THE Grey River Argus. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1869.

Grey River Argus, Volume VIII, Issue 576, 25 September 1869, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1869.

The County Auditor's Report, which was presented to the County Council the other day, shows authoritatively the wretched mismanagement that has prevailed throughout every branch of the public service of the County, and for which the highest as well as the lowest public officer are alike more or less culpable. We question if the public accounts of any other portion of the Colony have at any time presented such evidence of gross indifference to all the ordinary rules of common prudence and control. It appears as if every officer has been allowed to receive and account for monies just as he pleased. Of course the late County Treasurer, as his acts have proved, was not likely to be the man to throw the first stone, and the County Chairman, past and present, did not consider it his duty to institute an efficient supervision. The present Chairman has in the most placid manner authorised expenditure which had not only not been voted by the Council, but had never even been submitted to it for consideration in i any shape. It is positively refreshing to ! see the absolute contempt with which the Treasurer and Mr Hoos have treated the bye-laws of the Council. Bye-law number four regulating the receipt and ex- | penditure of public monies provides that "It shall be the duty of the Treasurer J " whenever the vote of the Council for " any particular clasi of expenditure "or special service shall have been " exhausted, or is being exceeded, to " notify the same in writing to the Chair- " man of the County Council ; and 'he " ' shall not sign any further cheques for " ' such expenditure without a written " ' requisition from the Chairman of the 'f ' County Council so to do. Provided " ' that the whole amount in any financial " 'half-year of such special requisitions " ' for the issue of mono}' without the vote " 'of the Council shall not exceed in " ' amount one thousand pounds.' " The fifth bye-law provides that the County Chairman shall, within, one week after the commencement of the next sitting of the Council, "lay before the Council a full " statement of all monies so issued." Byelaw number six makes the County Chairman liable to a penalty of £20 for every voucher he signs for unauthorised expenditure, unless such expenditure "be "authorised by a vote of the Council " within one month after the commence- " ment of the session of the Council." Now, what do we find has been the restraining effect of these regulations and penalties ? The Auditor tolls us that over .£BOOO has been expended by the Chairman without authority — much of it wo « arc sorry to say most improperly and un-

profitably. Not only has this been done, but Mr Hooa has neglected to lay before the Council any proper statement of the unauthorised expenditure, and it was not until several weeks after the time within which he had power to do so, that any statement of the kind was laid upon the table. The Council had certainly riot voted the money, and properly the Chairman is liable to a penalty of £20 for every item of the expenditure of £2000. When one finds the Chief Officer of the County so remiss in his duty, it is not to be wondered at that his subordinates should be so. The Auditor ascribes much of the mismanagement, irregularity, and confusion, to the neglect of proper supervision, and plainly tells Mr Hoos that for the eight months during which he has been in office he has neglected his proper duty of looking after the officers under him. People may perhaps s;ty how is it that the Council did not look better after its affairs, and insist upon the production of balance sheets ? The Council asked for a balance-sheet continually, and as continually was it informed, on the authority of the Chairman, that it was at present impossible to make outthe balancesheet " because the accounts, had not come down from Wellington," or something of that kind,. Of course, Mr Hoos knew as little of the real reason as did the Council, and had simply taken the excuse of the Treasurer ; but what on earth is the County Chairman for if he is not to act as head of all the public departments. Do the Council pay Mr Hoos £000 a-year and " extras " for simply minuting a few letters daily, exercising the telegraph wires, or travelling about ? If so he has done his duty most conscientiously. He has seen the country, he has been to Wellington, and he has been to Christchurch ; and as for his exploits on the wire, Blondm himself never accomplished higher flights of genius. But he has left the departments to themselves, and thus it is that we hear that at Okarito no cash-book has been kept, and that at Greymonth a deficiency which ought to have been discovered in April by the Warden's clerk, was not discovered until August, and would probably never have been discovered at all had the accounts not passed under the inspection of the Auditor. Even then the Auditor himself was misled by the carelesa manner in which the cash-book was kept, and passed over an item which satisfactorily accounted for the greater portion of the deficiency, and made it appear highly probable that the balance may yet be accounted for in a similar manner. How is this wretched state of affairs to be remedied \ The Auditor recommends that an officer be appointed whose special duty it shall be to inspect the accounts of the various Receivers periodically. But why not insist upon the Wardens taking this duty 1 This system has long worked well on the Nelson Gold Fields, and there is no reason why it should not do so in Westland. A very little extra time would enable them to check the cash-book with the blocks, and at once ascertain if there was any deficiency. None of them are so overburdened with work that they could not spare a few hours occasionally for this purpose. We trust the Council will not separate without adopting some efficient means for preventing the recurrence of the irregularities which are scandalising the public mind. The financial position of the County, as defined by the Auditor, is not very cheer ing, still it is not so bad as it seems. It is quite evident that very large reductions in the expenditure will have to be made, and that the greatest care and forethought will have to be exercised in deciding upon what public works are to be constructed. The public will have to be content with the temporary stoppage of many desirable works, but it would be sheer madness to plunge further into that vortex of difficulties which appears to threaten the very existence of the County.