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New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4456, 1 July 1875, Page 2

And so the great battle of "the rails is drawn for the present. The Secretary of the Treasury has explained to the Provincial Treasurer that it has been found impossible to reconcile the views of the Treasury and the Commissioners of Audit as to the mode of making up the accounts, and therefore the payment for May would be made in due course yesterday. This is no doubt satisfactory to the Provincial Government, who profit by “ the ambiguity of the “ law.” It certainly does seem strange that this ambiguity was not discovered before now. The Act was passed in 1871, and .as there have been many miles of constructed railway opened since then, we may fairly infer that the accounts required, by law have been , made up. If not, Parliament to whom this vexatious question is to be referred, will very properly ask the reason why. For ourselves, we fairly confess our inability to understand Mr. Batkin’s reason. If there was so much ambiguity in the law, and such an irreconcilable difference of opinion between the Commissioners of Audit and the Treasury, it was a pity ever the question was made a political one. But having taken it into the region of politics, the Solicitor-General’s opinion ought, one would think, to be a sufficient guide to the Government, who are responsible, and not the Commissioners of Audit. However, that our readers may judge for themselves how the matter stands at present, we append the letter from the Secretary to the Treasury, which has been already published :

Treasury, Wellington, 20th Juno, 1875. . Sib,--In transmitting to the provincial account this day the amount of the capitation allowance for April, payable on the SOth May, I have the honor, by direction of the Hon. the Colonial Treasurer, to ex- - plain that this payment has been withheld until now in the hope that the Treasury might be enabled to adjust the charge against the province in respect of interest payable under the Immigration and Public Works Acton monies expended in the construction of the completed portion of the Wellington and Masterton railway. Owing, however, to the ambiguity of the law as to the mode of making up these accounts, and to the difficulty of reconciling the views of the Commissioners of Audit, and of the Treasury, on the several points involved, it has been determined to postpone the preparation of the accounts, and the recoveries to bo made upon them, tmtU Parliament ahaU have expressed in a clearer form its intentions in the matter. The capitation allowance for May will be paid at the due date (to-morrow), as usual.—l have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, , C. T. Batkin, Secretary tc the Treasury. The Provincial Treasurer, Wellington.