SUPPLEMENTARY FINANCIAL STATEMENT.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1378, 13 August 1885, Page 3

SUPPLEMENTARY FINANCIAL STATEMENT.

The Hon. Sir Julius Vogel, Colonial Treasurer, made the following Supplementary Financial Statement last evening Mr Hamblin : It will he remembered that the proposals of the Budget resulted in an anticipated surplus of £32,158. This result was arrived at after provision was made for paying off £50,000 of the deficit of 1883-84, £6500 on recount of the first year’s classification of the Civil Service, and £75,000 for subsidies to local bodies. The House declined to make the changes in the tariff which we recommended, which would have made an addition to the Customs revenue of £70,000. Certain alterations which were made in the Bill providing for an amendment of the succession duties will involve a reduction of the Stamp revenue by about £30,000. I do not feel it safe also to rely on quite so much revenue from the Railway as anticipated. They would have realised more had the price of grain risen. The loss from this source I set down af £47,000, which means less receipts to the extent of £66,000 and leas expenditure to the sum of £19,000. We have therefore the Budget decreased to the extent of it, the Customs revenue £70,000, Stamps £39,000, Railway (net including reduction of expenditure and receipts) £47,000, total £147,000. The Supplementary Estimates will not, I anticipate, exceed £12,000, so that I shall have to provide in all, from various sources, £159.000 to make up the amount. The surplus to which I have previously referred at once provides £32,000, and it has already been announced that the Government intend not to provide for the deficit of 1883-84 this year. I shall ask that the Deficiency Bills already authorised for this deficit be extended until 31st June, 1887. It has also been stated that we propose to charge Public Works Fund with £25,000 on account of external deficit. The statements which have been made as to falling off of revenues are grossly inaccurate. For axampls, I have seen it stated that for the three items of Customs, Railways, and Stamps the revenue actually collected for the four months ending July 31st is less by £70,000 than the estimated revenue. The fact, however, is, that on these items the loss in the estimated amount for the four months is only £21,000. Some part of the receipts, however, included Customs revenue paid in anticipation of increased duties. 1 have thought it prudent to provide for the diminished revenues which I have already stated. Although these reductions are notably larger than on the receipts of the first four months, it is with regret I announce that the Government do not consider themselves justified in proceeding with the classification of the Civil Servants this year. Seeing the extent to which their anticipations of revenue have been disturbed, they do not think it would be acceptable to the House..or country that they should underfed for the next few years the additional expenditure which ckfeification in any shape would undtffiMedly entail. The House must, howeygy, remember that a certain amount of/Jncreases in present salaries is j n bare justice to many officers. Instead of the £7500 jifcrease they proposed to ask they will ask for £2500. £IOQ£T of the amount they propose ffydl be allocated to the Post Office, ifad the balance to the other departments. But in the case of officers whose salaries exceed £250 a year no increase will be given. The Government feel as strongly as possible the desirability of retrenching the expenditure to the utmost extent possible consistent with efficiency. What with leave of absence and allowances the dispensing with officers is attended with extra expenditure for a considerable period, and the cases are numerous in which officers dispensed with filter back into the service. Of course the rights of officers already in the service cannot be interfered with. We shall bring in a Bill providing for different terms of engagement for officers taken into the service after the passage thereof. The amalgamation of large departments will be another source of economy which will be kept in mind wlu-n Under-Secretaries retire. The plan we have in view, which will conduce to economy and efficiency, is to train up cadets into an acquaintance with duties of several departments, with the view of amalgamating the duties of officers in different parts of the country and lessening their number. We have anxiously searched the Estimates over with the object of finding items for saving expenditure. I regret we are not able to do much. We are willing to reduce the vote for the Armed Constabulary by a difference of £IOOO, and I think we may save some thousands in the expenditure of other departments, without, however, taking less votes than those set down. It will be necessary instead of making the Property Tax three farthings to add and one-eighth and make it seven-eighths of a penny. I may observe also that under the new Property Assessment Bill it is expected that £IO,OOO will be added to the amount of Property Tax estimate in the financial statement. We have already shewn we require to make up £150,000 for diminished revenue, and for supplementary estimates the various items m aid of this to which I have referred may now be summed up as follows ; -Surplus shown by financial statement, £32,000 ; part of deficit 1883-84 postponed, £50,000 ; external defence charged to public works fund, £35,000; sav ngs in Armed Constabulary and Defence, £IOOO ; reduction in vote for Civil Service classification, £4000; Property Tux under-estimate, £10,000? Property Tax addition, oneeighth of a penny, £47,000 ; Land Tax, £178,000. This wi'-l leave a surplus of £19,000, after providing for the Supplementary Estimates to the extent of £12,000; and 1 hope they will not exceed that amount. 1 should have preferred adhering to the arrangement proposed in the Budget, and I believe that to have done so would have been more for the interest of the colony. The substitution of an additional eighth of a penny to the Property Tax is not very serious, and with its aid we have the right to exnect a small surplus at the end of the year.