The Hawaiian gazette., 1882-05-10


to which we were only able to give 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 S126.541O5, but Of
this sum S37,759.O3 belongs 10 the road
tax which Is raised in each district. and
can be spent nowhere else so that prac-
tically there Is only balance of SIS. .7S2.O2
which can be dealt with by the Legisla-
trwe. The large balance. S33S.SS04O.
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 S2O702594 and the latter 2,2S2.
1898. The public debt has been reduced
from $3.50, 800 TO S299.2O0
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 II Is needed more
for the purpose of equa'i-iEg than iucreas-
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 i 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 a
different figure The report. however.
does not lay down in what manner the
Minister Of Finance means 10 grapple
with the difficulties before him but it Is
understood that at an early date a bill
viii be brought forward. a special para /
graph Is devoted to the subject of foreign
steamer lines. 4 liberal outlay for tins
Is recommended Fifty thousand dollars
Is asked foTv not for any specific line. but
to be expended IN giving aid TO such
steam lines as may be for the best inner
ests Of tie country" Upon this there
viii be considerable diversity OF opinion
il 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. Ii Is
pointed out that the valuation Of our ex-
ports is made by the exporters themselves. |
and that It 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
4 comparative table shows that all the |
taxes, with the exception Of the horse and |
dog tax, have increased IN value The |
horse tax yielded S5S0.50 less. and the dog |
tax Sl.20S.00 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 4
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 to complicate our ac-
counts. Take the road appropriation. for
instance II was Sl75.OO0. and only Sl4T.-
1909 were expended leaving q 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 S10,f2111 Is tranferred from other
appropriations to this ac-
,ount. There may be some reason for
his but one cannot without explanation
understand ely it Is.
In three cases transfers have been
made Of whole item in the appropriation
nd not of a balance These are the
market at Waikiki $1,000, the landing at
Aawela $1,000. and the cure of lepers
10000 Though the Ministry have only {
cted according to custom in this matter !
appears to rs clear that the remarks
lade last week upon doing away with !
ection five of the Appropriation Bill are
'orth attending to. The Legislature !
artainly never thought when voting these j
Ims that they should be used for any 3
ther purpose. 1t Is true that there are L
mes when it may be necessary to use the i
ubhc funds Ii a manner not contem-
lated by the Legislative body but
stead of giving this power to transfer at :
III as Is done at present the Priv Ii
ouncil might be called upon to grant b
lie necessary power IN times of emery 4
lcy Moreover the exact reading of q
ection seems to US merely to sanction
slances and not items bodily diverted q
ur system is decidedly loose at present !.
Ie have reason to think that an atfemDt c,
Ill be made 70 put II OF better footing
this parficular L