THE COMMONWEALTH.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVI, Issue 34, 10 February 1904, Page 3

THE COMMONWEALTH.

CONFERENCE OF STATE TREASURERS. MELBOURNE, Feb. 9. The conference of State Treasurers, under the presidency of the Federal Treasurer, is discussing a knotty problem, namely, the Commonwealth taking over the States' debits.. Sir George Turner, in regard to the proposals, briefly suggested that at next election the constitution should be amended so as to allow the Commonwealth to deal with debits raised by the States after January, 1901, and that all new loan moneys should be raised by the Commonwealth ; the indemnity of the Commonwealth should be the right to use the surplus revenue which it has under the constitution, and the right to receive the gross railway revenue and use only such portion of it as is necessary to make up a deficiency ; and that a properly guarded sinking fund be established in coiimection with the last loan raised by the Commonwealth. Sir George Turner's figures show that if the Federation takes over tine complete service of debits it would mean an expenditure of quite £8,700,000 a year. He calculates he would only have seven and a half millions of State fluids available out of customs excise to pay it with. If that were all he could readily ol> bain on additional guarantee for the amount, but the booking system steps in and upsets the situation. He finds he must call upon Queensland and South Australia to make good upwards of a million of shortage, and Victoria nearly the balance New South Wales and Tasmania would have to provide small stuns. Tlie conference is antagonistic to taking railway revenue which, in the afeEM-gat.-, is well over eleven millions, or nearly ten times the amount the Federal Treasurer requires the cover the deficiency. The Treasurer of New South Wales considered it was not a favourable time to transfer debits, nor could ho see that the States could as yet bind themselves to entrust borrowing .powers to the Federation. The proposal to pay the gross railway receipts into the Federal Treasury even if the bulk were afterwards returned was wholly unacceptable. The Victorian Treasurer shows more cordiality towards Sir George Turner's views, and on some point-is-an advocate of them.