NEW ZEALAND NEWS.

Taihape Daily Times, 24 April 1918, Page 5

NEW ZEALAND NEWS.

BROWNING- CASE. MINISTER’S WIFE SAD END. NEW PLYMOUTH, this day. The uydy of Mrs. Osborne, wife of iHv. S. S. Osborne, was found in' Pukclcura Park lake this morning, She had lately been suffering from nerbreakdown, by the loss ox their son at the front. DEFENCE EXPENDITURE. the commission of inquiry. WELLINGTON, April 23.

Before the Defence Expenditure Commission to-day, Colonel R. J. Collins, Auditor Controller-General, gave eviueuce as to auditing the war accounts. He stated that when claims were observed by the Auditor-General which showed what seemed to be unreasonable expenditure or waste or public money, he considered it his duty to call the Minister’s attention to it. Both the Minister and'the O.C: assisted him in every way in carrying out ITis duties. The charge for ammunition made against the New Zealand forces was Is a day per man at Gallipoli, but it had risen to 7s lid in France. There had been some delay in paying men on discharge, but this was partly owing to the delay in receiving the quittance roll from the paymaster in London. The roll now in New r Zealand -was up to December last. No cases of fraud in regard to public moneys for war purposes had come under his notice, but there had been cases in which allotment money had been fraudulently obtained, also cases of officers of the Defence Department failing to account for moneys passing through their hands, but in most cases these had been recovered. Some Defence officers resented queries by the Audit Office ,as a reflection on their personal integrity. -He did not regard his statutory,, powers as requiring him to ex :> press an opinion on 1 The of ad-’ ministration extravagance. V

At,the afternoon sitting t of the, Defence Expenditure Commission, Archibald Walker, suryeyor. to. UlqydsAßegister, and a member of the;'>Trans> t port Board, gave an acpount of, howalterations to ships were made to fit them ojut as. transports. While l'aAtimekeeper was put on board -to'check the time worked on any ship, there yras no proper check'on the'material used. Contractors were paid by time, re, ceiving ten , per cent, dirTne outlay. The 'Chairman: ‘ But the , I’unda.-. mental principle of this method is to check outlay? Witness: That has mever bbeh dope.' , i The Chairman: We must look into this. |We must ’ postpone your' 1 evidence. !lt cucns up a new field of investigation. '“Ask your to meet and see how best they can bring it before us. What checks have there been on the fitting out of ships* in the last two years. Colonel Hiley (Manager of Railways) explained how he came to get a military appointment. He received no pay and no allowance for this work. Witness denied that the engineer officer in charge at Featherston had no power to put in a new pane of glass in a broken window without a requisition to Yvellington.