8.—20b.

Hon. Colonial Treasurer. Kindly approve. Jas - b - Heywood. Approved. —Albert Pitt. l/12/'O5. The Audit Office. Now approved by the Minister acting for the Colonial Treasurer ; but I venture to think that my delegated authority to approve expenditure would cover this. I read the section quoted (8) as sufficient authority to make the payment. ' Jas. B. Heywood, P.G. 1 Dec, 05.

No. 3. IJREGRET that I cannot read s. 8 as a sufficient authority to make thefpayment as a charge to the Act. What is required for that purpose is a provision similar to that of section 31 of " The Land for Settlements Act, 1894," to expressly provide the appropriation to give effect to the provision of section 29 that " al! moneys .... shall be applied to paying all expenses." J. K. Warburton, C. & A.-General. l/12/'O5. The Audit Office. If you do not consider section 8 is sufficient authority to make the payment, will you kindly indicate to what vote or account you think the proposed payment should be charged. Jas. B. Heywood. 4 Deer., '05. All that I cau say is that the payment might, if made before appropriation, be made as a charge to the Unauthorised Expenditure Account. It is certainly an omission of the Act not to provide the appropriation. J- X - Warburton, C. & A.-G. 11 5/12/'O5.

No. 4. T. 05/2824. The Hon. the Colonial Treasurer. The Treasury, N.Z., Wellington, Bth December, 1905. I regret that I am unable to agree with the Audit Office that the within-proposed refund should be charged to " Unauthorised " in order that payment may be made to the claimant. In my opinion there is no necessity to make a charge upon the Unauthorised Expenditure Account. I think the wording of section 8 of " The Unclaimed Moneys Act, 1898," is clear and distinct that " upon being satisfied that the claimant is the owner of the money demanded by him " you " shall order and direct payment thereof to be made to him "—in other words, that the moneys originally belonging to the claimant, and which while in the custody of the bank were held at the disposal of the claimant, but having been paid over to the Government by the bank the Treasurer should take the place of the bank and should pay over to the claimant the moneys which had reached their hands under the operation of the Act. . . ' I agree with the Audit Office that it would have been a better direction it the Colonial Ireasurer had been ordered to pay " without further appropriation all such sums as from time to time shall become payable under this Act," but I do not concede that the absence of the words " without further appropriation" prevents the Colonial Treasurer from making the proposed payment a charge under the Unclaimed Moneys Act. It is quite evident that Parliament intended that a refund of the moneys paid into the Consolidated Fund should, when properly claimed, be refunded at any time, and therefore these unclaimed moneys are on all-fours with unclaimed deposits which have been paid into and form part of the Consolidated Fund (section 9 of " The Public Eevenues Act, 1891 "), and by the authority of the Public Eevenues Act the Colonial Treasurer " may issue and pay the same to any legally entitled claimant thereof." The Audit Office has never demurred to refunds being charged under this Act, notwithstanding the fact that the section of " The Public Eevenues Act, 1891," referred to does not contain the words now insisted upon by the Audit Office—namely, " without further appropriation." I recommend that the opinion of the Hon. the Attorney-General be asked upon the sufficiency or otherwise of section 8 of " The Unclaimed Moneys Act, 1898," for the purpose of giving effect to the direction of the Colonial Treasurer that payment should be made to the claimant and that the charge should be made under the Act accordingly. Jas. B. Heywood, Secretary to the Treasury. The Attorney-General. Please advise. —E. J. S. 29/1/06.

No. 5. " The Unclaimed Moneys Act, 1898 " : In re John E. May, £47 6s. If the Colonial Treasurer is satisfied that the claimant is the owner of the money demanded by him herein, then, in my opinion, he may order and direct payment of such money to be made to the claimant, and the same may thereupon be paid to the claimant under the statutory authority contained in section 8 of " The Unclaimed Moneys Act, 1898," without the necessity of any appropriation thereof by Parliament, and without the necessity of the money so paid being charged to " Unauthorised " expenditure.

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