SUMMARY.

Colonist, Volume IV, Issue 352, 8 March 1861, Page 1

SUMMARY.

From the annual return, of the General Revenue of New Zealand for the Financial year 1859-60, we glean the following in-,, 'tereating particulars:— ;',

LAND REVENUE.

The proportion awarded to each proTiqce, after. deducting ' Receivers' salaries, con* tribution to fund, for the purchase of land" from the; natives, ditto for interest and sinlring fund on the loan of it, as follows:—

.It may be noticed; that the 'provincej of Hawke's Bay, although jtist formed, is sick of its new fledged honors and in a statej of helpless insolvency, in spite of the vejry handsome sum from its land sales. The war * will account for the low state of t(ris fund at Taranaki, although it never figured' very high. Marlborough has been lopped off from Nelson by Mr. Stafford, for which' service the majority of the electors of the city of Nelson seem to like him the better," for -i they have set - him at his work 1 again. Nelson stands much higher; than Auckland or Wellington, though vastly below her sister; provinces; of the. :\ Middle Island, Canterbury. and Otago; this may be accounted for by the stupid practice of selling land at so low a rate that it will hardly pay the expenses attached to the sale aridsurvey of the same. The other sources of Revenue, including * customs duties, fines, post-office, judicial fees, Ac.,' are as follows :—

'•"' ■•.■-; ■■;.■„■,';.- . '■~ ' - ,:"■..-•:.-'■•■■■■, .'''''iti«. i'l.j.irr '"i .--i'-i.y T0ta1........ ...202,007-6;; l'j j By the Balance sheet; of the General Government of New Zealand on the 30tp September, 1860, we see that the income ■, was £642,895 4s. 7£d., as compared.stb £500,060 19s. 4d.\ for the preceding year.

The cereal crops have been gathered in capital condition, though they cannot be pronounced above the average. tinfortu* nately we have been visited since ,by my-r riads of caterpillars, about an inch long, of black color, with a horny head-piece, which have destroyed every blade of grass where they have made their appearance, which, we are sorry to say, has been pretty general. The roads in the evening have been literally in mourning, by the presence of this, for the last ten years, unusual pest. We have seen some oats, which had been sown for 4 green food,' about six inches high, with at least half-a-dozen of these destroying vermin on each blade, and by the morning not a vestigei of oats was left. Whole paddocks of grass have been destroyed in a night, and then the devourers have crossed the road, and committed similar ravages on the opposite field. The weather continuesi to; be most magnificent; and the fruit xsrqps are abundant.: Our hops this yea* are in, brilliant condition; and will be productive of great profit to the few who have grown .them. The picking is > far -advanced, and; finer...weather- there could iiot fee for that; delicate and joyous process; As hops are; very t scarce and dear in England this year,. and probably on the continent of Europe likewise, the brewers of Nelson, who are : now doing a good export trade in all, may , well rejoice in such an abundant harvest.

; JThje most important case in; Qur law courts this month is the one connected with the attempted robbery of the Inter-colonial I Mail steamerof'.the.sum of jgIQ.OQO sent I from Sydney for the purpose of paying the j troops at Taranaki. This money was contained in two iron boxes, which boxes were j missed shortly after the arrival of the steamer. The purser, engineers, and the seamen were taken, into custody, and a i long investigation took place before the Resident Magistrate and Justices of the Peace, which ended in the acquittal of the accused. This was followed by the, apprehension of the Captain, who was heard to joke during the passage from Sydney to Nelson, saying, * Sam, there will be a good lift or lob when we get to Nelson;' *it would be a good thing, Sam, if we could clear out those two boxes right/ The witness admitted that Captain Johns was ";• very jocose on minor matters when taking a glass of, grog;' ; and that he had. made similar observations himself. After a four days' close inveßtigation Captain Johns was discharad.,, 1^ in which some other officers of .tW Company will be concerned, may take place at

Auckland.. The boxej^ wereeyentuallyfound close to,the, whatf in, eighteen feet water, withi ropes round them ready for a haul by the parties who deposited them. This case caused-great excitement for. the time; and will lead to : ,more proper and secure means being adopted in all cases when such, large sums of money are forwarded from one place to another. Some score or so of debt cases, two of assault, three of cattle Strayings, two of drunjc and disorderly, and one case of disobedience of lawful commands by a seamen on board the Sea Nymph, constitute the business in this branch of the public service; if we may except two, cases of members of the Naval Volunteers for fines for non-attendance at drill, which were brought into court; the amount claimed was at once ordered to be paid: thus dispelling the very common notion here that any person may pat hit name to any document without having any intention of fulfilling the duties which such signature signifies.

£ «. d. 12,433 10 7 . .Taranaki.. ; ; 349.4 0. .-WeUington 15,73118 8 Hawke's flay '....'.'." 40,99* 17 8 Nelson..... ...22,104 14 1 /^Marlborough U,S10- 9,9 • ■f Canterbury .-48,543.3 8 ;dtiigo 78,460 0 .8

,-;■->>■. •■ ■■*^: £. s. d. ■' Auckland ................. 10,211, 58; -■ Taranaki................... 319. 4 0! Wellington............... l.lO;537 5 11 Hawke's Bay ........... ...<v 33)974: 6-2 > . .Nelson., .... , 8 .8 i ■> Marlborough. .1,300, 15!, Canterbury................ 43,743 3 8 j Otago ;. 74,618 15 4i"

£. a. d. Auckland 66,217 12 9 < Taranaki ...' 6,081 12 0 Wellington.. .'.' 37,183 5 4 Hawke's Bay... ..„...'..... 7^,977 14 5 : ;Nelson.. .......^.......... 17,414 1^ 3 j Marlborough .. ; 7801 9 9 i - Canterbury.... ....* 36,473; 12; 9 j < OtagQ^...... ..;.....27,230:18, 5 1 Gbnebai-,.... 2y647'l9 4