THE FINANCIAL STATEMENT.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1904, 18 September 1884, Page 3

THE FINANCIAL STATEMENT.

The following is the concluding portion of the Statement, the first part of which will be found on our fourth page :— The production of beet sugar is now so perfected that it is made economically all over Europe. Even without artificial restriction, civilisation conquer in the end. Theproducoofonocultui in! labouier will exceed that of ten savage-. Manufacture* may want a stimulus by assuuug it some advantige in the shape of fieedom from excise duties for a term of ycais, and the is not much to give. None of the colonies favours heavy e\ci-e duties, and few have any at all woithy of mention. The wine in Victoiia and New South Wales, and the sugar in Queensland are notable examples. Sugar has done as much for Queensland as its vast sheep and cattle lands. We propose to pass an Act declaring that the sugar piodiic<Hl in the colony shall be exempt fiom excise duty for a teini of years, and that the piesent nnpoit duty shall not be 1 educed. It may al-o be necessary to give a bomus for the hitt few bundled tons made in the colony. Let mo now gather up the tin pad of my remarks. We have seen that if no mike no change we have a deficiency of J2~>>,('n'2, but if we aie content not to 1 educe om debit tins year we may lccovei an cxpendi ture of £244,000, leaving us a sm plus of £191,348, but that thine is an undeistanding not to pi oss the question this session. I should lecommend a late, not a l.uge one, to meet the cost of chautable lolief and hospitals, together with a few additions to the stamp duties, and the totil abolition of the propei ty tax with its ci tishmg ettcct upon the prog'iess of the colony. As it is, we propose to icducc the piopeity tax by one half, namely, to thieo-eighths of a penny, eliminating the balances of lash year. The reduction of one half will amount to £131,000. When we deduct this remission fiom the surplus of £lUI,3I<S, which I have just stitod, wo shall have a surplus of £00,348 at the cud of the financial year, which may bo i educed by the supplinientary estimate- foi public woiks. I now come to the question of the Public Works Fund. I .shall deal with it without forestalling my colleague, the Minister foi Public Works. It is my task to find the money, his to «pend it. I have aheady stated we shall want £100,000 additional this month, and additional m each succeeding month until the thud million of the 1882 loan is laired. My piedeccssor had made arrangements for the di-posal of another £1(50,000 deficiency bilK, foi authority to issue winch he proposed to ask the llousp. I am nappy to say I shall not reqnne to tioublo the House to give this additional authonty. I have made auangeiucnts to obtain half a million in anticipation of the million loan next year, to be supplied to us as we want it. What possible good can there be in coming to the House foi dnblets of £100,000 when we know the existing liabilities lequiie h\e tunes as much for satisfaction ? Besides legislation is unnecessary About £1)00,000 of the thiee million loan will have been spent on open railways, about £T)0,000 will have boon consumed in the chaiges of i awing the loan ; m shoit, theie will be little if any ( f the thud million left when it is laired. I will icfrain from exciting the susceptibilities of my lion, friend opposite by commenting on the deplorable mannei which his tin ee million loan scheme h.'s luoken down. We ca'inot afford to leave loads unmade, Native Land puichases uncompleted, the goMhelds neglected, fragments of railways scitteicd over the countiy to lot away; wo must bonow moie, and the qne--tion is Mh.it shall be the amount 9 Th 2 gentlemen who have done hip the honour to think, oi rather, I slinrld say, to piet»nd to think that my only pohev. is boii owing, have cnculated iep uts that 1 intend to piopose ten or fifteen millions. Indeed, one gentlom vi went as high as twenty five millions, but he dwells in a lake and hilly distnct wheie, amongst the wondeis of natme, the imaginative faculty is <~,\u\ to beabuoiinally developed. Tins, Sir, I _ believe, is the plank on which my hon. fiiends and well wisheis opposite propose to letuin to ofhee. When tliev liave heaid what I have to siy, I fear, like Edgxi Poe's laven, they will be inclined to utter a '"nevei moic." We shall ask authonty to laisc ,vi additional million," lulf of which shall leplace the amount abstracted horn the tin eo million loan. Hon. menibi'is who have followed theremaiks I have just made about the loan, will sej the new loin is only putly for the cm lent year. It is chiefly foi expendituie aftei the end of the financial year. If they wish to avoid futuie fiascos they must n> >t spend one veiii and boiiow next, but bonow as p\penditnie has to be met. But it is impoitant. m view of the opeiations to which I liave lefened as now pending in the London m.uket, and fuither operations that will be n.^ccssai y in the diection of convpision, that we sliould as mucli as possible limit oui boil owing just now. We may. pei haps, as I have aheadv said, liberate a laige ainonnt of the* Sinkin? Fund, which will be available for votes of the House. It is not finable, however, to fix a time for the lpsiilt of the conveision which has to be affected to s\nt the maiket, and the tune it will take cannot be accurately fixed. As u'g.uds fmthei bonow ing, we mu-t in a gre it measuip bo guided by the inciease m oui power of .meeting the annual chaigps. Depend on it, we have the nqhtto look each veai foi a Luge natuial inciease in the levcnue. I present to the committee an lnteiesting table showing tlie levenue each thud yeai over a peiiod of twelve yeais. I do not pretend that it ace.uately piesents the natuial inciease because there have been changes in iatcand modes of raising levenue, but on the whole it gives the idea that theie is a gieat natural increase on which lehance may be placed if effmts nic not made to dv\ uf the material piogiess of the colony. Without unduly forstalbng the communication my colleague will make m his Public Woiks Statement I must call the attention of lion, membeis to some pmnt& which have acquired pccuhai inteiest on account of the reference made t> them m the Speech from the Throne. It is absolutely necessaiy that membeis should be leasonable in their demands for the prosecution of l.ulways, in the inteiest, I will not say of economy only, but piudence and common sense. Railways must be earned on with the object of obtaining eailyrp turns as the work piogiessos. I will say a few words concerning the lailvvays specially mentioned in the Royal Speech. We still adhere to the opinion that the North Island Ti unk Railway is of supieme impoitance, and nr.ustbe proceeded with asiapidlvaspov -sible. We iccogni'-c the necessity of obtaining large blocks of land along the line of route, and making them the subjects of special settlement. I legard the tunes as exceptionally oppoitnne. I may mention the Utago Central and a slmit piece that will pi ice the Napier lino in connection with Wellington. We shall intioduce a bill to authoiise the Government to enter into an agieement with a company or syndicate for the consti notion of a line between the East and West Coasts of the Middle Island. We shall make provision in a bill for authority to enter into an agreement, on the same conditions, with the same or another syndicate or company for the extension of the line fiom Nelson, to connect at some point the East and West line, giving Nelson communication with both coasts. The conditions we shall propose will not be onerous on Government, but they will be sufficiently favouiable to enable, in our opinion, the conti actors to procuie the necessary capital. In these and other future arrangements with private persons for consti uction of railways we shall keep in view that it is desirable all lines in the country should be worked by the Government. There are several subjects indircctiy bearing on finance about which I might have much to say, only that I have already 4 greatly trebpassed on the indulgence of the committee. I must, however, make a reference to the subject of local govern ment. The Colonial Government and Parliament may do a preat deal to push the colony forward, but all their efforts will be incomplete if the arp not seconded by the self-governing institutions .and abilities of the seperate localities. In order that local government should be efficient it must possess considerable freedom or means of , raising revenue and inducements to exercise economy. Railways do not dispense with the necessity of roads and bridges to open up the country. On the contrary, their • success depends on the energy with which arteries to feed them are made available to ' ' their use. There is more need than ever for opening uplands, promoting settlement ; and for constructing means of com- ,, munication in the shape of roads and bridges. For these work the colony must chiefly depend on local efforts. It may assist, and when it does assist, it should effectually. In connection with railways we have in view special settlements within which a great £^ruinber 'of families should be grouped, vj We want to see a large population located • l on the lands of the colony, enjoying its free "^tfrrtitutions, and n°t i« &wl of tlio

security of property being invaded. The present system of local government falls bhort of what the interests of the country requite. We have determined to appoint dming the recess a Royal Commission to enquire into and report on the whole subject. We will not consider the result of the investigation into private propeity. They shall belong to Parliament and to whatever Go\einment is in office. Upon them we hope that ne\t session legislation will bo founded that will vastly improve the present system of local government. Under a. re-instated finance and diminished expenditiue the country will, we are convinced, louse itself from apathy, and spiing forward with leaps and bounds of piogies*. It is a mistake to suppose that borrowed money is the cause instead of a consequence of prospeiity. Long bef oio boi rowed money was being spent in any quantity, after ?ho policy of 1870 was proposed, the colony was replete with progress. With common piudouce we need not have more financial embarrassment. We may banish fiom om minds the philanthropic notions of insnrnnce against pauperism, which might moie conectly be termed insurance of paupeiism. Wo must make our railways as we aic able to do so, without undue piessiire. We must look foiward to the time when" c )]oin-ts will no longei dread additions t<> population m the shape of suitable iminigiants. The Noith Island Tiunk lailway must be pushed on with e\ery possible expedition. It will open to tho colony a new woild. It will be as though it was mci easing byone-thhd its temtoiy. Let us encouiage the piogies-, of nidiistiiL,, whether they be agiicultmal, minoial, pa<>toial, or manufactuiing. Still one tlnng lemains. Tho sy-itein of local go\ eminent must be impioved. The edifice cannot be ciowned without we ha\e a biitisfactmy system of local self-govern-ing institutions. My task is concluded. I wish 1 could ha\e dischaiged it with moie foico and ability. Still, I shall not luwc stn\en in vain if E ha\e succeeded in lmpiessin" mombois with my own stiong coiiMction that the finances of Now Zealand aic not in a condition of difficulty, that they aie suffeiing only fiom miinanagemeiit, that they are elastic and buoyant enough to satisfy the most oxacting financier ; that oppiessho taxation is not requued, and that under pood Government we may safely rely on a progressi\e impiovemeiit of the countiy's rcsouices.

Yes ! It is ceiteiinly true, Ask any of \our fuends who lia\c purchased there. G.ulirk and Cranwell line numerous unasked for .mil veiy favourable i ommend itions from cnuntn rustomeis on then excellent puki'it; of Furniture, Crockcn, and Gl iss Ke Ltclips and gentlemen about to furni-.li should remember tli it (i vrhek .uul Cianwcll's is mi Cheap Furnishing W.ircliousc of Au(kland. Furnituio to suit all classes ; also Carpets, Floor Cloths and all House Nc< es--s.ines If\om new house is neirlj finished, or, you are ffoinff to get married, visit Garlick and Cranwell, Quocn-strcet and Lorne-strect, Auckand. Intending purchasers «n have a catalogue « *nt free