15

8.~10

declined to pass these payments on tho ground that they were illegal. There can he no doubt that in both of these cases the expenditure was made without authority of law ; and the amounts will accordingly be recovered by surcharge from the members liable. 66. The expenditure for "Inspection of Slaughterhouses" calls for no remark. The illegal refunds made in reduction of the fixed fees for slaughterhouse licenses have been noticed in my report (paragraph 35) on the receipt side of the account. I need only add, here, that the sums so refunded, amounting to £27 10s., will be recovered as a surcharge. 67. The expenditure for "Collection of the Dog-tax" comprises charges for the printing of dog licenses and for the supply of collars and labels. The items call for no remark. 68. The charges for legal expenses appear to be reasonable, and, so far as I could judge, 'necessary. 69. The items printing, stationery, incidental, office expenses, and postages and telegrams, complete the administrative expenditure. Under the head of "Printing" a double payment of £5 appears to have been made in the year 1884 to Mr. J. T. M. Hornsby, tho items of the account and date of supply being evidently identical. It is understood that Mr. Hornsby has left the district, and the amount is now probably irrecoverable. A similar double payment of £1 los. appears to have been made to Patchett and Son in 1885. The present Clerk has been put in possession of the facts, and will endeavour to recover the overpayment. Under the head of " Stationery," two double charges are made to Messrs. Fergusson and Mitchell. These charges are fraudulent, the money not having been paid to that firm. Particulars of these cases will be found in Appendix P. They are included in the charges for which tho late Clerk now stands committed for trial. 70. Under the head of "Incidental" several further charges, amounting to £10 13s. 4d., occur in connection with the petition for amalgamating the licensing districts, and for which sums amounting to £32 lls. have been charged to " Licensing Expenses," as stated in my remarks under that head. This sum will also bo surcharged to the members liable. A part of the incidental expenses, and all charges for postages and telegrams, have been defrayed by means of petty-cash advances made to the Clerk, in sums generally of £10 at a time. These advances have been debited in the cash-book as made, and the sums expended have been transferred by journal entries at the end of each half-year to the accounts to which they properly belong. I was unable to spare time to make a critical examination of the petty-cash account. I observed, however, that the principal charges were for postages and telegrams. For these services tho expenditure appeared large, considering that the cost of post cards—used for sending notices to ratepayers —was not defrayed by means of potty cash. I could find no file of telegrams received, nor any regular press copy-book of telegrams despatched, so that there seemed to be no means of checking even approximately the sums charged therefor. The expenditure for postages and telegrams for the six complete years covered by my audit was as follows, viz.: — £ s. d. £ s. a. Year 1880-81 ... ... 2D 13 6 Year 1883-84 ... ... 38 2 3 1881-82 ... ... 28 8 0 1884-85 ... ... 23 19 6 1882-83 ... ... 41 7 7 1885-86 ... ... 37 10 2 while for the half-year ended the 30th September, 1886, the expenditure under this head amounted to £13 ss. 3d. ■ I notice, as a remarkable circumstance, that the advances made for petty cash during five of the above six years were expended to the last penny. The only occasion on which at the end of the year the Clerk had a balance in hand was the year 1881-82, at the end of which period the balance-sheet shows a sum in hand of 7s. I may add that the petty cash-book has been initialled by the Chairman as correct at the end of each half year. 71. lv my remarks on the receipt side of the accounts, I have stated (paragraph 47) that the total sums received by the county as thirds of the purchase-money of lands in the deferred-payment blocks amounted to £1,597 ss. 2d. These sums are credited to a separate ledger account. No separate account is, however, kept of the sums disbursed under tho head named, and, as the funds partake in some measure of the character of trust funds—being strictly and solely applicable to such works for opening up the blocks as are approved by the Waste Lands Board—the practice of mixing the expenditure with that made from other sources is an exceedingly improper one. It would have been extremely difficult, if not impossible, for one so little acquainted with the district as myself, to pick out, from tho mass of vouchers representing the roads and works expenditure, the sums disbursed in respect of the deferred-payment blocks; and, as I could find only one of the schedules of roads approved by the Waste Lands Board, it was obviously useless to attempt the task, Eeports which had reached me satisfied me of the desirability of an inquiry into this matter ; and an examination of the minute-book, in which I found a record of complaints on the subject, confirmed that opinion. I therefore requested the Chairman, in a letter dated the 27th January, to furnish me with the information necessary. To that letter I have, received a reply from the County Clerk, informing me that he is unable to supply any information as to the sums expended, witli the exception of those for the half-year ended on the 30th September, 1886. The complaints to which I have referred, as recorded in tho minute-book, relate to the diversion of a considerable portion of the " deferred-payment thirds " to tho extension and improvement of the Glenorchy Jetty. The settlors interested protested strongly against the expenditure, and the Waste Lands Board specifically declined to sanction it. The work was, however, carried out, at a cost of £163 17s. 2d. Had the County Council been in possession of a credit balance, it would have been difficult, under a system of accounts which places all expenditure for works under ona head, to determine whether the expenditure on the Glenorchy Jetty was made out of the deferred-payment thirds or out of its general revenue. As, however, tho coivnty is now, and has for some years been, carrying on its works by means of an overdrawn account, it is obvious that if the deferred-payment thirds were not applied to the extension of the Glenorchy Jetty they have been used for a purpose quite