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FINANCIAL.
As must ot necessity be the case with all
young communities, a considerable poition o£
the supplies flowing into the Treasury consist*
of the proceeds of Joaus. Hence the- sums to
ucivdu uj mo uuveruuueub may ue rauaeu unuer
two distinct heads, the General Iteveuue aud!
amounts raised in the English money market
by the sale of South Australian bonds,
pealing first of all with the General Hcrenne,
it may be classed under three or four distinct
subdivisions. This can be most readily illus
trated by a reference to tbe figures for the year
1878 appearing in the appendix. It should ba
noted that the financial year closes on June 30,
but for the sake of uniformity tbe returns
relating to finances, as well as the other statis
tics, are made up for the natural ye-r. Foe
1878 the total General Bevenue was £1,592,035. ?
Of this amount £434,919 was derived troiu
the sale of Crown lands. The «y«tcnj
of disposing of these lands, whiuii hui
been in force for several years, is else
where fully explained ; aud it will bo sulli
cient here to state that of the sum- just named
£16030 was paid into tbe Treasury for iutcrest
on credit aalei, £274,710 on account of siles fur
cash and first and subsequent instalments oi
purchase-money of credit selections. Tha
amount raised by taxation was £519,'J5J, of
which £7,798 was received on account at l»ro
bate and Succession Duties, and' the balauco
from Customs and Excise. The very trifling
return yielded by Probate and Succession Duties
is explained by the fact that the Act imposing
them was only passed towards the end o£
1870, and it bad not been sufficiently long ia
operation to admit of the probable averngu
receipts from this source being reached. Ano
ther division of the revenue coutlaU of tha
sums received for services rendered. Thus,,
lfcalways and Tramways yielded £274,703, tho
Postal and Telegraph Departments produced
£116,097, the Waterworks £41,738, and farina
£12,150. Under another division tbe renti
of Crown lands leased to the squatters
brought in £73,733. The other sources
of revenue consist of rents of land
set apart for educational purposes, business
licences, reimbursements-in-aid, aud miscel
laneous. The expenditure of the General
Revenue is authorized in tbe usual way by aa
appropriation Bill. Tbe total outlay for 1878
was £1,620,310. It is understood that the Laud
Fund should be appropriated to public works,
immigration, and tbe redemption of the nati -oul
debt, for public works tbe outlay was
£279,943, for immigration £70,010, for redemp
tion of bonds £34,0(10, and for survey, &e.,oE
Crown lands £(J0,198. The interest ou
the bonded debt ubsorbed £244,050, railways
and tramways, that is fur working expuuaut
and maintenance, £198,081 ; the 1'osul and
TeleRrapb. services, £146,796; and E-.luantiou,
£i)2,909. Tbe other particulars of expenditure,
do no j call for any special remark, as they
consist of the ordinary items of outlay require (
for the maintenance of Government in a
civilized community.
The tariff now in force was passed in the
year 1876. A short time back South Aus
tralia could claim to be the most lightly
taxed per head ot any of the Australian
colonies, though at the present time we believe
this is not the case. As, however, nearly the
whole of the taxation is raised .by means oE
Customs duties, and tbe existing tariff is cal
culated to bring iu, upon tbe whole, a xlightly
lower revenue than the one which it super
seded, the higher rate of taxation per heid may
be accepted as an indication of th,o growing
prosperity of the country rather tbtn the,
reverse. Thus, in 1873 the population was
108,075, and the Customs revenue £ 302,24 8
or nearly £1 16 1. 7d. per bead. Iu 1878
tbe population whs 248,795, and tbe Customs
revenue, £511,453, or about £2 Is. Id. per head.
Including Probate and Succession Duties the
total taxation per head last year was not quita
£2 Is. Cd. Thus tbe increase in the rate of con
tribution during tbe la«t five years is owing
almost entirely to the large consumption of
dutiable goods, and not to the importation of
additional burdens. The tariff his been pasted
for tbe purpose of raising a revenue and not witli
a view to protection. A number of article* are
placed on the fixed list Most articles of drapery
furniture, carriages, drugs, earthenware, jewel
lery, certain kinds of leather and leather goods,
stationery and fancy good*, and fish and meat iu
pickle or brine, are placed on the 10 per cent.
ad tmlorem list, and eiigims not exceeding sixty
horsepower and agricultural implement! are
place on tbe 5 per cent, ad valorem lint. Tho
present list was in some respects the re
sult of a compromise, and there in little
doubt that at the next revision the dutiet will
be very much sinnilified still further in the
direction of free trade. The highest duties have
for the most jxirt bivn placed on article* which
can be manufactured in the colony; lrit that
even these are in no *? use prohibitive in proved
by the fact that the imports, and consequently
the duties receivable by the Government, hive
.'-) largely iiicre'iPt'l. Fora lotiij time \nnt tha
fc-'-ling has been grown, ^ that tlie incidence of
taxation needs to Ik- reinitiated. Tho uucesiity
for additional n\ti.:y in coiinviuence of tha
growiug recjuireiiuii'' or tl;.; toloi.y o.vin^ ta
the rapid tximi---'m ol srttl--ia--nt tiint
Las taken pLvti fur mmih-h a fit.- in.; ojijwr
tuiiity for undi-rth!;ii:^ thin t;«k. Ti, : -;-iwrti-
ruei-t are j/rnpoMiij; thii j-,-nr to u ?- k tho
authority oi Parlinnii-i.t for the irupu--it:oa of a
Ktti'.il property niid lurowu tu ; m,d it ie
ir.tciitkJ to employ tiie ixtra sum U,,n r,iH» I
I ??irily aa an Bi»l tu ruvrti-je and j.irMy for t!i-»
I'npose of niivkiiif! B'JO.l ai.y rc:uirwij:iH or
rt-CTittiotH in the C^toj^s.
A wor.l or fA'j ! ?'«?? .--?- to the n:»( i..v;..! ilo'.f.
Ti,t- r;;oLiy tL;-) l.'!i(:Wr-l i.s (.?!n|,;..-.i ..1 in
carrjiiij: large ptiiA'i - v.uri.h (,'u-h as ruii .»,.-?* nn 1
t*l- gra^liH. lUhy -i their will, t;., .!..-iV,
ultimately i.ot oi.'.' piy for Tir»ii:^-iii-r---
wcrkirf; f-xpeaefs, kikI iiitrnct on t--\-\ iy, Int
Mill alto yield a profit. At first it i* i:u]i'.)-.iili!o
ti vy can do »0. In tin- meant-irri'. Luwevrr,
they are 6 very direct wl vantage to the- country,

Tbe remoter districts are opened and developed,
the value of property is increased, and facilities
are afforded for bringing the produce of the
toil to a market or: port cf shipment. .. Within
the : List five years the public ' debt
has advanced very rapidly. On December 31,
rS73, it stood at £2,174,900. On December 31,
1S7S, it had grown to £6,640.400. It should be
explained, however, that this amount included
bonds to the value of over a million and a
quarter forwarded to London before December
31, but sot actually Fold until after that date.
Ac one time the bonds issued bore interest at
6 per cent.; subsequently the rate was reduced
to 5 per cent, and for the last six years ail the
debentures have been made to bear 4 per cent,
interest. The total debt on December 31, 1378,
after deducting the value of bonds redeemed,
stood as follows: —
Eearicg interest ate per cent. ... £1,493,300
Do. do. do. 5 per cent. ... 300,000
Do. do. do.4 per cent. „ 4,752,100
£6,640,400
In rxj-Utation of tbe rapid increase in the
I nblic dt be during the last few years, it slio lid
be stattd that what ia commonly known as rhe
Boucaut policy included plans for openiag up
the more distant lands by the carrying out of
n ilways and other public works to be paid
for by means of borrowed J capital. In
the main the money raised has [ been
wisely expended, and there can be no doubi
that an impetus has been given to the progres
cf the colony by the spirited and compre
becsive policy initiated by 'the present Mr
Justice Boucaut when he was Premier in 1375. In
addition to the bonds already issued Parliament
has given authority for the raising of further
loans amounting together to £3^94,600^ The
question may naturally be asked — What is there
to show for this indebtedness? In tbe first place,
the amount due at the close of 1S78 by credit
selectors was £4,219,405. The - value of- the
public works of the colony is estimated at
npwards of £7,000,000. Hence the 'country
can show a security of more than £11,000,000
for the£6,&40,4G0 owing. This, however, is only
one vitw of the case. Within judicious Iimit3,
which have certainly not yet been exceeded, the
outlay of borrowed capital in the directions indi
cated affords direct help to the developments the
country, as is shown by the growth in tbe
revenue to which we have referred. Altogether
it rcny without boasting be said that in its fiscal
policy and in the' nature of the security it can
tiler to the British capitalist South Australia
stands second to none of the Australian pro
vinces. ;
This article would not be complete with
out a reference to the Banks established
in the colony and the trade done by
them. We have now some eight Banks
established here, two of them being essentially
local institutions. In 1861 the deposits, bearing
and not bearing interest, lodged at the several
Banks reached a total of £743,738 ; in 1874 they
were £2,237,524 ; in 1878 they were £3,378,863.
The total average assets have always shown an
ample margin over the liabilities. In 1S6*9 the
liabilities of the various Banks were £1,696,331,
and the assets f 3,478.1 65; in 1874 the figures were
respectively £2,714,212 and £4,736,675 ; and in
1878 £3,984,595 and £7,058,738. The Savings
Bank returns give ample evidence of the pru
dence and thriftiness of the community. ; The
institution was founded in 1847 and is managed
by a Board of Trustees appointed by the
Governor. In 1S48, with a population of 38,000,
the deposits amounted to £5,313 ; in 1S53 the
amount had increased to £51,355; and the
figures fcr every fifth year subsequently are as
follows ;— 1S58, £63,881 ; 1863, £189,144 ; 1868,
£3L2,72S ; 1S73, £709,343 ; and in 1678, £993,721.
The number of depositors has increased from
214 in 154S to 29.088 in 1378, and the average
amennt r.t the credit of each depositor has
augmented from £24 16s. 7d. in 1848 to £34 3s.
3- . in 1S7S. The rate of interest declared has
vailed fr&m 1 per cent, to 6 percent. For the
year just closed the rate was 5k per cent.; The
Bank has £453,732 lent on mortgage and £295,396
invested in Government and Corporation
eecurities.

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