PROVINCIAL COUNCIAL.

Evening Star, Issue 3529, 15 June 1874, Page 3

PROVINCIAL COUNCIAL.

. Monday, June 15. The Speaker read Ihe following letter which he had received from the Provincial Auditor. Office of Provincial Auditor, Dunedin, June 15,1874. * 8 directed by the Provincial Audit Act, I have the honor to transmit to you the enclosed copy of letter to his Honor the Superintendent on the subject of the accounts balance sheet for the financial year ending March 31, 1874. On the second of the current month I wrote to you, enclosing a copy of the printed balance sheet, obtained after the document had been laid on the table of the Council, and in that letter I reported that the Treasury books had not been balanced, and that therefore I could not grant the usual certificate. As the provisions of the Act, in regard to furnishing' me with the accounts for audit, have not yet been complied with, and the session of Council is about to close, it is necessary that I should again and more fully report to you on the subject. I have therefore to state that, when it first beapparent, after the session had begun, that the difficulty would arise, I examined the Audit Act with a view to discover whether any course of action was laid down for me in such circumstances. It is hardly to be expected that special provision should have been made for such a most unusual contingency, and accordingly I found that the Act assumes, therein agreeing with universal practice, that the books shall be balanced and the balancesheet prepared before the auditors’ examination and certificate are requested. It then remained for me to consider what use I should make in the interests of the Provincial Council of the powers indirectly bearing on the case vested in me by the Act. It did not appeal advisable at the juncture to make special investigation, as Rch a Course would have greatly interfered witli the Treasury officers jn their efforts to get the accounts ready for the Council, and would, in point of fact, have amounted to constructing rather than auditing the balance sueet. Jiut° as I possessed in my own books a means of assisting the Treasury officers, and at the same time of arriving at a near approach to confidence in the correctness of the expenditure, I gave to the officer deputed by the Treasurer for the purpose free access to them, and all the assistance he desired, with the result highly creditable to that officer of bringing out a balance more nearly correct than I at first anticipated could be obtained within the time at his disposal. I have only further td add that a correct balance has not yet been obtained, but the error, 1 am informed, has been reduced in amount, and there it reasonable prospect of the accounts beings Placed in my hands immediately for audit, when they-will be subjected to as searching an examination as the circumstances of the case demand.—l am, &c., H. Livingston.

Office of Receiver of Land Revenue, • y Dunedin. June 13,1874. —ln view of the immediate close of the Ih-bvincial Council, I have to bring under your Honor’s notice that there has not yet been forwarded to me, as directed by the Audit Act, the balance sheet and accounts of receipts and disbursements, for the year ending March 31. 1874. I am, of course, aware that the balance of the books had not been brought out when the balance sheet, as printed, was laid before the Council, and I assume that, for this reason, my examination and certificate were dispensed with. I therefore thought it necessary to procure and transmit to the Speaker of the Provincial Council a copy of the unaudited document, with a letter stating briefly the circumstances of the case. During the session I have Waited in the' hope that officers of the Treasury Would be successful in their efforts to discovei |he error in time to allow of an amended and certified balance sheet being prepared. I now find that this cannot be done, and I have therefore respectfully to inform your Honor that I have reported to the Speaker ol Provincial^Council, that, in consequence of the document in question not having been furnished to me, I am unable to comply with the requirements of the Act in regard to the audit of the accounts for the past year. I have the honor to be. Sir, your most obedient servant, (Signed) H, Livingston, Provincial Auditor.

The Provincial Secretary believed ti. balance-sheet would be out in time to b. bound up with the votes and proceedings. He wished to bring under the notice of tht Council a leading article in one of the local papers, in wi ich reference was made to tht Auditor. He (Mr Reid) took that oppor tunity of stating, so far as the Government were concerned, that they believed thf Auditor had not exceeded his duty in tit lightest degree. The Auditor was an Officer independent of the Council, and it was his bounden duty to draw attention to anything of the sort, even though it was not in direct violation of the Audit Act. While public men were able to apeak for themselves, and very properly open to criticism by the Press, it did seem hard that an officer whose position debarred him from speaking for himself, should be subjected to such criticism, more especially when, as was the case with the Auditor, tbs officer performed his duty satisfactorily. The Council was indebted to the Auditor f«r rendering all the assistance in his power to bring out the balance, which he (Mr Reid) believed was reduced at the present moment to some 14£ct. That was the amount that was causing all this turmoil.—The Provincial Treasurer gave notice of his intention to move that it be aninstrnotioa to bind up a certified balance sheet with the votes and proceedings-—The Speaker : * ©thing can be bound up with the votes and proceedings except it is laid upon the table.

The Waste Land and Immigration Committee reported :—Your committee having considered the subject of immigration, are of opinion that the hap-hazard manner in which the same has been conducted to this Province, _ under the Colonial Scheme of Immigration, is eminently unsatisfactory, an( i would suggest that the system of pay ing agents a sum per head should be discontinued, as tending to lower the quality of the immigrants. Your committee would recommend that, in future, a smaller proper“l?*^. children and no infirm persons should be sent out. Your committee are of opinion that, if the immigrants were selected more from the country distnpts and less from towns, they would be better adapted to our requirements; and, seeing that a large numberof nominations are being made by residents here the pumbpr of agents employed m Britain by the Colonial Government might be reduced and the management of the immigration to the Province managed by the Provincial

agent. Your committee, in conclusion, would also draw the attention of the Govern' ment to the advisability of providing tempo rary employment for immigrants when largt numbers arrive simultaneously during the slack season of the year. Mr J. C. Brown moved—“ That it it desirable that a branch line of railway bt constructed to connect the Abbotsford coa pits with the main line, and with that vien thisjOouucil hereby authorises the Govern ment to construct the same during th< recess, provided that before any expenditure is incurred under this resolution the pro. pnetors of the mines shall agree to come under the terms of the resolution regarding district railways already authorised by this Council. Carried. J. C. Brown moved, amid cries o1 withdraw “That this Council is ol opinion that on the expiration of present leases the time will have arrived when Toll Bars should be abolished on the roads of the Province.” The Government opposed the motion, which was negatived. Mr Fish allowed his motion for re-opening the Museum on Sundays to lapse. Mr b ish for his motion on the order papet substituted the following :—“That, referring to the report of the committee on the light railways tender and the expenditure on road Tokomairiro to Tuapeka, this Council is ol opinion that in the transfer by the late Executive of the vote for road ‘ Teviot to Tuapeka’ ‘ Tokomairiro to Tuapeka’ and in the acceptance of the light railways tenders, no individual member of the late Executive acted from any improper motives.” Carried. His HoNor then entered and delivered the following address : - Mr Speaker, and gentlemen of the Provincial Council. behalf of the Governor, on the 14th day of May last, I assented to the Imprest Supply Ordinance, 1874, passed by you. I- have this day, on behalf of the Governor, assented to the following Ordinances passed by yonNaseby Waterworks Empowering Ordinance, 1874 ; the Municipal Corporations Act Amendment Act, 1873; Introduction Ordinance, 1874; Dunedin City Council Borrowing Powers Extension Ordinance, 1874 • the Otago Dock Trust Ordinance, 1865; Repeal Ordinance, 1874; Otago Municipal Corporations Ordinances Amendment Ordinance 1874; the Sawyer’s Bay Lands Leasing Ordinance, 1874 ; Otago Roads Ordinance, 1871 • Amendment Ordinance, 1874; Clyde Corporation Borrowing Powers Extension Ordinance, 1874; Roslyn Institute Ordinance, 1874; the Licensing Ordinance, 1865; Amendment Ordinance 1874; Caledonian Society of Otago Incorporation Ordinance, 1874 : Oamaru Harbor Board Ordinance, 1874; the Hospital Ordinance 1874; Otago Gold Duty Repayment Ordinance, 1874 ; Appropriation Ordinance, 1874-5. , _ I have also this day reserved for the signification of the Governor’s pleasure thereon, the following Bills passed by you Riverton Government Reserve Bill, 1874; Portobello Cemetery Reserve Sale Bill, 1874 ; Lower Kaikorai District Road Lands Exchange Bill 1874; Papakaio Railway Reserve Sale Bill, 1874Roads Diversion Bill, 1874; Dunedin School ij-vi 1 ’ New River Harbor Board -Billj 1874; Education Reserves Management and Leasing Bill. 1874 ; Castle street Diversion Bill,- 1874 ; New River and Jacobs River Ferries Reserves Bill, 1874Waitahuna West District Road Compulsory Land Taking Bill, 1874; Riverton Driil-shed Reserve Management Bill, 1874 ; Lawrence Reserves Sale Bill, 1874; Riverton Harerfi T Dill, 1874 ; Reads Diversion Bill (No. 2), 1874 ; Palmerston School Glebe Exchange Bill, 1874 ; the Port Chalmers School Reserve Sale Bill 1874 • Otagm Harbor Board Bill, 1874 ; the Dunedin Presbyterian Church Lands Ordinance Amendment Bill, 1874 ; Lawrence Reserves Sales Bill (No. i), 1874; Naseby Recreation Reserve Management Bill, 1874; Invercargill Reserves Management Ordinance Amendment Bill, 1874. And from The Oamaru Rifle Range Reserve Management Bill, 1874, I withhold the Governor s assent. I have now to thank you for your attendance, and to express a hope, in which I am sure you all share, that, under the Divine blessing, the result of the session may conduce towards the best interests of the Province. The various and important matters which you have remitted to the Executive Government shall have my best attention, and the large expenditure which has been authorised by you will be disposed of with due regard to economy and efficiency. Gentlemen, I now declare the Council prorogued, and it stands prorogued accordingly.