FINANCIAL STATEMENT.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1355, 20 June 1885, Page 3

FINANCIAL STATEMENT.

[By Telegraph.]

' ’The Hon. the Colonial Treasurer, Sir Julius Vogel, delivered bis financial Statement last night. After a few introductory words, he said that the year 1884-85 was commenced with a deficiency of £152,112. for £160,000 of this amount, Deficiency Bills were authorised to be issued, maturing on the 81st March, 1886. Tbe balance of £2,112 was discharged out of the year’s revenue. The £150,000 would not be turned into a permanent debt, bat we must pay that amount off in the course of two or three years. The transactions of the consolidated revenue for the year 1884-86, after discharging the deficit of £2,112 and leaving outstanding the £150,000, shows a credit balance of £19,891, or, exclusive of the small deficit paid off, a surplus of £22,093.- ' CONSOLIDATED REVENUE.

Tbe total consolidated revenue for the year amounted to £3,569,394. The estimate of the railways showed some deficiency while the Customs exceeded to a small extent the estimate. The total deficiency, in the estimates was £22,016. The expenditure on the other band was leSs than the amount voted, by £23,952, inclusive of £5,982 expended in services unprovided for, so that the result was the surplus in the year’s transactions already stated. THE LAND FUND.

The land food account at the end of the year 1883-84 showed a balance of £88,447. The revenue received during the past year amounted to £160,969, of which £92;432 was for cash sales of land and £68,537 for sales on deferred payments. The expenditure amounted to £209,948 so that at the beginning of the present financial year there was a credit balance of £21,931. ! ’ BDBUC WORKS FUND, The balance at the credit of the Public Works Fund at the end of 1884 was

£488,912 from the instalments of the .loan of £1,000,000 negotiated in January, v 1884, £389,000 cams to credit after March of that year, and from the instalments of the £1,000,000 loan negotiated io January last £845,000 came to credit before the end of March, 1885. There was also an amount of £IOO,OOO on deficiency bills authorised to be issued last year, in aid of the Public Works Fund, redeemable at the end of the present . month, and, 1 further obtained £500,000 of a temporary advance. The total amount placed at credit of the Public Works Fund during the year 1884-85 was £2,327,925, The expenditure amounted to £1,336,727, leaving £990,298 at the end of March last with which to begin the

year. Ib addition thereto we received the balance of the third instalment of the £3,000,000 loan, £154,000 ; also the new loan of £1,500,000 recently raised, amounting in all to £2,645,298; subject however, to the redemption of deficiency bills of £IOO,OOO, the repayment of the temporary advances of £500,000, and the advances to be accounted for in the bands of officers £500,000. THE JPUBBIC DEBT. The public debt on the 30th March, 1884, less the Slaking Fund account, was £29,574,903, and the amount of that debt on the 31st March, 1885, w.»s £30,649,099. It was increased by fresh issues' and conversions, the conversions from a higher to a lower rate of interest of course having a tendency to a larger principal amount, but to a less annual charge. The annual charge last year was £1,570,987, whilst this year it is £1,593,692, exclusive of interest on annual deficiency hills and on the million and a-half loan. The increased annual charge is to be accounted for by the interest on the additional £1,000,000, and by £64,600, which, owing to the conversion operations, escaped coming into the charge in 1884 85. Uuder the authority of the Consolidated Stock Act 1884 we have issued debentures to the amount of £209,000 and £87,900 respectively issued under the General Purposes Loan Act, which had fallen in for payment, and £3OOO under the Million Loan Act, 1874. Early in January the third and last million of the three million loan of 1882 was negotiated with excellent results, the average rate obtained being £99 10s Id for each £IOO.

The million and-half loan authorised last year has quite recently been negotiated sit a still better figure, viz., an average of £IOO 6s 3d. This result must be con-

sidered still more gratifying, and a comparison with the rates obtained for other loans enhances the gratification. The net price after deducting interest and discount was Victoria, £99 4s 3d ; Queensland, £97 3s lOd ; New Zealand, £99 8s 2d ; Adelaide, £99 5s 6d. So that we were nearly a fifth per cent, belter than Victoria, an eighth per cent, better than South Australia, and more than two per cent, better than Queensland. LOAN CONVERSIONS. The loan conversion transactions during the year comprise amongst others the unconverted balance of 5 percent. 4 30’s £7 4s 6d ; also £3,642,100 of consols ; balance of 5 per cent. 4.30’a, £75,600; also £3,642,100 of consols drawing debentures. Concerning the Consolidated Stock Act of last session, under which it was effected, it was anticipated that the credit of the colony would be injured by it, but a triumphant answer to all the opposition was the brilliant success of the operations and in its having entirely failed to do any injury to the credit of the Colony. No objection has been taken by the Stock Exchange, nor by any prominent member thereof, but the Act was well considered at Home, and full explanation of it made to the Bank of England, through which great institution we remit our loans and conduct our conversion operations, subject to the directions of the loan agents. The Agent-General also in the statistical paper, with which it is usual to accompany a loan, satisfactorily explained the effect of the Act on the Sinking Fund. That the Act and the operations proposed under it did not injure our credit is shown by the negotiations of the loan to which I have already referred. That it has been a splendidly useful Act is proved by the fact that through its agency we have convened £3,642,100 of the £5,572,500 of consolidated (drawing) debentures left undrawn, The Act of last session neither suspended the payment of Sinking Funds nor enabled us to use accrued Sinking Funds, until thorough provision was made for the loans to which they belonged. Within a few months of the Act passing we were enabled by conversion operations to extinguish nearly a third of the first year’s debentures. Of the debentures remaining of last year and those we shall issue this year if the conversion proceed no farther than it has already, we shall probably be able to extinguish £IOO,OOO from the result of the next drawing in March. Many members who opposed the Bill last year did so conscientiously, and I appeal to them not to let the opinion they then entertained prevent them from now admitting that the measure was a fair one and calculated to legitimately assist the finances of the colony. WEST COAST HARBORS. In reference to the Financial Acts of last session, the Westport and Grey mouth Harbor Board Act justified expectations. It will be recollected that I contended it would be better to guarantee the debentures and not borrow for the Boards. It proved as I expected. When the Bank of England and the market asked us to

undertake not to borrow further until the end ot March, 1886 they had no difficulty in excepting from such engagement the guaranteed debentures of the Harbor Board. The debentures realised a fair price. The Government runs no risk, since it is secured by the funds of the Board accruing in its hands. LOAN AGENTS. I have a grateful task to perform, to express to the loan agents the profound thanks and acknowledgements of the Government for the excellence of their judgement and for their zealous, able, and loyal services. FUTURE POLICY. Before proceeding to discuss the proposal for the present year, there are certain broad features, to be considered to which 1 must ask the attention of the Committee. We have arrived at a period of our history when it is necessary to carefully consider the nature and effects of the taxation of the colony. The Customs Revenue, which is the most important branch of the revenue, requires to be revised by reason of several circumstances which have come, in the ordinary course, to largely affect national growth. I need only mention a few of those circumstances. One, that of the increase of manufacturing in the colony, has a tendency to visibly diminish the important duties on many articles which have yielded increasingly large amounts in the past, and the other that of alcoholic beverages, from which the heaviest Customs returns have hitherto been received, showing a diminished consumption. Both these facts are gratifying; the latter from a moral and social point of view, the exceeding value of which it would be impossible to exaggerate ; the former for both utilitarian and social reasons of only less importance. To put the case briefly, the consumption of intoxicating drinks means an increased depression, and large local production means increased prosperity. It is clear that both these cases argue an increased power to pay Customs duties on whatever articles it is considered they should be placed. The results of Customs duties on spirits during the last three financial years are suggestive, [The balance of this will appear in our next.] Ay