(From our own Correspondent), (By Telegraph.) ~. Wellington, August 12. The financial debate was begun in real earnest thia evening, but so far has not fulfilled the promise of interest it seemed to five earlier in the day ; in fact it has been decidedly dull as yet. Mr Ballanee, who spoke for an hour and a halt, olaimed that the Premier's surplus was largely made up of windfalls and unexpen ded votes, and, after all, £41,000 of it had to go to make good money raised last year by She Primage duty. There was also £54,000 laved in subsidies to local bodies which were not paid this year. He urged that at least three years 1 trial should be given to the tariff before any attempt was made to interfere with it, for nothing could be more detrimen tal to commerce than uncertainty in this natter. He denied that there was anything like the amount of settlement on the land last year that the Government showed, and claimed that most of the land broken up was required by persons already •ettled, who were merely extending their holdings. The Government ought to have given more attention to village settle ments, whioh. would have done away with the unemployed "difficulties, And ought •100 to have encouraged the immigration of ■mall capitalists. Their whole policy was to oS«r large areas to wealthy men and to shut oat people of moderate means. He ridiculed the aoheme of constructing railways out of the proceedg of kauri forests and native lands (for example, the Thames-Ta Aroha linej, and urged that the Government! should ascertain whioh would be the paying point in each line and ask for a loan properly ear marked for its oonstraotien. Tbe proposed exempting! of machinery from the property tai had his strong disapproval, and he urged the Premier to make exemptions that would be general ia. their effect and make the tax b«ar equally on all classes. The leader of the Opposition spoke in rather a labored style, and was certainly mnoh below bis usual form. Mr Sannders followed and dealt ex haustively with the fininofg of the colony, contending, to tbe astonishment of other hen. members, that there was teally & deficit lest year of £649,883. There is now every appearance of a long Bttt debate, probably extending over the whole week,' ". 