THE COLONIAL TREASURER'S FINANCIAL STATEMENT.

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 125, 30 June 1870, Page 5

THE COLONIAL TREASURER'S FINANCIAL STATEMENT.

(By Electric Telegraph.) Wellington, June 28. Through the courtesy of the General Government, we were, yesterday morning, put in possession of the Colonial Treasurer's Financial Statement made in the House of Representatives on Tuesday evening. The message occupied six hours in transmission, being from 10 o'clock on Tuesday night to 4 o'clock on Wednesday morning. We regret the statement is far too lengthy for us to give in its entirety ; we shall therefore condense it as best we can, The Annuities Life Insurance Act had been brought into operation with g,eat success. The total debt on Colonial account, less Sinking Fund was £4,200,000, of which £528,000 was represented by bills, which bills would remain a floating debt until November, 1874. After paying liabilities and engagements of last year, and £150,000 Treasury bilk there would remain a surplus of £76,000 for the present year. That amount being exclusive of £60,000 overdraft which had had not been paid off. The Trust Fund was in a satisfactory condition, as also the Post-office Savings' Bank account. The Special Fund account was very complicated, owing to a nminber of old balances. It was believed L 25,000 would be recoverable from this fund to be paid over to the consolidated revenue. Only an estimate could be made for nearly the whole of the present quarter. All liabilities payable on account of the year's service being included, there would be an expenditure of £74,000 in excess of votes, but in other votes there had been a saving of £12,000. This L 74 ,000 included £40,000 expended by special order for defence purposes, and possibly another £10,000 might require to be paid before all liabilities for the year for Defence purposes were satisfied. Although incurring the expenditure of £40,000 in addition to the £200,000 voted for Defence purposes was illegal. Still the earliest opportunity of summoning Parliament together hiul been, taken to explain the position of affairs. The total expenditure would exceed the total receipts by £45,000, but against this, it must be recollected that the expenditure included £24,000 advanced to Southland - y £15,000 for Wanganui bridge ; £10,000 for Patea settlement ; and £25,000 for roads in North Island. Referring to the colonizing operations which the Government proposed bringing into, operation, the Treasurer said the great want of the colony was public works, in the shape of roads and railways and immigration, the two being mostly allied. It was proposed to enable this province (Wellington) of North Island to acquire a landed estate to the amount of £200,000, the cost to be charged upon the provinces, and the lands or their proceeds to bo used for railways and immigration purposes. It was proposed to spend £400,000 upon roads in the North Island, and to give an equal amount to the Middle Island to be spent exclusively on railways, and to be divided amongst the provinces in, proportion to.receipts from consolidated revenue. The following railway system was contemplated by the Governmenment to be carried out duriug the next ten years. In the North Island from Auckland to Wanganui via Taupo with connection with Napier and New Plymouth, In the Middle Island, from Nelson to Greymouth, and Hokitika., with connections to Westport and to Picton, to Amuri and to Christchurch, Timaru, Oamaru, Waikouaiti, Dunedin, Tokomairiro, Molyneu^, and Whiten, with connections to Tuapeka, Clyde, Cromwell, and Queenstown. Those railways to be commenced from a number of different points, and as soon as possible — the work being continued as traffic demanded. Payment to bo made in money, or by guarantee, or by subsidy, or by land, or by two or more of these modes. The General Government to enter into contracts for construction of lines at the wish of the provinces. It was proposed to authorise £200,000 to be advanced to provinces for water supply on goldfields. £60,000 to be spent in telegraph exten-

sion, and £1,500,000 on immigration. The total expenditure of two millions would be spread over ten years, but it was computed that a great part of that sum would be defrayed out of land, to be represented by guarantee of interest. The total amount proposed to be borrowed was six millions, inclusive of any loan obtained from the Imperial Government. It was gratifying to know that the Commissioners had succeeded in getting an Imperial loan of one million, but as yet the conditions were unknown. Calculations proved that all these proposals could be carried out without any increase in the taxation — indeed, he proposed that the tariff should be reduced ; but even supposing the construction of railways and introduction of immigrants necessitated some direct taxation, after a lapse of three or four years, the benefits would fully compensate for such taxation. He laid it dow as indisputable that immigrants should be carefully selected — that the colony, and not another country, should and must have sole charge of the work, and that the colony would not consent to accept the refuse population of the home country. Jn carrying out these arrangements specially with a view of dealing with the taxation, it became imperative that tho partnership between the provinces and the colony should be dissolved, and a fixed payment per head of population substituted'; but in order to preserve existing relations, it was desirable that the charges upon provinces should capitate just as at present, and the capitation allowance would be simply a substitute for the moiety of revenue. It was proposed that the allowance should be £2 per head first year, and be reduced 2s a year for five years, the allowance then remaining at 30s per head. The Government proposes that £50,000 should be allocated annually to provinces in proportion to their population, to divide or subsidies as to road districts ; the use of that sum for the special purpose to be carefully guarded, and the early distribution to be approved by Assembly. The proposed payments to provinces, including the L 50.000 for road districts, would be L 52,000 more than the provinces had received this year. A statement of eh irged showed how very unequally and unfairly the present system had worked — for under it Canterbury had been an extiaordinary loser ; Westland had be >n a gainer of L 8,40 0; Taranaki, LG,GOO ; Wellington, L 8,900 ; Nelson, L 8,500 ; Marlboruugh, L 5,400 ; Otago and Southland together, L 2,600. The Treasurer then referred fco the tariff. He proposed at once to give a bonus upon the importation of Australian wines, and while proposing an increase of duty on some articles, he also proposed a reduction on others. (Here the Treasurer enumerated the various articles) With regard to the Defence expenditure, the Government propose in future to defray that expenditure out of borrowed money. That promise should be taken for five years— the amount for first year being £180,000 ; second year, £160,000, and for each of the three following years £] 50,000. The expenditure for the ensuing year i 3 estimated at £489,000, for General Govfrninent purposes, fnd £414,000, for provincial services ; the latter sum to come out of £516/00. Total estimated expenditure L 1,050,000,, 050,000, against an estimated revenue of L 1,056,000, 056,000 leaving a surplus of five or six thousaud pounds. From various sources an additional sum of L 72,000 can be made available for the year, making a surplus of L 78,000. Tlie Treasurer intimiated |fchat the Government were prepared to sta^cl or fall, or go to the country on their proposals. He hoped honourable members would not permit any feelings entertained against the Government to interfere with the considerations of the proposals submitted, which it wa3 believed would raise the colony from its present depressed state to one of prosperity, and enable the people of the colony to do justice to its large resources. We must thank Mr. Buck, our Lawrence telegraphist for putting us in possession of the above message immediately after its transmission.