The Colonial Cost of Taranaki.

Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 3778, 5 February 1881, Page 2

The Colonial Cost of Taranaki.

Very few people have any clear idea of the cost of Taranaki to New Zealand. Those who take the trouble to think about the matter arrive at the safe conclusion that it is an expensive district to maintain, and .so. discard the consideration .-.from closer investigation. There are many services rendered to the Garden ■of New Zealand not separately charged in the estimates, such as judicial, legislative; and others, of which no approximate estimate even can be found without a large amount of trouble #nd care. Putting these services, however, out of consideration, any person taking the estimates, and going through them item by item, and adding them together, will find himself consider' ably, astonised at the magnitude tbe figures assume. JN"o safer guide than the estimates can be taken in arriving at the Colonial cost of Taranaki; inasmuch as what is asked for on them may be taken as a fair indication of what is fairly to be considered the share Taranaki claims of.the public funds. There are only two doubtful items included in the following figures. The amount taken for education is the same as that received by the Education Board of the district in 1879. The other arises in this manner. In page 6 of the Public Works Estimates, it will be seen that there are two sums placed for Eailway Expenditure, One for £117,600 for Foxton to New Plymouth and another of £82,000 from Oarlyle to Waitara. The smaller Bum of £82,000 is the one taken, the other being allowed to go to the colony generally. Charges under the Civil List, special acts of the Legislature and class 1 may be rudely described as amounting to £370,0 0 per annum—an amount not included at all in our calculation.

The Province of Taranaki may be roughly described for statistical purposes as being in acreage less than the one* thirtieth part of .New Zealand where one forty-fifth of its white population reside. The total amount placed on the Estimates for the current financial year for the services to be rendered to Taranaki, including the 9um of £175,000 for contingent defence—a close approximation—amounts to £359,631. Deducting the outlay for contingent defence as: being unusual expenditure in which the expenses of the prisoners are included, we have still the sum of £184.631 asked to be disbursed from the public funds upon 10,000 people. Assuming that tha expenses of Government were the same all over New Zealand we arrive at the remarkable result that no less a sum than £8,308,395 would have to be voted annually by the Legislature for the government and maintenance of the colony, excluding from consideration the interest on our public debt, and the £370,000 per annum for fixed and permanent charges. Should, however, the item of contingent defence be included, the amount would be almost doubled; and our standing annual expenditure would be about £15,000,000 sterling without pro. viding for interest on our debt and fixed charges.

Everyone who has taken the trouble to make any eqairies, knows that it is no new thing for Taranaki to receive the portion allotted to Benjamin. Thus on the basis of the mean population from ]870 to 1879 out of the Loan Expenditure of £14,671,458, Taranaki was entitled to £292,645, and secured £435,509, exclusive of the £200,000 Harbor Board Loan which the Colony will yet have to take over. If the province of Auckland, for instance, had been dealt with out of the loan according to population in the same manner as Taranaki—always excepting the Harbor Loan be it understood—she would have received £9,112,880 instead of the £3,138,965 to which she was entitled. For the nine years ending 1879 the mean revenue of Taranaki has only been £13,832, and in the whole period she has only contributed £124.487 towards her maintenance out of £13,681,167 the whole of the provincial districts have collected. Keeping this remarkable province as the oue forty-fifth part of the Colonial unit, it will be seen that had the other provinces for nine years contributed in revenue in the same proportion as Taranaki, their grosg revenue would have been only £5,601,915 instead of £13,681,167. It will be seen from the first table attached to the. Railway Commissioners Report that the cost of the New Plymouth section of our railways amounted to £181,000. From a very instructive table attached to the Public Works statement of this year, it is shown that the New Plymouth has since its opening, contributed £63 to revenue after paying working expenses—that is a payment of some twenty shillings per month on the capital invested since the line was opened in 1875. F

Ifc was - doubtless a dim consciousness of these facts, and a hazy impression that our war loans were due to the earth hunger of the -Taranaki men, made the member for the Dunstan declare the greatest blessing which could happen to New Zealand^ would be the submerging for twenty-four hours under the sea the whole of the Taranaki district, and thus at once, and forever getting rid of the unprofitable iroa sand, Te Whiti, hi« followers, and the Armed Oonstabular^^ the member for Grey and Bell, the Continuous Ministry Colonial Treasurers, and predict, if such an event happened, JNew Zealand then would be a desirable habitation for civilived and rational men. The expenditure though large comprises not the whole of the cost. A loss of National and Colonial honor has accrued - through the earth-hunger of Taranaki men The constitutional rights of hei- Majesy'g subjects have been taken away to gratify the cupidity of the Taranaki Harbor Board. Our Colonial credit has been impaired by the deliberate misrepresentation of the state of our finances by a Taranaki Colonial Treasurer. The honor of the Crovrn hasbeen besmirched with complicity in fraud, and the Representative of otir Lady the Queen in New Zealand ha 3 been induced to prostitute his high 'functions, and posi. tion, in order that the landmarks of a weak race might be removed to gratify the hatred of an ignorant and greedy section of the community dwelling in Taranaki;