The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, SEPT. 11, 1906.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1857, 11 September 1906, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, SEPT. 11, 1906.

When in delivering his Financial Statement the Colonial Treasurer said that in deference to criticism that had “at various times been directed against the system of audit in the case of several Departm-nta ” he proposed “to put the whole of the Government D partmente under the Audit Department.’’ It was assumed that the Treasurer meant to do what should have been done years ago in the manipulation of the public accounts of the colony. But this assumption, it is now feared, is a very misleading one> and there is little hope of much improvement resulting from the proposed change Some years ago the whole of the State Departments’ accounts had to be submitted to the AuditorGeneral for approval, and by a very effective system of pre-audit (that is audit before payment) a very effective and necessary check was kept on the colony’s expenditure, and there was no danger of an item slipping through before it was ascertained that the item was a correct and proper charge upon the colony, and authorised by law. That straightforward arrangement did not suit the 60 called Liberal regime, who wanted to deal with the public accounts in a more liberal fashion, for the Audit Department was always a stickler for strict dealings in money matters, and would brook no suggestion of illegality in regard to payments. Soaft«ra time the Bail way Department’s accounts and other Departments also were removed from the control of the Audit Office, and these Departments wero permitted to audit

their own accounts. Then anolh or question arose whon tho Into Eight lion. R. J. Hoddou diverted moneys voted by Parliament for specific purposes to other- purposes, or at least to other districts and works than thoso for which tho Jlouso had granted tho rnonoy. Thon tho Aiiditor-Gonoral said that tlio Auditor-Gonoral that tho moiroy must bo spont in strict accordance with tho oxprossed dosiro of tho ilouso, but tho imperious Treasurer said it should not bo so. Tho Treasurer spent the monoy as it pleased him ; but tho Auditor would not pass the accounts, so tho froasurer settled the matter by inserting a clause in the now famous Public '.Revenues Act, permitting the expenditure of moneys votod by Parliament to bo spont on any work of tho same class oven though that work had never boon authorised by Parliament, and without tho sanction of the Auditor Officer. In this way money spoclically votod by Parliament for, say, the extension of the Gisborne-Te Karaka railway line might bo spent on railway works in Oontral Otago or anywhere else so long as it pleased tho Government, and tho Audit Office had no right to offer objections, or to say that tho definite decision of Parliament should bo obeyed. That is tho strange and unsatisfactory position still, and tha,t is the position that will romain until tho dastardly clause in the Public Revenues Act is repealed. Tho position has been complained of, protested against, and anathematised times out of number ; but there is still little hope that the obnoxious clause will be repealed by the present Government, for the Treasurer goes only so far as to say that “Though I am satisfied “ that there has been no genuine cause “ for this criticism, yet it is felt that “no good can result from its continuance; and in order to remove the “ cause, I propose to put the whole of “the Government Departments under “ the Audit Department.” There is no promise here that the objectionable clause will be removed, for the literal translation of the Treasurer’s words is that no good can result from a continuance of the criticism, which clearly desires to be inferred has been direcled against the system of audit, whereas in reality it is not so. The criticism has been mainly directed against the clause which removes items of expend diture from the purview of audit, although a share of it has been ex* 1 pended on “ the system of audit” of the accounts of those Departments that are outside the Audit Office control. These the Treasurer says will be brought under that control; but that promise does not imply the complete remedy necessary. However, even the placing of those Departments under proper audit must be an advantage ; . yet there remains another view of the matter which the Treasurer should also attend to. Can it be believed that the public accounts of the colony do not reveal the true position ol things ? You may be pardonably sceptical; but scepticism must vanish when the actual facts are known. Let us give one or two instances. Quite a small army of private secretaries and typewriters are employed by Ministers, and it has been the practice to charge the salaries of some of these to the Departments from which they were drawn instead of entering up the items under their proper headings, which would thus show the cost of the actual work in which they are engaged instead of that in which they were actually engaged. But that is a small matter compared with others of which the following is an instance. In the town of Blenheim there is an organisation of speculators locally known as the “ gang.” These gentlemen started a private speculation under the high-sounding title of the “ New Zealand Egg-laying Competition,” The scheme was a prudent one on their part, for each of the one hundred competitors whose six hens occupy one of the hundred pens has to pay an entrance fee of two guineas, and all the eggs belong to the syndicate which thus starts with a nucleus of two hundred guineas. All they have to do is to feed the fowls and sell the eggs, which last year brought them in a surplus of about 3s per bird, which was sufficient to pay all the prizes awarded and more. Being on friendly terms with the Government, they applied for and were granted the free services of a poultry expert for the whole year, who resided at the place and attended to the work which the syndicate ought to have paid for. This gentleman’s salary and that of his assistant must have amounted to at least £200; but on looking up the “Bl” return, which is supposed to reveal all the details of the public accounts for the year, we find, “ Item 59—Subsidy to New Zealand Egglaying Competition Association, Blenheim, including salary of manager and assistant—£ls 7s 9d.” Can anyone believe that a Government expert and his assistant could live on such a salary, or that the accounts as presented reveal the whole truth ? Of course not, and the real truth is that the salaries have been charged under another heading to smother up the real amount of the gift to this private money-making concern, which, as we have said, is at least £2OO instead of £ls 7s 9d as shown. “ That’s the way the money goes,” and fifty thousand audits will not alter it so loDg as the bookkeeping system remains as it is. Is it any wonder now that there is no loose cash to be spent on roads and bridges until after he chuckies are fed ?