THE STANDARD. SATURDAY, AUGUST 2, 1873.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume I, Issue 75, 2 August 1873, Page 2

THE STANDARD.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 2, 1873.

“ We shall sell to no man justice or right: We shall deny to no man justice or right: We shall defer to no man justice or right.”

In another column will be found a letter from “ Cms ” in which he suggests that the accounts of the Road Board for the past financial year should be published. Our correspondent has opened up a question which we cannot satisfactorily reply to. We had intended to give the general heads of Receipts and Expenditure in our report of the Annual Meeting, but on enquiry for the necessary documents, we were informed up to Tuesday last, that there were some errors in them which required correction! Now, considering that these accounts were paraded before the meeting as authentic, while glaring and admitted discrepancies existed in them, it seems to be too practical a joke to let it pass without some notice being taken of it. Had the Chairman told the Ratepayers that the accounts were unreliable, and that anything accepted by them, in an incomplete state, would be valueless as public documents, as well as in direct contravention of the Highways Act, he would have escaped the charge, publicly invited, of trading on the gullibility of the public; and the flattering ovation he received on his re-election might have been less complimentary to himself. We regret that Mr. Poynter has lent himself to this little proceeding. He is generally held to possess an official integrity that should stand aloof from small artifices, which while they may secure a temporary triumph, cannot fail, in their re-action, to inspire a want of confidence in their perpetrators. So far as we can learn, the “ Statement” account submitted to the Ratepayers, is absolutely worthless; and this may account, in some measure, for the notable diffidence displayed by the Board in reducing their affairs to writing, and in publishing reliable reports which can be taken up as data for reference at any portion of the year. That the accounts, as laid before the Annual Meeting, are a disgrace to any public body, however insignificant its functions, is simply a truism which neither comprehends nor removes the whole extent of the evil; that they are incorrect, and, therefore, valueless as public documents, implies a very severe censure on the members of a body corporate, who, to cover the laches of their Secretary, have lent their aid in palming off a piece of official deception on the Ratepayers

The 19th clause of the "Highways Act, 1871,” says that " The Board shall cause an annual account and balancesheet to be prepared showing the total receipts ana expenditure of all funds levied collected and received within

“ the district by virtue of this Act for " the year ending the thirtieth day of " June in each year under the distinct “heads of receipt and expenditure as “provided in the schedule to this Act "and such account duly audited by the “Auditors appointed for that purpose and “ signed by them and also by the Chair- “ man of the Board shall be laid before “ the ratepayers at the annual meeting.” Even supposing that the accounts, as attempted to be prepared, were correct, there is no “ balance-sheet ” or statement of account shewing (without explanation) the exact position of the Board’s finances on the 30th of June last. The Board

have directed their attention solely to the " Receipts and Expenditure ” portion of the return, — which, as laid before the meeting, has to be sent to the Superintendent, — and that is incorrect, and unfinished, not having been signed by the Auditors and the Chairman, as provided in the foregoing clause. One of the inaccuracies in the accounts is explained as that “there is an error “ somewhere ” on the Expenditure side ; but from what we can make out of the jumble before us, it is as likely to be on either side, if not, 1 indeed, on both : let us see. The item “ printing and adver- “ tizing” is stated at £23 15s 6d, whereas the sums paid to this journal alone amount to £24 Is 3d. It is a small straw, truly, but it serves to shew the direction of the wind. Then, again, the actual Receipts for the year are stated to be £2484 4s 7d which, plus the balance to Or. on the Ist of July, 1872, £271 gives a total of £2755 4s 7d. The Expenditure for the same period is stated at £1696 3s 6d, this, plus the balance to Cr. on the 30th June, 1873, £983 9s Id, tots up to £2679 12s 7d, showing an error of £75 12s between the Statement prepared by the Secretary and the Cash book as signed by the Auditors. The Ratepayers, we think, will probably demand a fuller investigation and publicity being given to these matters in future.

In returning to the question raised by “ Civis,” we cannot but think that a very great amount of personal inconvenience arises from the fact of not having the financial part of the Board’s proceedings advertized. In most other districts it is the custom to do so; and this, in conjunction with the Officers’ and Board’s Reports, published gratuitously, would greatly facilitate the even working of the machinery as between members and Ratepayers. It is simply an impossibility for the public to take any interest in matters of which they know nothing; and experience has proved, over and over again, that publicity is a sure safeguard against corruption, incapacity, or misrule.