SUPPLEMENTARY Financial Statement.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VII, Issue 2067, 13 August 1885, Page 2

SUPPLEMENTARY Financial Statement.

Sir' Julius Yoqel said : Mr Hamlin,—lt will be remembered -that the proposals of the 'Budget resulted in an anticipated surplus of L 32,168. This result was arrived at after provision was made for paying off £50,000 of the deficit of 1883-4; L(i,B00 on account of the first year's classification of the Civil Service, and L 75,000 for subsidies to local bodies. The House declined to make the changes in the tariff which ■we recommended, which would have left us an addition to the Customs revenue of about £70,000, Certain alterations which wero made iti the Bill providing for an amendment of the succession duties will involve a reduction of the stamp revenue of about L 30,000. Ido not feel it safe also to rely on quite so much revenue from the railways as was anticipated. They will realize more if the price of grain rise, but as it is, 1 think it safer to be prepared for & less amount of net revenue than'was anticipated. The loss from this source is set down at L 47.000, which means less receipts to the extent of £60,000, and less expenditure to the sum of L 19.006. We have, therefore, the Budget disturbed to the extent of Customs , revenue, £7o,ooostamps, £30,000 ; Railways (net, including reductions of expenditure and receipts) £47,000; total, £147,000. The supplementary estimates will not, I anticipate, exceed £12,000, so that I shall , have i to provide in all from various sources, £159,000 to make up the amount. The surplus, to which I have previously referred, at once provides £32,000, and it has already be.en announced that the Government intend not to provide for the deficit of 1883-84 this year. I shall ask that the Deficiency Bills already 'authorised for this deficit be extended until the 30th June 1887. It has also been stated that we propose to charge to the Public Works Fund L 25,000 on account of external defence. The statements which have been; made as to the falling off of revenue are grossly inaccurate. For example, I have seen it stated that for the three items of customs,.railways and stamps, the revenue actually collected for four months, ending on July 31st, is less by L 70,000 than the estimate revenue. The fact, however, is that on these three items the loss on the estimated amount for the four months is only L 21,000. Some part of the receipts, however, include customs revenue paid in anticipation of increased duties. Viewing all the conditions, I have thought it prudent to provide for the diminished revenues which I have already stated,' although these reductions are notably larger than on the receipts of the first four months. It is with regret I announce that the Government do not feel themselves justified in proceeding with the classification of the Civil Service this year, seeing the extent to which their anticipations of revenue have been disturbed. They do not think it would be acceptable to the House or to the country that they should undertake for the next few years the liability to additional expenditure, which classification in any shape would undoubtedly entail. The House must, however, remember that a certain amount of increase on present salaries is demanded in bare justice to many ill paid ofiicers. Instead of the LGSOO increase they proposed to ask, they will ask for L 2,500, One thousand pounds of this amount' ■they propose shall be allocated to the Post Office, and the balance to other Departments, but in no case to officers whose salaries exceed L 250 a year. The Government feel as strongly as possible the desirability of retrenching the expenditure to the utmost extent possible, consistent with efficiency. As I pointed out when I made the Financial Statement, the costly nature of the Civil Service depends largely upon the conditions with which officers' appointments are hedged round. What with leaves of absence, and allowances, the dispensing with officers is attended with extra expenditure for a considerable period, and the cases are numerous in which officers already in the service cannot be interfered with; but we shall bring in aßill providing for different terms of engagement for officers taken into the service after the passage thereof. The amalgamation of large departments will be another source of economy which should be kept in mind when Under-Seci'otaries retire. Another plan we have in view which will conduce both to economy and efficiency, is to train up cadets into an acquaintance with the duties of several departments, with a view of amalgamating the duties of officers in different parts of the colony, and lessening their number. We have carefully searched the estimates over with the object of finding items for saving expenditure. I regret to say we are not able to do much. We are willing to reduce the rate of Armed Constabulary and Defence by £IO,OOO, and I think we may save some thousands in the expenditure of other departments, without, however, taking less votes than those set down, It will be necessary instead of making the Property tax § to add an eight, and to make it seven-eights of a penny. I may observe also that under the new Property Assessment Bill it is expected that £IO,OOO will be added to the amount of property tax estimated in the Financial Statement. I have already ?liown we require to make up L 159,000 for diminished revenue, and for supplementary estimates, The various items in aid of this to which I have separately referred, may now be summed up as follows: —surplus: shown by Financial Statement L 32.000, part of deficit 1883-84 postponed, L 50,000, external defence charged to Public Works fund L 20,000, Savings in armed constabulary and defence LIO,OOO, reductions in vote for Civil Service classifications L4OOO, Property Tax under-estimated LIO,OOO, Property Tax, additional one-eight of a penny L 47.000, total L 178.000. This will leave a surplus of L 19,000 after providing for the supplementary estimates to the extent of L 12,000, and I hope they will not exceed that amount. I would have preferred adhering to the arrangements proposed by the Budget, and I believe to have done so would have been more for the interest of the colony. The substitute, however, of an additional eighth of a penny to the Property Tax is not very onerous, and with its aid we have the right to expect a small surplus at the end of the year.