The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. THURSDAY, JULY 28, 1874.

Thames Star, Volume IIII, Issue 1733, 23 July 1874, Page 2

The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. THURSDAY, JULY 28, 1874.

Thehe are many points of interest in the Premier's Financial Statement outside tl»e information therein given as to the amount of the Colony's indebtedness and the actual r»v«nue of the Colony for the past year. The Premier must hare been ', gratified in being able to inform the ; House-that the revenue of the colony had exceeded the estimate by such a large amount as £239,000, and expenditure (including li abilities yet to come in and paying off treasury bills) by £207,000. This i«ra handsome sum to begin the new financial year with, and may possibly account for the generosity which Ministers feel inclined to exercise towards provinces in the " lamentable " condition of Auckland. It is admitted that the introduction of ad valorem duties has con- - duced to the increase in revenue, and the Premier'confidently asserts that theadop- ' tion of this principle has n«t tended to an undue pressure of taxation on the bulk Of the people ; an opinion which will be shared by the people themselves after ■ one year's /'experience of ad valorem duties in place of measurement. Itwtuld ;: hare been, more satisfactory to hare

known what the actual increase has been, but it appears that until the returns have been classified such information ia not obtainable. • , The aggregate amount of the public debt of the colony is given at £12,500,000, involving an annual charge of. £777,000; of which about .two-thirds hayo to be paid by the colony and onethird by the Provinces. Mr. Vogel, while discouraging any idea of enlarging the borrowing powers of Provieces, does not hesitate to say that new loans will be - necessary to complete public works in progress, and to undertake fresh work 3 rendered necessary to complete the scheme. How far the policy of the Goverament in this direction will -meet. with f the approval of those 'Provinces proposing Ha borrow large sums on their own account remains to be seen. The temper of the House will be betterknown when the debate on the statement comeson; but it is evident that there has been a vast change in the opinions of Ministers since the introduction of the Provincial borrowing bills last session. Some disappointment will be ' caused by this change amongst the members representing provinces with ambitious projects regarding large public works on their own account; possibly a new opposition will arise. On the other hand the Government proposals will meet the views of members who, throughout the last session, persistently opposed the proposals to enlarge the borrowing powers of Provinces, andj a.j fusion of 'parties may result. is It is just possible that the change in the views of the Government on this matter will excite the suspicion of nienibers who are always in opposition. It may perhaps be said that Ministers want to monopolise the borrowing power, with the intention of becoming lenders in turn to such of the Provinces as show a disposition to fall in with their views., Whatever may happen, however, we see in this change a possibility of difficulty in satisfying the all-powerful Southern Provinces, although, from the unmistakeablo expression cf opinion during the session of 1873, it was evident that the majority of the House were opposed to Provincial borrowing as tending i to undermine the credit of the Colony.

Mr. Vogelgave some very good reasons for congratulating members on the progress of the Colony, beside the unexpected increase in the revenue over the estimate. The land fund showed the receipts for the past year to have been £1,038,000 as against £209,000 for the financial year 1869-70. The marked increase in the number of depositors in the Post Office Savings Banks was sufficient evidence of the general prosperity, the total deposits now being over half a million of money, the figures given being £682,000. This is a large sum distributed nmongst those who avail themselves of the Savings Bank, representing principally the class of persons who have not money enough to place in an ordinary banking institution, to be operated upon in the ordinary way, but who are provident enough to save; and wise enough to take advantage of the facilities offered by a Government institution. Mr. Vogel also Jpointed out another instance of the prosperity of the colony, which may possibly be challenged in debate, namely that the consolidated revenue of the colony had increased during the last few years by £412,000, or within a few thousand pounds of the total annual charge on the railways when completed from one end of the colony to the other. This assertion is qualified by the reminder that borrowing will again have to be resorted to for completing the railways, and it is difficult to see how this can be done without increasing the annual charge.

Coming now to the portion of the statement having particular reference to Auckland Province, we find the proposal for an advance of £50,000 to the Pumping As■ociation on the security of the Province and specific security—meaning the Association's plant and mines. Then thero is the £40,000 to the Provincial Government, to be advanced at the rate of £6,000 every three months, to be repaid by impounding the half of the land fund. This amount has already, we may say, been operated upon, having formed an important item in the Provincial Treasurer's budget during the late session. Auckland will, it is presumed, also get a share of another £60,000 which it is proposed to appropriate for road 3in the North Island, and, in addition to the ordinary capitation allowance, a special grant of £25,000, by w*y of encouragement, and to remember one of the Provinces contributing to the immense increase in the revenue. Although it is proposed not to undertake any new goldfield works this session, Auckland, Westland and Nelson are to be'; the recipients of "■ special" grants of money, as* being gold producing' Provinces, to avoid killing the goose that lays the golden egg. Another point to which direct reference was made was that the present budget

was intended to prevent the ,Government recruiting revenues by resorting to borrowed money. If this should also mean that interest on loans already floated and spent shall not be paid by new liabilities, i a strong opposition will be disarmed, .it haying been a feature with thosp opposed to the. Government to charge them repeatedly with this practice. In view of the prosperity of the country, and to prevent officers of the Civil Service from leaving, (of which there is, little fear), it is proposed to give bonuses according to the rate of salary. "To this -there can be little objection in the matter of those officers who do a great deal of work for very small salaries; but, what between bonuses and pensions, there i 3 not much to be dreaded of. the service suffering in efficiency from the defection of officers. Whatever inducements may offer to persons in the Government service to leave, Hp&ny of the civil servants know as well as most persons that times of depression succeed times of unexampled prosperity, and that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Very little apprehension need be entertained of a material desertion[from the civil service ranks, although this cannot be adduced as an argument against the proposed bonuses, or as a reason why efficient officers should not be well paid.

Amongst tho works proposed, to be undertaken, and for which new loans-will be asked is the extension of the Kaipara railway to Auckland. A great deal has been said on this subject of late, and it; would "appear that Auckland members have succeeded in making their case good, or else the work would not have been included- in the list of those looked upon as necessary to " complete^existing gaps." The revenue for the financial year 1874-5, " estimated with moderation,'' is letdown at £1,496,000; which with the surplus from -the past year, gives £1,704,000. Deducting the estimated' expenditure a surplus is anticipated of £66,900; which, however, it is intimated, may be considerably reduced by supplementary estimates.