THE FINANCIAL STATEMENT.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1356, 23 June 1885, Page 2

THE FINANCIAL STATEMENT.

The following is a continuation of the Financial Statement : FUTURE rOUOT. The Customs Duties on Spirits daring the last three financial years are suggestive. They are as follows :—IBB2-83, £410,517 ; 1883-84, £403,500; 1884-85, £377,696, and for the first months of the present financial year the receipts have been at the rate of only £386,613 a year. Those persons who refuse to see in the condition of a new country the special circumstances which render inappropriate their rangitig themselves under the old-world banners of Protection or Freetrade may at least meet on this common ground that fiscal requirements are the primary object of Customs duties. I venture to go a step farther and say there is no taxation more fair, just and logical. I ask Protectionists to agree with me in this, although they m«y see in increased Customs duties an ulterior object iu the encouragement they give to local productions, and 1 ask Freetraders to render alike acquiescence, although they may argue that the increase of duties tends to increase the cost of liviog. In short, Customs duty is a natural and obvious species of revenue. The Freetraders who would specially diminish it, or the Protectionists who would specially increase, seek to modify natural conditions by artificial ones. Tiiey are fair, just and logical, because it is reasonable that the producers of other countries should not come here to enjoy all the benefits that the complicatedmacli'iriery of Oovernrnentaff>rds to them without contributing to its cost. Customs duties Lave, in addition, the two great advantages of being cheaply.collected and of falling on those who, in greater or less proportion, elect to consume dutiable goods. The average cost of the collection of Customs, ditties amounts to only £2 4a 6d per cent. Together with indirect taxation, there should be taxation of an unmistakeably direct _ character; ulso strmp duties supply. This lead* rao to state that, together with the revision of the tariff, it is desirable to pass under review the direct and Bemi-direct taxation of the colony. These clusses of taxasiom require to be considered if for no other reason than that they should ;be put upon an elastic footing, in which the feature of normal increase would have full play. MISCELLANEOUS. The Hon. Treasurer then went on to nllude at great length to Local Government, and said that they intended to repeal the Roads and Bridges Construction Act, but to fulfil the obligations incurred under it; to give to local bodies subsidies not exceeding £300,000 per annum for twenty-five years, to cou tinue the rating of Crown Lands up to f d in the £, to arrange with local bodies tor making up roads to open up lands oewly sold ; also to give powers to local bodies to provide dwelling-houses on small areas of land for labourers ; to provide for Charitable Aid, sod to encourage fisheries. The next subject touched upon was the encouragement of local industries, which is to be effected by a revision of the''ariff, with a view to restoring the diminished power of the alcoholic duties, and of those with which local industrits

have interfered. Alterations in the Property Tax will provide for the exemption •f agricultural improvements and machinery up to a certain sum, but the tax will be Tawed to fd in the £ to cover the amount of Charitable Aid contribution. The stamp duties will be revised for an increase. . The Civil Service will be properly classified, and the new rules of entry will greatly promote future economy. The revenue from land sales for the year is estimated at £163,960, and the balance from last year is £31,131. The estimated expenditure is £208,971, leaving a deficit of £13,000. The estimated ordinary revenue of the year is as follows : BKVJUTOE, 1885-86— ESTIMATED. Customs, #1,500,000; stamps, including postal cash receipts, £638,500 ; Property Tax, at |d, £270,000; beer duty, £55,000 ; railways, £1,116,000 ; telegraph, £103,400 ; registration and other fees, £34,000; marine, £14,000 ; miscellaneous, £32.000 ; depasturing licenses, rent, etCi, £195,000; accretions of sinking fund, £258,000; total, £4,115,900. The ordinary expenditure of the year already amounts to £3,972,133. There are three new items, £6500 for the proposed Civil Service amendment, £75,000 for payment on account of subsidies to local bodies, and £50,000 of the deficiency of 1883-84. Theße sums bring up the expenditure to £4.103,633. On the other hand there is revenue £4,116,900, and the surplus of £319,891 at the beginning of the year, making altogether £4,135,791, and leaving "a suplus on the year's transactions of £32,158. Authority will be asked for a one million loan for 1886-87, of which £250,000 willjbefor Defence and the previous year's deficit ; £50,000 for Immigration ; £200,000 for Roads, Bridges, and Buildings; £100,050 for purchase of Native Lands, and £400,000 for Railways. The Government have not adopted the Treasurer's idea ef borrowing money to lend in, small sums to farmers on freehold seenrity. Upon further examination, continued Sir Julius, I found that the English Government had ceased to make direct advances for land improvements, but had substituted a system of authorising the issue of mortgage debentures for which the State was not liable. This system works exceedingly well in (treat Britoioj far better than the old one of direct advances, whilst the State has no liability. This will be submitted to the House far giving effect to. This system will, I Jhink, go Borne way towards satisfying the demand for cheap money for the securities of local bodies, and for land improvements. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION. Reference has been made to so many questions that it is desirable to summarise the salient points of the subjects and proposals I have brought before the Committee this evening, as well as to make clear some of the details :—l. That the operasions of last year on the ordinary revenue and expenditure account left a credit balance of £20,000. 2. That Publie Works expenditure last year amounted to £1,336,000, and that, taking into account the million and a-half loan, there was at the eni of March last about two millions to begin this year with, taking the advance outstanding in the bands of officers as cash. 3. That the negotiation of our loans has proved very j satisfactory, and that for the last million I and a-half we received more than did the Governments of Victoria, Queensland, and South Australia for loans floated at about the same time. 4. That the Act of last j session dealing with loan conversion and with the Sinking Fund has proved a great success, and so far from a suspicion of having adversely affected the credit of the j colony, that through the conversion j effected-under its authority we have al-1 ready been able to pay off £71,000 of I debentures created the first year, to represent the growing accretions of the Sinking Fund. 5. That the financial ma-1 chinery of the Westport and Greymnutb Harbors Acts has proved successful. 6. That the Government highly appreciate the services of the loan agents and of the Bank of England. 7. That the Customs requires to be revised, because of the satisfactory facts that it has become affected by the diminished Consumption of spirits, and by the increased local production of dutiable articles. 8. That it be adjusted on the'principle that whilst the primary object is to serve fiscal purposes, and whilst we by no means commit ourselves to State Protection, we should not be unmiadful ot the services the tariff may reDder to local productions. In this connection, I may mention that after I had settled the tariff I said to Mr Seed, the Secretary of the department, of whose ability hon. members are well aware, "Describe to me briefly what you consider to be its character." Long as I have detained the Committee I must ask leave to .read Mr Seed's reply:—-The principles which have been kept in view as far as practicable, in considering the proposed alterations in the Customs tariff have been "that the various articles named therein should be clearly and explicitly described, so as to secure absolute uniformity in the levying of the duties at the several Custom houses in the colony; that moderate revenue producing and not prohibitive duties shall be imposed on all articles which can be produced or manufactured in the colony; that the raw material used in manufactures, and special articles used for manufacturing purposes which cannot at present be produced iu the colony m moderate cost, should be exempted from duty ; that' all - free goods should be specttcally enumerated, and that unenumerated -goods ! should be liable to ad valorem duty. 9. That the succession

duties be increased, but still be kept le3s than they are charged in Great Britain, „ and that the present exemptions be re- * tained. 10. That the stamp duties be increased in one particular—that of duties on conveyances—while precautions should be taken to guard the revenue from ingenious efforts to impair it. 11. It cannot afford to part with population, and must recognise that the several classes of the community Bhould help each other.

12. That roads and bridges construction is essential to opening up the country, but that we cannot continue to throw the whole co9t of it on borrowed money.

13. That the local bodies must arrange their own affairs, and hare a finance on which they can depend; that for this purpose the Consolidated Revenue shall be charged with a fixed Bubsidy for 25 years. 14. That to localise the direct taxation to districts in which it is raised would not answer the conditions required to be met, af it would leave the least provided the bodies that most required help. 15. That the division should be made on a

carefully considered self-adj'istiDg scxle. 16. That special assistance should be given to Goldfields Committees. 17. That manufactures are essential to the wealth of the country. 18. That we most attend to and put to the best use the yreat resources the Colony possesses in its forests and fisheries. 19. That we should introduce a moderate and gradual system of Civil Service classification. 20. That the Property Tax should be al fered so as to effect a compromise between its advocates and the advocates for a Land Tax and Income Tax, and that for this year it shall be fixed at fd. 21. That we shall pay off £50,000 at least of the £150,000 deficiency of 1883-84. 22. That after the provision for subsidies to local bodies and for the increased cost of the Department of Education a surplus of £32,000 will remain, which will hi suhject to reduction by supplementary votes. 23. That we should not allow the favor in which our loans ar» held in the London market to induce us to borrow more than we consider to be wise. 24. That we should endeavour to fall into a system under which we should reduce borrowing for indiscriminate purposes. 25. That we should have three classes of railways in future : main trunk, district, and forest railways, the last to be charged to the State forests, and half the annual charges of the district railways to be borne by the districts benefited. 26. That theexpenditure upon permanent defence be charged to loan. 27. That we should authorise a Joan fer one million to be issued next year to serve up to the end of the financial year 1886-87. That £250 000 of this loan should be for Defence, £50,000 for Immigration, £200,000 for roads and bridges, £IOO,OOO for the purchase of Native lands, and £400,000 for railways. 28. That we attach great importance to giving sufficient inducement to private capitalists to construct the East and West Coast and Nelson railways. 29. That to meet the demand for cheaper money for land improvements and for loans to local bodies, we will submit a mortgage debenture bill which will embody the system which has been found to work advmtageously in Great Britain without entailing any liability on the State. THK CUSTOMS TAKIFJ. Sir Julius Vogel then moved a series of rosulutions re the proposed ctißtoms tariff, but they are too lenthy for publication. On tea he proposes a daty of 6d per lb; on spirits, and strong water, as defined by the "Customs Duties Consolidation Act 1882 " : Bitters, 14s 6d ; wine, 5s 6d ; wine (sparkling), 6s 6d ; wine (Australian), 4s 6d the giiloo ; on tallow candles Id, stearins do, 2d, paraffin or wax, 2£d ; coals, landed, 2s the ton ; barbed wire, 2s the cwt.; rope and cordage, including house line, 6s per cwt. ; on common soap 5s per cwt.; agricultural implements, 5 per pent.