The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. SATURDAY, JULY 17, 1909. THE PUBLIC FINANCES.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2556, 17 July 1909, Page 4

The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. SATURDAY, JULY 17, 1909. THE PUBLIC FINANCES.

Mr. Kent, Chairman of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce, has brought down, upon himself the wrath of the Ministerialist press because ho has dared to state that "the total expenditure of the Dominion for 1908-9 exceeded its total revenue by £584,328.” Mr. Kent has been accused of making a grave "blunder,” but his worst fault appears to be that he stated the facts baldly and bluntly without endeavoring to gloss them over in any way. To make the position clear, the "Dominion” has prepared the two following balance-sheets, the first being the Government’s method of showing the position, the second giving Mr. Kent’s view of it. Shillings an'd pence are omitted : , —Receipts.— £ '■dance at beginning of year ’767,849 Revenue 9,001,185 Recoveries ’ ' ... ... 800 Total ... ... ... 9,769,834 —Expenditure.— Permanent appropriations ... 3,210,030 Annual appropriations '-... 5,575,483 Transferred to Public Works 800,000 Total ... 9,585,513 The credit balance thus shown from the Government’s point of view is £184,321. The surplus, it will be remembered, was stated to be £184,320 19s sd, but for tlie sake of simplicity wo are dealing in pounds only. Now for Mr. Kent’s estimate for tho year’s working : —Receipts.—• £ Revenue . 9,001,185 ——-Expenditure* £ Permanent appropriations ... 3,210,030Annual appropriations ... 5,575,483 Transferred to Public Works 800,000 Total 9,585,513 There is a debit balance here on the year’s working of £584,328. Mr Kent, it will be seen, has omitted tho £767,849 brought forward from the previous year and also the £BOO of recoveries from tho previous year. These ho claims are not really part of the year’s revenue. > On the actual revenue and expenditure legitimately chargeable to the year ho shows a- working loss of over half-a-million. To put the position in another way, the year began with a credit of £767,849, and it ended with a credit still, but very much reduced, namely to £184,321. There is nothing really new in Mr. Kent’s figures, but they display tho Dominion’s financial condition in a much clearer light than when the tables are so arranged as to present the inevitable but often misleading “surplus.’’ Sir Joseph Ward was correct in announcing his surplus of £184,321, hut Mr. Kent is also correct when he- says that our expenditure for last year exceeded our actual -revenue by over half-a-million pounds. The position may be unpleasant, but it is as well to know it.