CO129-545-2 Government House and city development scheme 13-10-1933 - 12-1-1934 — Page 12

Sir,

Suclosure no 6.

2

I rise by Your Excellency's command to

move the first reading of a Bill intituled "An Ordinance to apply a sum not exceeding $27,029,235 to the Public

Service of the year 1934".

The Budget for the present year was

described by the Colonial Secretary as "colourless".

พ

The Budget I am not submitting does not, I fear,

contain any large amount of colour either. This will probably come as an unpleasant surprise to many in

this Colony.

high hopes

I do not refer to those who have built

hopes as high as reduction in taxation

-

on the monthly financial statements issued by the Treasurer. These statements have to be reviewed in the light of our experience of the movements of the revenue and expenditure over a whole year. Our income is largest in the first half of the year our expenditure in the second half. But apart from the somewhat mis- leading figure of $16,000,000 which these fluctuations have caused to appear as surplus in the statement for May, this Council may have some difficulty in appreciat- ing the grounds for the Government's attitude of res- traint when it is seen that the estimated surplus of assets over liabilities at the end of 1933, is now put at over $13 millions instead of the $10,600,000 odd antici- pated in the Estimates for 1933. But the fact is that our revised estimate of Revenue for 1933 - $33,027,000 con- tains two abnormal items; first a sum of 18 lakhs in death duties from Lord Inchcape's estate and secondly a sum of $1,250,000 accruing from the sale of a portion of the City Hall site, to which is to be added a sum of $4,000 representing the sale price of the demolished