22 STATE BORROWING. 



PART II.— THE WRONGFULNESS OF CHARG- 

 ING PRINCIPAL OF COSTLY ORIGINAL 

 WORKS OF CONSTRUCTION TO THE CON- 

 SOLIDATED REVENUE, AND THROUGH 

 IT UPON THE TAXPAYERS EXISTING IN 

 THE. YEAR WHEN SUCH HEAVY EXPEN- 

 DITURE WAS CONTRACTED. 



The injustice to the taxpayer of the day, and the 

 utter impossibihty of the Government of the day to 

 continuously adjust its schemes of taxation to suit the 

 revenue needs of each year, as a consequence of any 

 attempt to charge the Principal Original Costly W^orks 

 of Construction, Expenditure such as Railways, Jetties, 

 and Harbours, is best illustrated by comparing the effect 

 upon the taxpayers of each year in Tasmania, were the 

 burden of original cost wholly concentrated upon the 

 Consolidated Revenue of the year, instead of, as was 

 done, THE INTEREST BURDEN OF THE 

 AGGREGATE CAPITAL INVESTED. This method 

 alone enables a Government to spread the burden of 

 the capital over present and future taxpayers equitably, 

 in proportion to the benefits they respectively derive 

 yearly, arising from the valuable assets created by the 

 original capital investments which are continuously pre- 

 served in their pristine condition by the yearl}- main- 

 tenance renewals and repairs, which, with other ordi- 

 nary working expenses are, and should alone be, a 

 legitimate c'harge upon the Consolidated Revenue of 

 the year. 



THE PUBLIC DEBT OF TASMANIA. 



The public debt of Tasmania on 30th June, 1906-7, 

 amounted to £9,528,933. £7,528,000, or nearly four- 

 fifths, was created since 1881, in a period of 25 years. 

 Within this period the larger original outlays upon 

 Railways, Roads, Bridges, Jetties, and Harbour were 

 mainly incurred during five particular years — viz., 1884, 

 1886 and 1889, 1890 and 1891. 



The following comparative table illustrates how 

 disastrous and how unjust it would be to the taxpayers 

 of those five years, if it were at all possible to defray the 

 contracted capital expenditure of such necessary public 

 works by a charge of the Principal, instead of interest 

 thereon, upon each year's Consolidated Revenue 

 Fund : — 



