The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. THURSDAY, JULY 30. 1891. THE CONDITION OF VICTORIA.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XII, Issue 2419, 30 July 1891, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. THURSDAY, JULY 30. 1891. THE CONDITION OF VICTORIA.

The finances of the colony of Victoria are m a most deplorable state. It is evident that the real state of affairs has been concealed for years past by the' " bolstering-up " of successive Treasurers, by which means fictitious surpluses were shown m the annual budgets. This year, under a new diinistry, the bubble has burst. The extrayagant estimates of revenue formed by his predecessor have been nowhere approached, and a deficit of nearly £800,000 has to be met, while the ensuing year's estimates show a prospective further deficit of .£163,000, with a further deficiency of over half a million on the railways account. The recently published quarterly banking returns showed a great shrinkage m business, and commenting on ■-thorn a correspondent writes :— "The colony is passing through one of those seasons of depression which all countries have occasionally to face. The depression is rather widely spread, but this is clv: to the great area of the outbreak of speculation m 1887 and 1888, and ihe magnitude of the liabilities carelessly assumed. The liquidation of the difficulties resulting from the collapse progresses slowly, but until it has reached ano her stage or two, we cannot see what ground there is for expecting a real recovery. The colony is not only paying the penalty of a boom which for the time rose to a far higher 1 point than was justified by even an extraordinarily large influx of borrowed money, but it is suffering tYoin a singular want of vitality m its export trade. The position of that trade is roughly indicate I by the statement that svhilefor the the.ti veyear^ .1881 to 1885, Jie exports amolmted to ■£80,446,009 ; m the succeeding five years, 1886 to 1890, they amounted to only £63,001,000, the very large decrease of £17,445,000 being shown. This pronounced tendency to a decrease m exportation has to be fairly met. It must, of course, be admitted on the other hand that the volume of the internal trade of the colony has greatly expanded. The character of the returns will be seen from the principal movements for the quaitei'—viz.. a decrease of £282,945 m advances, a decrease of £801,291 m deposits, and a decrease of £81,710 m the note circulation." The only veinerly is strict economy for the present and future, to atone for the very extravagant past, and though this will be ; •i very distasteful policy to the vast horde of unnecessary employees m the Government service, the Ministry appears to have strength and courage to carry it out. We wish our neighbor—who has al>vays been ready to ijive us good advice m our financial troubles--well out of her sad state of embarrassment.