June 27, 1904 (9th Parliament, 4th Session)

Sir WILLIAM MULOCK.

The report has been published in its present form for years. That form was adopted several years ago, in 1897. The late government went out of office before the report for that year had been signed by the then minister, and it was for me to sign it and present it to parliament. I did not sign it until the accounts had been audited and then I signed. The financial results set forth in that report, so certified, is the beginning of each annual tabulated statement. I am not discrediting previous annual statements, I am not making any comment on them one way or another, they jnay be correct or not, but the auditor did disclose an unsound system applicable I think to previous years. At all events they found a state of affairs applicable to the year 1S95-6, on which they made their findings in a report which was presented to parliament. The report therefore of 1895-6 constituted the beginning of this sheet which contains most useful information and information which I venture to say no Postmaster General hereafter will withhold. The reform here inaugurated will he continued from session to session by succeeding Postmasters General, whether the facts are to the credit or discredit of the administration of the day, just as the public accounts, showing the revenues and expenditures, the deficits and surpluses of the governments, are set

forth in a tabulated statement so that at a glance a person may obtain a correct idea as to the actual financial results of the operations of a department.
The report states that:
The total net revenue of the Post Office from all sources, excluding that from the Yukon and Atlin districts, shows an excess over the previous year of $478,001.65, and the total gross revenue exceeded that of the previous year by $523,339. The expenditure of the department, excluding that of the Yukon and Atlin districts, exceeded that of the previous year by $87,842.68.
Then at page A-4, my hon. friend will find that the total net revenue from all sources including that from the Yukon and Atlin districts shows an excess over the previous year of $478,001.65. and total gross revenue exceeds that of the previous year by $523,329. The expenses of the department, excluding that of the Yukon and Atlin districts exceeds that of the previous year by $87,842.68. The hon. gentlemen will see that the revenue from the post office in the Territories named is $31,704.76, and the expenditure from under the expenditure column is $134,318.84.
Deducting, therefore, the revenue of $31,704.76 from the expenditure of $134,318.84 leaves a deficit on the workings of the post office in the Yukon and Atlin districts of $102,614.08.
Last year my estimates were passed after the close of the fiscal year 1902-3, and I therefore gave these figures to parliament. I stated then that the financial results of the year were, speaking without giving the exact figures-they will all be found in the ' Hansard '-that we had balanced up our accounts for the year, and that including a loss on the Yukon of $102,000, the department left in the treasury for the Consolidated Revenue Fund, $292,000. That is a net clean surplus over and above all expenditures on the service, the Atlin and Yukon surpluses included ; leaving out the loss on the Yukon and Atlin services, the surplus for the year was in round numbers, $395,000. I have no doubt my hon. friend was in, the House when I stated that and that he was as gratified then as he is today at this result. My hon. friend asks why' we have, heretofore left out the Atlin and Yukon transactions. It is not excluded. It is as plain as it can be made on the face of the report itself, but for the purpose of comparison, service with service, it has heretofore been left out. The old government did not include it in the general summary because they had no Yukon and Atlin services and therefore had no Yukon and Atlin deficits.