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was $61,938.71. Compared with the corresponding period of 1879 ($58,357.21)
this shows an increase on year of $3,581.50.
Total stamp revenue for the current year
My estimate of the for 1880, $115,000,
will therefore probably be exceeded.
2.
The details of the comparative statements of 1879 and 1880 show that
the largest item of decrease is under the head "Transfer of shares in Company". The revenue in the first six months of 1880 was $4,605.50 whereas in the same period of 1879 it is only $1,422.50. The decrease of revenue under this item is not, however, to be regretted, as it indicates a decline in the spirit of gambling in local young men.
It is generally believed that two of the Chartered Banks, so far from discouraging this gambling, gave advances on their own or other shares in such a way as to tempt clerks in commercial houses and Officers in the Army and Navy to indulge in speculative operations that in some cases involved ruin.
3.
The increase of $2,746.75 under the head of conveyances or assignments,
and the increase of $1,653.85 in the small tax payable on bank notes, point to the continued prosperity of the native