The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1882-05-10

TIE report of the Minister of Finance,
to which we were only able to give a pass
ing comment last week, most Of our fig
ures being taken from the report Of the
Minister of Interior deserves more ex-
tended notice
We stated that the balance of the past
biennial period was S126,54lO5, but of
this sum S37,759O3 belongs to the road
tax which IS raised in each district, and
can be spent nowhere else so that prac-
tically there is only balance Of SSS,7S2,02
which can be dealt with by the Legisla-
ture. The large balance. S33S,SSO4O,
which the Wilder administration left in
the National Treasury, was needed to
exc out the income of the past biennial
period for we see that the actual receipts
are less than the expenses the former
being S2,070.25994 and the latter S2,2S2.
59933 The public debt has been reduced
from $3.50, 800 to S299.20O
The Minister of Finance points out
that a new tax law is necessary: but in
view of the elastic state of our income he
wisely points out that 1t Is needed more
for the purpose of cqWdliziHg than increas-
ing the revenue" He also in his report
calls attention "to certain inequalities or
irregularities in the assessment Of prop
erty, the occasion of frequent injustice
and dissatisfaction 1t is a good thing
that this is recognized by the Govern
ment. Instances of unjust valuations by
assessors have been noticed in these
columns. There was one celebrated case
in which the same house was assessed to
three different parties and each time at
different figure The report however,
does not lay down in what manner the
Minister of Finance means TO grapple
with the difficulties before him but it Is
understood that at an early date q bill
viii be brought forward A special para
graph Is devoted to the subject of foreign
steamer lines. A liberal outlay for this
is recommended. Fifty thousand dollars
is asked for, not for any specific line, but
to be expended in giving aid 10 such
steam lines as may be for the best inter
ests Of the country" Upon this there
Will be considerable diversity of opinion /;
ii is perhaps not well to enter items on
the Appropriation Bill, worded in so
vague a manner.
Some remarks upon the values of i'm
ports and exports are very pertinent.
Complaint has been made by writers in
San Francisco that our exports are so
largely in excess of our imports. 1t Is
pointed out that the valuation of our ex-
ports Is made by the exporters themselves,
and that 1t Is quite possible that the
returns are not equal to those valuations.
The valuation of imports Is based on the
:" cost where shipped" and no allowance
Is made for the freights, which upon bulky
articles like lumber, Goals, hay" etc, Is
equal to the original cost" Our i'm
ports might be made to appear very much
larger than they do at present that Is.
they might appear at what they cost us
A comparative table shows that all the
taxes, with the exception of the horse and
dog tax. have increased in value The
horse tax yielded S5S050 less. and the dog
tax S1.20SO0 less The Minister states
that there is reason for believing that the
native horses have decreased in number.
but that he Is pretty certain that the dogs
have not. He considers that the taxes on
dogs are not paid in the outer districts, as
the owners are not under the fear of
having their worthless ours destroyed
IS
Looking through the accounts of the
Treasury for the last fiscal period. the
reader cannot but be struck with the mum
Der of transfers Upon the subject Of
transfers generally we spoke last week
They certainly tend o-eoafplicate- ON. &c
counts. Take theroad appropriation, for
instance II Mo- S175 Oa6 g,5 ,,,1,- G1fT
93O.69 We're expended. leaving a balance
which has been transferred to various
other purposes but what renders the
account so striking Is that, notwith-
standing large unexpended balance, the
sum of SlO,72l.11 Is tranfeTTed from other
mexpended appropriations to this ac
count. There may be some reason for
this but one cannot without explanation
understand rhy it Is.
In three cases transfers have been
made of a whole item in the appropriation
and not of a balance. These are the
market at Waikiki $1,000, the landing at
Kawela $1,000. and the cure Of lepers
$4,000. Though the Ministry have only
acted according to custom in this matter
it appears to us clear that the remarks
made last week upon doing away with
section five of the Appropriation Bill are
worth attending to. The Legislature
certainly never thought when voting these
sums that they should be used for any
other purpose. 1t is true that there are
times when it may be necessary to use the
public funds IN a manner not cOntem-
plated 10y the Legislative body but
instead of giving this power to transfer at
will as is done at present, the Privy
Council might be called upon to grant
the necessary power in times of emerg
ency. Moreover the exact reading Of
Section seems to us merely to sanction
balances and not items bodily diverted
Our system is decidedly loose at present. !
We have reason to think that an attempt
will be made to put it on a better footing
in this particular
NOTES.