8.—2

III

Zealand, £647,646; advances in the hands of officers of the Government, £60,319; debentures of the loan of 1870 guaranteed by the Imperial Government, £135,300; amount invested in debentures of the New Zealand Government, £44,000; and temporary advances made on certain other securities, £37,600. The balance at credit of the fund on the 31st March, 1881, was £1,860,373; and on the 31st March, 1882, it was £924,865 ; the extent to which it was diminished during the year was therefore £935,508. These figures show that the fund has been carefully husbanded so as to extend the expenditure over the time we had agreed not again to go upon the London market. Honorable members will observe that there was sufficient money in hand on the 31st March, 1882, to carry on Public Works without break or stoppage until about the end of next February, at the same rate at which they have been prosecuted during the last year. Included in the liabilities of the Public Works Eund, at the end of the year, is a sum of £338,876, for purchase of Native lands, particulars of which will shortly be placed before the House by my colleague the Native Minister, Avho will also state the proposals of the Government with reference to our future policy in the purchase of Native lands. In the meantime, I may inform the Committee that the amount which will be required this year to complete the purchase of those blocks, which the Government have decided to acquire, will probably not exceed £100,000. THE PUBLIC DEBT. On the 31st March, 1881, the gross public debt of the colony amounted to £29,165,511, subject to a deduction of £2,057,242 for accrued sinking funds. On the 31st March, 1882, the debt was £29,946,711, and the sinking funds had increased to £2,266,415; the net debt being thus £27,680,293, or £572,024 more than it was in the previous year. This increase of debt is thus explained : Of the Treasury bills which, on the 31st March, 1881, formed a portion of the Public Works Fund, sales to the amount of £431,300 have taken place. These bills had been taken up in 1880 with money standing to the credit of that fund, as there was then a large balance not wanted for immediate expenditure, requiring temporary investment; they have now been sold, and the proceeds paid into the Public Works Fund, as the money was required for works authorized by Parliament. The debt has also been increased during the year by further advances amounting to £364,700 obtained in London upon the security of the debentures of the loan of 1870, guaranteed by the Imperial Government. With reference to the £800,000 Imperial guaranteed debentures I may perhaps remind the Committee that, although in speaking of the amount of the Public Works Eund they are always treated as cash, they have, as a matter of fact, never been sold, but are used to provide a working balance to save interest by borrowing upon them from time to time only such sums as are required, according to the state of the Public Works Eund. I may mention, on the other hand, that the debt has practically been reduced during the year by the addition of £209,176 to the accumulated Sinking Eund, to which has to be added £14,800 for debentures of the North Ofcago District Public Works Loan of 1872 redeemed; the net increase in the total amount of the debt being thus, as I have said, £572,024. SAVINGS BANKS AND THE GOVERNMENT INSURANCE DEPARTMENT. Before I proceed, Mr. Hamlin, to sum up the financial results of the year 1881-82, it may not be out of place for me to state a few facts in connection with the Government Savings Bank and the Life Insurance Department, by way of illustrating the steady progress of the colony, the rapid advancement of these institutions, and the growth of habits of prudence amongst the people during the last ten years. In 1871, with a population of 266,986, the amount standing at credit of open accounts in the Government Savings Bank was £357,654 These accounts were 10,549 in number, and the average amount at credit of each was £33 18s. Id. In the Savings Banks established under "The Savings Bank Act, 1858," the total amount at credit of depositors on the 3.lst December, 1871, was £97,312, distributed over 3,726 accounts, the average amount at credit being £26 2s. 4d. There was thus a total sum of £454,967 in the Savings Banks

Table No. 5.

Table No. 6.