follows : — Legislative Department, £2,045 ; Colonial ' Secretaries, £9,481 : Treasury, £3,773 ; Justice, £5,255 ; Postal, £5,149; Customs, £8,652 : Stamps, t1,539; Education, £30,626: Lands, £2,717; Native, £3,553; Kailnaye, £40,000: public buildings, £5,150 : Defence, £41,434 : Land Fund (reduced subsidies), £25,290 ; rates on Crown and native lands, £34,000 ; Civil list, £3,450 : under special Acts, C 5,983. By inductions in salaries and wages alone, a saving of £84,207 is dhown in this year's Estimates compared with those brought down by the Stout-Yogel administration in 1887-88, but this amount has, by retienchments made within the last two montlis, been increased to £200,000. The Departmental savings are :■ — £. Legislative Estimates proposed lor 1888-89 .... . 6,000 Stout- Vogcl estimates for 1887-8 . . 7.935 Colonial Secretary 49,047 and .. . . 61.200 Treasury "11.7t>5 and .. .. 14,203 Justice .. 6*2, 090 and 67.253 Postal 137.282 and 141,280 Customs and Marine 44.050 and 48,541 Stamps 15,461 and 16.501 Education 17.294 and 17,304 Native 7,922 and 11,078 Mines 12.399 and 4.323 Defence 114,640 and 136,481 Lands 43,849 and 56,172 State Forests 830 and . 4,005 Railways 513.000 and 532,000 Totals .. . £1,120,336 and £1.036,129 It will be noticed that in the Mines Department alone lias there been any increase, and this is doubtless due to a desire to give more attention to that important industry. The main savings in salaries and wages are : Defence, £23,841 :Lands, £12,323 : Railways £19,000. The information given above should dispose of the assumption that the retrenchment has been mythical, the figuies pioving how earnestly Ministers have tackled the public expenditure -\\ith a view to economy. In defence of the railw ay vote it should be explained that there are in the Railway Department only 9 officers getting L5OO a year and upwards, and these contiol about 4,600 n:en, expending about £515.000 on iail.\ay wages and pay. In the othei Go\ eminent Departments, there are 54 othcers getting 1500 and upwaids, controlling about4, 3oo employees. To make thi« information as complete as possible from the material at my disposal, it may be mentioned that 61 officers getting a salary of C5OO and upwards, draw £37,200 per annum ; 365 get between £250 and £500— n total of £119,292; while 1.838 officers in leceipt of less than £250 diaw £237,426 for a total of 2,265. Ofiicei->' salaries amounting; to £393,918 are thus paid on an average of £170 per man. In wages £623,739 is also paid, the prin- j cipal items being . Defence Department, £99,079; railways, C 486,100.