DUNEDIN.

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 148, 8 December 1870, Page 6

DUNEDIN.

(From our own Correspondent.) At the conclusion of my last letter, I showed that the colonial expenditure for the financial year 1870-71 would exceed the estimated revenue by £324,979— that is, that there would be a deficit of that amount for the year, provided the revenue reached the amount of £1,051,500, as estimated by the Colonial Treasurer. But will the revenue reach that amount? Well, I believe it will not. The following figures show that there has been a gradual decrease in the amount of customs' revenue since 1867, and the amount of imports into New Zealand, for the quarter ending June, 1870, is less by £225,304 than the corresponding quai'ter of the year 1869 ; and that, therefore, there will be a serious deficiency in the estimated revenue for the year 1870-71, if this falling off continues at the same rate till the end of the year : —

TOTAL CUSTOMS BY QUARTERS. 1867 1868 1869 1870 March - £220,183 £194,273 £189,584 £199,664 June - 217,780 192,742 212,574 187,981 Sept. - 196,624 191,603 205,100 ) , nr ~ o7 * Dec. ■- 209,118 209,861 215,674 / 4Ut> ' si} 7 £843,705 £788,479 £822,932 £793,172 TOTAL SPIRIT DUTIES. March - £82,841 £74,557 £73,680 £72,782 June . 94,707 88,208 90,189 80,719 Sept. - 56,3G4 85,501 87.1G7 ) If . Q r ,, # Dec. - 87,104 83.480 81,851 /1&b/ 1&b^ 14 £351,016 £331,746 £332,887 £311,915 SPIRIT DUTIES DUNEDIN. March - £18,541 £16,008 £15,975 £15,235 June - 22,056 20,822 20,776 17.199 Sept. . 17,869 19,488 18,644 ) „ ioa* Dec. • 18,519 19,180 18,084) ai > Ui £76,985 £75,498 £73,479 £63^558 TOTAL CUSTOMS, DUNEDIN. 1869 1870 June - L 52.862 L 44,522 Falling off in spirit duties, Dunedin - 176 p. c. „ other duties - - -14 8 p. c. „ spirits and all duties - 15 - 8 p. c. IMPORTS, ALL NEW ZEALAND. 1869 1870 DECREASE June - L 1,273,625 L 1.048,321 L 225,304 EXPORTS, NEW ZEALAND PRODUCE. INCREASE. June - L 1,054,662 L 1,080,021 L 25,359 .FOREIGN PRODUCE.

L 33.825 . U14,803 LSO,97S Mr. Eeid's motion, referred to in my last, relative to the colonial scheme for the construction of railways, has been carried by the Council ; and consequently the matter will have to be decided by the people at the forthcoming elections as to whether Mr. Eeid and his majority are right in their views regarding the colonial policy of last session of the Assembly, or whether his Honour the Superintendent and the minority are correct as expressed in plain language in Message No. 3, which reached the Council on Saturday last, a copy of which I send you. One paragraph is very significant. It is this: — "If Provincial G-overnment is to stand in the way of peopling the province, developing its mineral resources, and intersecting it by railways, then perish Provincial Government. The Superintendent does not, however, believe that the people of the province are prepared for, or desire, either the one or other of those alternatives."

Whether the people are desirous to "perish Provincial G-overnment" or not, I will not say ; but this I will say, that not only are the people of Tuapeka desirous for the construction of railways, but the people of Dunedin are equally so. Mr. Bastings devoted three days in Dunedin last week in procuring signatures to the Tuapeka petition for the construction of a branch line from Tokomairiro to Lawrence ; and in every part of the city there was the greatest desire expressed for the construction of railways in every part of the province. By whom they are to be done is a matter to be settled by the two bulls, the General and Provincial G-ovemments, and the only hope is, that in their fight the poor frogs may not be trampled on. The Tuapeka petition was presented to the Council by Mr. Eeid, and I believe it stands referred to a Select Committee for consideration.