R.M. COURT, CLYDE.

Dunstan Times, Issue 1091, 27 April 1883, Page 3

R.M. COURT, CLYDE.

Before Major Keildell, R.M, Tuesday, April 24th. 1883. George Clark appeared on remand on the charge of embezzling £5 and other sums the property of the Vincent County Council. Mr F, J. Wilaon conducted the prosecution. George Pyers Sweetland sworn, said : I am a storekeeper, and now reside at Oust, in the Provincial district of Canterbury. During 1882 was hawking in Vincent County with a partner named Henry Fordham. r> e had to pay pertain fees for the privilege of hawking. I now cannot say . if we prifl the license last year. I was interviewed by a member of the Canterbury police force, who asked me if I did not pay the Vincent County Clerk the license in the yard of the Port Phillip Hotel, Clyde. I told him I did not distinctly remember what I did. We kept no books of our receipts or expenditure. When in Clyde in July last, I saw the accused, who asked me for the hawkers’ license fee. I did not then pay him. I do not remember paying him on any subsequent occasion. Witness here stated that he did not remember paying accused for the license. His idea was. as he was about dissolving partnership, to slip away without payment, and leave his partner, who intended carrying on, to look after the business himself. Mr Wilson here asked that the further examination of this witness might be postponed till the afternoon, as it was intended to subpoena his late partner. David Gloag, sworn, said : 1 was hawking in Vincent County last year. In May last I was in Clyde, and paid the accused the license fee in bank notes. I did not get any acknowledgment for the money. I thought the license would be sent after me as usual, I never asked the accused for the license afterwards. David Anderson Jolly deposed he was a storekeeper residing at Cromwell, a member of the Vincent County Council, and Ht.aorary Treasurer. He knew the accused, wij;o bad been Clerk and Sub-Treasurer to the County from the re-establishment of the County till November last. In April. 1881, accused was appointed Valuer and Collector. The only other office.- empl -yed was the engineer. The only connection between the two officers would be in the filling up of vouchers for payment of road works. Accused was the only person through whom all monies ought to pass i his duty was to receive monies and pay them into the Bank of New Zealand. At meetings of the councils amounts from £ls to £2O were voted the Clerk for petty cash disbursements. Accused had no right to make disbursements except by County voucher. On 15th November last, from information received, I visited the County Offices, Clyde. I found Mr Livingstone, Government Auditor, and the County Solicitor there. Just as I arrived at Clyde 1 saw accused, and asked him what was the matter. He appeared excited, and said go down to the office and you will find out, or words to that effect. When I got down to the office, from what I was told, I wrote out an order of suspension of accused ponding the sitting of the Council. In the rm-antime accused had |leen c died to the office. 1 spoke to him privately, and suggested that he should make a clean breastof it, and render all assistance in getting the books made np. He said he wa§ willing to'do so, and expressed regret at deficiencies being found <>Pt, and -aid had be known, it might have l-een prevented. I then handed him the order of suspension. At fust ho took exception to my sight to suspend him, but afterwards waived the point. He certainly obeyed it. The reasons I gave the order was because I found that not a single entry had been made on the debit side of the cash book since the last prevlons audit for March, ISS2, and from conversation with the Government auditor I belie' e.l there were deficiencies in the cash. At the time, the question of Chairmanship was unselldod, and I being the only Ouncillor who held office, was another reason I gave the order of suspension. Before accused left the office he handed me the keys of the s-fe; also some £B4 odd in cheques, 1.0 U’s, and cash, which he took out of the safe. He also handed me a portfolio in which might have been some of the money. I called Mr Livingstone into the room, and he made a memo of the monies as I called them out. We both s'gned the document (produced) as correct. The total amount was £B4 6s lOd. Accused suid that, was all the monies he had in bis possession. 1 then, and with the consent of the auditor, appointed Mr J. S. Dickie as acting clerk, and instructed him to write up the books. Two days afterwards I appointed another clerk, Mr Eeston, for the same purpose. The books have been written up, and they show a deficiency in cash receipts since the last audit of over £4OO. I have rot made any critical examination of the records. At the next meeting of the Council the action T had taken in suspending accused was confimed ; and accused was dismissed from the various offices held by him. John Stewart Dickie, deposed : From 1878 to May 1881, I was in the service of the Vincent County as valuer, rate collector, &c., &c. ; and part of the time, by direction of the Chairman, I assisted as Clerk. By these means 1 became conversant with the County bonks. On the morning of the IGth November last, Mr Livingstone, the Government Auditor, called upon me, and fked me to assist in writing up the County Sl .oks. 1 agreed to do so, and he handed me over the County books, cash book, journal, and ledger. I found the cash book entered up on the credit side to September 30, JBB2, in accused’s hand writing. On the debit side there was not a single entry since the last audit for 31st March, 1882. There was no book in the office to show the receipts. The materials that I had to make up the receipts were a collection of memos found on files in the office, hank credit slips, the rate receipt books, and the license receipt hooka. So far as I ascertained, all these receipt book* were correct, except the conditional license book and the hawker’s license book, both of which showed that no licenses had been issued. It was aconsed’a duty to issue all licenses. There was a meme in the hawker’s license receipt book (memo produced, but contents of it were not stated). Mr Livingstone instructed me to see accused, and ask him to explain the memo. I saw accused , and asked him to five mo some clue as to the means of making out a statement to balance the books for the halt year. He told me ho would give all the assistance in his power, and if allowed to assist me in the office would point out as nearly as possible the various items received according to the bank credit slips. 1 then showed accused the memo found in the hawker’s license book, and asked him if the amounts thereon mentioned were amongst the payments. He said they were not. In tho course of conversation, he said I would probably find deficiencies in the depasturing and other licenses, but the majority would be found in the rates, and advised me that the only process to arrive at the total deficiency was to take the whole of the receipt and license books from the beginning. He requested me to ask Mr Livingston to allow him to assist in making up the books. Accused said the memo referred its hawkers licenses, hut he had not issued the licenses,

and that the amounts would form portion of the deficit. I bolievo accused told me he had received, the amounts outside of the office, One day early in the present year, Alfred H. Smith called at the . County Offices, and producing a receipt in the handwriting of the accused, asked for J his hawker’s license. The Chairman instructed me to issue the license and to retain the receipt. Licenses to Mr Gloag and Messrs Fordham and Sweetland have not been issued. I was engaged fourteen weeks with Mr Heston in making up the books.—After the depositions were read, witness said during the 14 weeks, he was performing all the duties hitherto performed by tho accused, as well asmaking up the books.—l sent circulars to all the ratepayers in whose favour receipts had been torn out of the books, but on the blocks of which no dates was given, asking if they had paid their rates. From some of them replies were received that they had paid their rates. The only means of ascertaining the component parts of the amounts paid into the Dank were the memos, on the back of ths credit payslips, and the other memoranda found in the office. In many instances they enabled me to find out the exact sums. I had the bank book made up. 1 find there are receipts gone out of the office, the only person authorised to issue same being the accused, equal to the sums paid into the bank by accused, and other receipts gone out of the office, to an amount of at least £3OO or £4OO, that has not been paid into the bank. Soon after the Government Auditor Mr Livingstone, arrived in Clyde in November last, and before I had seen him, the accused came to my house and said something to the effect that he was in a fix about his books, and asked me to come with him and see if we could not adopt some scheme to get him out of the scrape. I understood from his manner that it was of a monetary nature. Henry Fordlam deposed he was a hawker, and was so engaged in partnership with G. F. Sweetland up to August last, since when he had been by himself. We were in Clyde in July last. Accused asked us for our license fee, and my partner paid him. Accused gave us nothing for the money in return, nor has he since to my knowledge done so. G. F. Sweetland, recalled, said, since I gave evidence in the morning I have spoken a few words to my late partner Mr Fordham, what was said does not refresh my memory in the least. I have thought over the matter and can only say that I have a faint recollection of paying the license fee to the accused, and that it would have been either a £5 note or five £1 notes, this would be in July last, I know X got no receipt, or license, or writing in return, my lata partner, Henry Fordham. was present at the time. We never gave cheques for these small amounts. Mr Wilson said he would have to ask for a remand till Saturday, as the only other witness he had to produce, Mr Livingstone, Government Auditor, had not yet gone through the books, and accordingly not yet prepared lo give evidence. The lemaud was granted, and accused liberated on the same bail as previously.