41

I.—6b

APPENDICES.

APPENDIX A.

EEEOE MADE IN PUBLIC WOBKS STATEMENT, 1892. (EXPLANATION BY UNDER SECRETARY FOR PUBLIC WORKS WITH REFERENCE TO; ALSO EXPLANATION BY MR: SPEAKER.) Memorandum for the Under-Secretary for Public Works. Premier's Office, Wellington, 26th July, 1893. In re error made in the concluding paragraph of the Public Works Statement, 1891-92, and laid on the table of the House last session. I have been accused by the Hon. Mr. Bolleston of having silently, secretly, and surreptitiously falsified the said Statement. With a view to setting myself right, and confuting this incorrect and unfounded accusation, I desire you to supply me with the fullest particulars as to how the error arose in the first instance in the Statement laid upon the table of the House, and how, when, and by whom the correction wasmade in the copies circulated subsequently from the Printing Office. Please detail each and every circumstance within your knowledge connected with the same, upon receipt of which it is my intention to lay it on the table of the House, and refer the matter to. the Public Accounts Committee. B. J, Seddon.

Memorandum for the Hon. the Minister for Public Works. Public Works Department, Wellington, 26th July, 1893. Be Clerical Error in Public Works Statement, 1892. In my memorandum of the 27th ultimo I explained how this error came to be made; but, as I did not for one moment suppose that any one would imagine that the error was any other than a simple clerical one, I did not then go into the question of who was responsible for it. As, however, you now say that you have been charged with having silently, secretly, and surreptitiously falsified the Statement, I wish to say, in the most unqualified manner, that the responsibility for the error rests, entirely with myself and the departmental officers, and that you personally are in no way answerable for it. When the Statement was being compiled I got a memorandum of the expenditure for the last seven years from our Accountant's office, which, owing to some unfortunate misapprehension, gave the "net" instead of the "gross" figures for 1891-92. I showed this memorandum to you, and, noticing that it showed a steadily-diminishing scale of expenditure, you then wrote the concluding paragraph of the Statement, basing the same entirely on these figures. The " conclusion " paragraph of the Statement was not written until shortly before the Statement was tabled, and I did not discover the error in the method of stating the 1891-92 expenditure, until after the Statement had actually been laid on the table, although it was discovered, I believe, within an hour of the tabling of the Statement, and the alteration in the type was made first thing the following morning by my direction, and without your knowledge or instructions. You have also told me verbally that a member of the House said that the Statement was first printed in a correct form, and afterwards altered to the incorrect form. This was certainly not the case, and, as I still have the proof copies of the Statement by me, I am in a position to show that the incorrect figures were in this particular paragraph from the time that it was written, which however (as already stated) was only a very short time before the Statement was tabled. The correct figures were always in the table on page 2, however, and this fact alone ought to be a sufficient refutation of any charge of intentional falsification. H. J. H. Blow.

Sir, — Bremier's Office, Wellington, 26th July, 1893. Having been accused in the. House by the Hon. Mr. Bolleston, the member for Halswell, of having silently, secretly, and surreptitiously falsified the concluding paragraph of the copy of the Public Works Statement, 1891-92, and laid upon the table of the House last session, I desire you to take steps to ascertain whether the copy of the statement in question has been altered in any way since being laid upon the table, and, if altered, by whom so altered. Seeing that this matter affects the officer of the House who has charge of the records, will you please attend to it at once. I have, &c, B. J. Seddon. The Hon. the Speaker of the House of Bepresentatives, Wellington.

Sir, — Speaker's Boom, 26th July, 1893. In reply to your inquiry, I have the honour to state that I have at this moment in my possession the copy of the Public Works Statement laid upon the table of the House last session,,, and that I find no alteration whatever therein or thereon. I have, &c, William J. Steward, The Hon. the Premier. Speaker of the House of Bepresentatives. B—l. 6b.