THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. TUESDAY, MARCH 26, 1912. THE AUDIT SYSTEM.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10592, 26 March 1912, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. TUESDAY, MARCH 26, 1912. THE AUDIT SYSTEM.

I he system of Government audit '» New Zealand is sorely in Jieed of repair. The officers of the Audit Department are, generally speaking, very efficient and painstaking officers. It appears impossible, however, with the limited number of auditors available, to do anything like justice by the local authorities, winch have to bear the direct burden of the audit. Some years ago it was the practice for municipalities to furnish an audited bal-ance-sheet every half year. The Department, in its wisdom, thought this unnecessary, and it is new provided 'by law that an annual audit shall be •sufficient. The law originally contemplated that the audited balance-sheets would be returned to local authorities within a few weeks of their being furbished to the Department. A loophole was left, however, by the insertion of words to the effect that they shall be returned af> "soon as convenient." At the present time it is. no •unusual thing for a balance-sheet to •be returned to a local authority eight or ten months after the -dosing of the. financial year. The object of the audit is to protect the taxpayer against defalcation, and the misappropriation of public moneys. It will at once be ,seen that if the balance-sheet of a public body is not audited for months after the closing ci a financial year, it is impossible to exercise that rigid control over local administration whidh is essential to the maintenance of good and wholesome government. It will, of course, be argued that the pre::".:; ;'.i;r!lt :.U:fi' is to

transact the work required of it in the time specified by law. This is no answer to the objection which local bodies and taxpayers are very properly raisin;.';. There are in- the Dominion scores of qualified and registered, accountants—men who have been re-! quired to pass severe examinations. These accountants arc available to the State. And, if the Department f cannot see its way clear to maintain an adequate staff, it could at least arrange with registered accountants to audit the books of the minor local •authorities. This would free the officers of the Department, so tha.t they could get through their more arduous work with reasonable expedition. Under existing conditions, too much of the time of the audit officers is employed.-]!! travelling about the country', and in auditing the books cf small and unimportant bodies such as Domain Hoards, Cemetery Trustees, and to on. There is no reason why a,'l officer of the Audit Department .should not be permanently stationed in each of the important centres. For instance, one man, with his headquarters in Master ton, might be constantly employed in auditing the acc-ounts-'of the local authorities between Featherston and Woodville. In any circumstance it is absolutely essential that the present system should he repaired. It is unfair to tihe officers ■of the local- bodies, as it is to the local 'bodies themselves and the taxpayers. If representations wevo made to the Government by these concerned, there is very little doubt that a change for the better would be brought about.