The Financial Statement.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2052, 2 August 1875, Page 3

The Financial Statement.

[by telegraph.] The expenditure for the current year involves the great question of.the abolition of the provinces. In obedience to •what the Government conceive to be the desire of the legislature, and a large majority of the people'of the colony, the budget has been prepared on the assumption that the provincial form of govern- ■ menfc will be abolished throughout New :' Zealand during the present session of parliament the proposed expenditure is as follows : —Permanent charges, £950,176 ; public department, £74,460; postal arid telegraph, £222,509; law and justice, £65,722; customs, £51,293; miscellaneous, £43,898-; native, £36,191;: Militia and Volunteers, £22.885; public domains and buildings, £23,351; railways open for traffic, £244,318; Armed Constabulary;, £91,C30; grants to municipalities and road boards, £80,000 ; provincial services for eight months, from Ist November, 1875, to 30th June, 1876, £230,322; total, £2,142,125. To this must be added capitation and special allowances to provinces for four months, £92,275 ; advances under " Provincial Public Works Advance "Act, 1874," i £48,500; moiety, of..stamp duties to Public Works account, £62,500; local public works in out districts, £60,000. Total expenditure chargeable on Consolidated fund. £2,405,400. The above contains few new items. " Railways."—This includes the expenses, of railways under the Government control for the year, and of those under provincial control for eight months. "Armed Constabulary." —The five years appropriation under the Defence Loan Act having expired, the jjgtfarge is -now"borne on the consolidated, revenue. The Native Minister will give particulars upon this subject when the estimates come on for description. '' Grant. . to Municipalities and Road Boards." — Under the provisions of the Abolition of Provinces Bill there will-become payable to municipalities and road boards out of the consolidatedTrevenue one pound, for one collected upon general rates up to one shilling in the pound. These payments will be in addition to the amount payable to roads boards from land revenue. For this year the Legislature is only asked to provide eight months' subsidy, i.e., from the Ist of November next the Provincial Services for eight months are in tlie anticipation that Parliament will decide this session to abolish the provinces, so that provisions may be made for carrying on all the necessary department now under the control of the provinces. This could be done in several ways. The Government, might have submitted detailed estimates of all the provincial department, but there are obvious objections to such a course, before the provinces are abolished ; or Parliament might be asked, to permit the present Provincial Appropriation Acts to remain in foroe, and have given authority to continue " the services at the same rates for such period as might.elapse between the date of expiry of the several-Acts and the 30fch June next; but, looking to all the circumstances of the case, the Government have thought it better to -ask for the vote in" its present ■ shape. The expenditure for Lands and Surveys is, under the Abolition Bill,, made a charge upon the land fund, and it is proposed to

continue to charge against that fund the departmental services for local public works. The advantages of this mode of procedure are apparent. It brings under the notice and control of Parliament the total expenditure required for "the services to be -taken over, while it ensures the continuance of the several departments until the Government have had an opportunity of seeing where aDd bow they may be advantageously consolidated. The Government are anxious to consolidate officers and reduce expenditure, but they will be very careful that no reductions shall be made which will at all impair the efficiency of the public service. The proposed vote for £60,C00 for local public works in out-districta will enable the intentions of Provincial Government to be carried out with regard to many necessary works in dis r tricts hitherto receiving scant justice. Ordinarily these works will be charged on the land fund, but this year in consideration' of the possible inequalities incident to the proposed changes, it is thought fair to charge it on the revenue, and it will therefore be an addition to the expenditure provided out of the land fund. The Government recognise education to be of vital importance and colonial concern, and they therefore desire to feel their way most carefully before moving in it. Education is now being carried on more or less successfully throughout the Colony, and the Government do not desire to alter it until they are satisfied they can improve it. For the^ present year it is proposed to let education matters remain practically as they are, seeing, however, tbat proper provision is made whereitisnow wanting. While education is properly a charge on the consolidated revenue, it is proposed this year to defray this charge, if necessary, out of the land fund. A vote for £50,C30 will be taken out of General Purposes loan for school buildings, to immediately satisfy the want existing, in some parts of the colony. It is proposed to pay the Capitation and Special Allowances to Provinces for four months at the same rate as now foisting, except in the case of the extraordinary allowances, amounting to £40,0 CD, granted to the provinces of Auckland, Nelson, and "Westland. The capitation allowances amount lo £32,278, and payment under the Public Works Advances Act to £48,5C0, viz. :-— Auckland, £16,000; Wellington, £5,500; Nelson, £23,000; Marlborough, £4,000. In the loan expenditure -it is proposed to make the following appropriations out of the Defence and ether Purposes Loan :— Defence, £20,000; outstanding liabilities New Zealand Settlement Act, £45,000; also, out of General Purposes Loan, for school buildings, £50,000; in aid of lighthouses, £30,000,5 also out of Immigration and public .Works Loan—-Kail-ways, £7G7,400; immigration, £392,348.;; telegraph extension. £29.700; .'public buildings, £75,779; lighthouses, £91,700; public works department, £77,134; making the following lotals : Out ot the balance of the loan £65,00^; out of General Purpose loan £80,000; out -of Immigration and Public Works Loans, £1,434,063. In most of the above cases the amounts are merely re-votes, and will appear in the annual estimates. The " Ways and Means " next claim attention The estimated revenue for the current year ■is £2,355,747, to which add surplus from , last year, £120,466; total, £2,476,198; leaving a surplus over expenditure of £70,793. The total revenue as above excludes the £118,370 taken out of land fund to meet interest and sinking.fund on the permanent debts" of the" provinces, after deducting from the. debts of Canterbury and Otago £600,030 and £270,000 respectively, as the value of provincial railways to be taken over by the colony. It also includes £127,520, charges upon the land fund for interest payable by the provinces on the cost of railways completed and to be completed during the year. ] t includes likewise the provincial revenue as estimated by the provincial treasurers for eight months, deducting therefrom all receipts for auctioneers 1, publicans', spirit and trading licensos, &c, &c.,the whole of which will be Landed to municipalitins. The Land -Fund is not, as in other colonies included- in revenue this year. The amount is estimated by the Provincial Governments at £702,192, but returns already received show the land revenue is much under estimated. Gold Duty is not to be abolished or reduced, but as roads and other means of communication in goldfields are lar^e and imperptive, the Government recognise the necessity of meeting these requirements, and propose to apply the whole of the gold revenue to roads and public works on goldfields. The future finance as affecting immigration and public works has received careful consideration. It would be.unwise to enter the London market with any new loan for some time to ccmc. It is proposed to expend the considerable sums yet available, amounting to about four millions, over a period of two years. This will enable tho forming of main trunk lines, immigration, and other important public works, such as lighthouses, telegraph and public buildings to be got on with.

Below is stated the financial effect the proposed changes will have on the rnunici' polities, road boards, and other public institutions in the provinces of Auckland and Canterbury. These provinces have been selected, the one as representing those provinces which are practically unable to' perform the duties, of governing, and the other as being the most favourably affected "by the proposed change. It will be admitted on all sides that the present financial position of the province of Auckland is a public scandal, and the continuance of such a state of things as now exists there ought not to be permitted. The necessity for a remedy is imperative and immediate. It is for the Parliament to determine what the remedy shall be, and how it can best be applied. The people of Auckland require to be placed in a position,of financial independence, and the proposals of the Government will satisfy that demand. _ The province as a whole will be provided with all the necessary institutions of a provincial character. Its police, gaols, harbours, lunatic asylums, and educational establishments will be provided for out of the revenue of the polony, and its larger public works will also become matters of colonial concern, The cities will receive the revenue from publicans' and trading licenses within their boundaries, the tolls on roads and bridges, and a contribution equivalent to £2 for every one collected as rates. Under prudent local management, each of these communities flan secure its own independence, and it will have an income growing with its growth, and adequate to its own wants. The Thames will no longer be governed by, or be dependent on, the city of Auckland, but will have the administration of its own

funds. The out-districts such as Taurang, Waikato,; and the Bay of Islands, ' receiving, besides the items of income referred to above, an addition of two pounds for each pound collected by rates, will possess larger and more certain means for improving their several districts than they have ever yet enjoyed. The Government have no doubt:'that the City Council of. Auckland, with the aid of the license Tecs collected in their city, and a contribution, equel in amount to their ordinary rates/ ! could govern themselves without the aid j j of a Superintendent and Provincial Coun- | cil, and they believe that the citizens of j the Thames would accept the same obli-: j gatipns on the same terms, and, as an old i country settler, I know well what thes outi lying districts will say to proposals which give them the means of real!local government. The proposal explained above with regard to provincial debts when applied toCanterbury will place that province in an extraordinarily favourable position. Speaking broadly, most' of her public debt will be cancelled, leaving her land fund free for public works within the district, besides having all the necessary duties of Government carried on as now. Christchurch willobtain what she has so long contended for, the liceDse fees collected in the'city, besides the contributions of one pound for.one collected, by ordinary rates. It may be said the Government have provedtoomuch. It may be said 1 hat if there is money enough to carry on the provincial districts in so satisfactory a manner there must be money to carry on the Provincial Governments ; but this by no means follows, nor if it did would it be any answer to the proposal of the Government, for in the first place the proposed method of local administration beinp simpler, will be much less costly, and much less.wasteful. Secondly. The statement of this evening has, the Government submit, conclusively proved therevenues of the colony are amply sufficient to meet all its liabilities and provide efficient Government. Yet the experience of the last twenty years has shown that with the present provincial constitution it has been practically impossible for the General Assembly to dislribute the revenue equitably so as to meet the requirements of the people.- As the capabilities of the colony to bear the burden of its debts is a matter of grave uneasiness to some people, a detailed statement is entered into showing how the increase from immigration, railway receipts, and other means are calculated to enlarge the revenue, and make it fully sufficient to enable the colony to meet its requirements. The House is reminded that a very considerable park of the debt has been incurred for railways which are now realisable assets, and might ba disposed of, if the country ' were foolis'j enough to desire it, for a very considerable sum —say, at least eight millions. It is impossible to deny or ignore the law of vicissitude which seems to govern human affairs, and after the unexampled prosperity of the last five years, we may have from time to time periods of depression. There is no sign' of that depression at present, but if it comes, the facts and figures adduced give abundant ground for confidence in our future.

The Financial Statement concluded as follows: —In making this statement I have kept two main objects in view. First, to give a full and intelligible account of our finance; secondly, to show the bearing upon our finance of the proposed constitutional changes.- I am fully aware that even the financial advantages of abolition, and I say nothing of others not less important, are susceptible of far more complete and convincing treatment than they have received at my hands to-night. Indeed, I have assumed that it was my duty rather to indicate than to enlarge upon those advantages. The figures I have adduced do not need much comment. They show beyond doubt that our financial condition is at once sound and exceedingly prosperous. But whoever reads these figures in the light of a knowledge of our political history must be well aware that there is in our finance a disturbing element which one day might—l had almost said which, if .not soon eliminated, inevitably must — lead us into financial disaster. The continued existence of the provinces means the continued and constantly increasing pressure' upon the Government and upon this House for money, in the interest of a locality, without any reference to the necessities of the Colony as a whole. Ido not for a mement deny the public spirit of the gentlemen administering provincial affairs ; I only deplore that this public spirit should be circumscribed- by tlie boundaries of the particular province within which they live. I could easily give instances forcibly illustrating what I have said, and which have occurred within the present week, but I 'am sure they are not needed. It is not necessary that I should prove again what is obvious to everyone who will only open his eyes. Last year this House resolved that the time had come when this great danger in our path -should be removed. This resolve has been approved by the country. The Government have now given it form, and it remains only for the Legislature to give it effect." -