Harbor Board Defalcations.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume IV, Issue 616, 4 June 1891, Page 3

Harbor Board Defalcations.

MORE REVELATIONS. STRANGE POSITION TAKEN UP IN THE MATTER. At the meeting of the Harbor Board on Tuesday night the following letter sent to Mr P. H. Bourke was read :— June Ist, 1891.—P. Bourke, Esq.: Dear Sir, —In reply to your letter of May sth, in reference to the Harbor accounts, in which you were good enough to state that when the deficiency was ascertained and certified to without a doubt, I have now to state for your information that after a most careful examination of the books by the Audit Inspector, the deficiency ascertained and reported to the Audit Office up to the present time is £lBB7. This amount may be slightly increased when the demands that have been sent to the ratepayers are returned. I deem it my duty, from the several conversations we have had on the matter, and before the Board take such legal action as they might be advised, to forward this communication to you, and to quote a paragraph of your letter in which you state :—“There is a limit to the amount it is within our power to find, and it must be remembered that no liability exists, and though we have every desire that this unpleasant affair should be settled without loss to the Board, we cannot commit ourselves without knowing ths exact extent of the deficiency. When this is placed before me and verified, I shall be able to state definitely what position we will take up.” I beg to state that the Board meets to-morrow evening, when I shall be pleased to convey your wishes in this matter to the Board. —J. Townley. The following reply was received 2nd June, 1891.—J. Townley, Esq., Chairman Gisborne Harbor Board : Dear Sir,—l have to acknowledge receipt of yours of yesterday’s date. The paragraph in my letter of sth May to which you make reference was, as you are aware, qualified by certain conditions which were discussed by the members of your Finance Committee, and rejected. Under these circumstances I have no further wishes to convey to the Board. Thanking you for your courtesy, I am, faithfully yours, P. H. Boubke. On Mr Shelton's suggestion the previous letter was read sth May, 1891.—J. Townley, Esq., Chairman Gisborne Harbor Board : Dear Sir,— On careful consideration of our conversation of yesterday, in which I was asked if I was prepared to commit myself to the payment in full of any dificiency tbat may be found to exist, when a general balance is struck of the ■tate of the Harbor Board accounts, I can only at present say that until the exact amount of such deficiency (if any) is ascertained, and verified beyond any doubt, I think it a little unfair to press the matter. There ie a limit to the amount it is within our power to find, and though we have every desire that this unpleasant affair should be settled without loss to the Board, we cannot commit ourselves without knowing the exact amount of the deficiency. When this has been placed before me and verified, I shall be able to state definitely what position we will take up.—l am, faithfully yours, P. H. Bouske,

Mr Shelton wanted to know what was meant by the conditions referred to ? There were no conditions mentioned in the first letter from Mr Bourke. Mr Bright: Of course there were conditions, but they were such that they could not be complied with. Mr Shelton : That the amount was to be paid in full. Mr Bright: Ido not think there is much use discussing the maeter further. Mr Bonrke, says as far as he is concerned he recognises no liability; as none existed in law, it really puts us in no worse position. Mr Shelton: Remember, he put it in on one or two occasions that he promised to see the Board right, and kept up to it till the last meeting of the Board, saying that until be got an authoritative statement he could not say what he would do. At that time he had been told the amount as reported subsequently by the Committee. Mr Bright: But you must remember that the promises were always guarded by conditions which could not be accepted. Mr Shelton (to Chairman): You bad a telegram in which he stated that the defalcations would be made good. Mr Sievwright: Where from ? The Chairman: Wellington. Mr Sievwright suggested that it be put on the table.

Mr Shelton : It might put us in possession of the facts.

The Chairman said that up to that time they were led to believe that the family would make good the deficiency, Mr Shelton : I object to this being put upon the Board. All the way from the start no condition whatever was made. When Mr Bourke first saw Mr Warren and yonrself, the reason given for his going away was to arrange this matter, and when he got down to Wellington he said it would be made right, and now he says that owing to certain conditions not being complied with his promise would not be complied with. That is putting the Board in a false position. The Board all through have none all they could to secure restitution by the late Secretary's relatives, and to have the thing twisted in this way is not fair.

Mr Joyce wanted to see the telegram glluded to. The Chairman said he had not brought it down with him. It could be got if necessary. Mr Joyce thought it should be read. The Chairman said it was much like one that Mr Warren had also received. Mr Warren handed the Chairman a telegram. He said it was marked private, and he left it to the members as to how it should be treated.

The members evidently thought it should be read.

The Chairman, reading: "If the members silent, money forthcoming. See Muir.— P. H. Boreks.” The telegram I received is something similar, Mr Bright! I think it is rather different. Mr Shelton: The words were, I think, "Money forthcoming, see Muir immediately; keep matter from getting into the papers." The words were “ Money forthcoming "; there was no qualification what-

ever. The Chairman: The qualification that it was to be kept from the papers. Mr Shelton: No ; '• money forthcoming.” He was going to Wellington to arrange to get the money, and that was the telegram sent when he got there. Chairman: No, I don’t know that. Mr Shelton: That is the way you explained it to me. Mr Joyce: Where is the telegram ? Chairman: It is in my safe. It is really the same thing. It was sent in the. early stage of the affair. Mr Shelton said it would be quite fair to say the amount had grown too big for them to meet, but it was not right to saddle the thing on the Board as was attempted. Mr Joyoe would like the telegram to be read. Mr Sievwright: The main factor he made in the proposition was that the thing was to be kept from getting into the papers. Mr Joyce: What I understand is that a pertain promise was made in this telegram. Mr Bright: On condition that it was not allowed to get into the Press, Mr Joyce: You could not keep the Press silent. By law our meetings are open to the Piess. It would not be right that the Press should be kept silent. If a promise was made I maintain that the telegram should be produced until we see what it is, Mr Sievwright said there was no use of disguising the matter. He thought the Press should not remain Bilent. It seemed manifest that Bourke and bis relatives contemplated tbat the deficiency should be made up. He did not know tbat there was any express condition. The relations were naturally anxious that the matter should be kept secret, and as far as the Board was in a position to prevent it there was no reason why it should not be done, if the full amount bad bean paid. There would then have been no deficiency to officially notice in fitly Wfiy. "I MhHfil help Siyiag," the

speaker continued, “ that the result of the whole thing is simply this, that Mr Bourke is shirking, and backing out of his moral obligation, and I do not have any hesitation in saying so. I think that is the common sense of the whole thing.” Mr Joyce said that as far as the Press was concerned no member had any power to prevent the representatives of the Press copying the minutes of what occurred at the Board. The Press was duly entitled to report all the proceedings. Mr Sievwright said that if the deficiency had been made up there would be nothing to officially notice.

Mr Joyce said a report would have to be made, and the matter would then become public. The Chairman said it was on the report being made public that Mr Bourke had changed his ground altogether. Up to that time he' led the Finance Committee and everyone to believe that there would be something made up, if not the whole. Up to a certain point they had been led to believe that the whole sum would have been made up, but when it got to a thousand pounds, as Mr Bourke put it, there was a limit to their power in the matter. There was an idea abroad that a thousand pounds had been offered to the Board. No such offer had ever been made. • What was said was that a certain sum of money would in all probability be paid on the condition that the matter was kept secret from the public and the Press, and that the Board should go on ss if nothing had happened. Such a position could not be taken up by the Board. The position was that they should say there was a clean sheet and then say no more about it. Such a position might have been taken up if the money had been paid, but no sum had been offered. He had offered to accept any sum that Mr Bourke thought fit to pay, and to hold it in a trust fund for the time being, but the proposal was declined. He had tried every possible means to eave the ratepayers from having to bear the heavy deficiency, but had not succeeded in the matter.

Mr Sievwright suggested that further discussion be deferred until the Audit Inspector’s report came up.

Mr Bright said that would mean a waste of the time devoted to the discussion up to that point. He thought their present purpose would be served if a resolution were carried that the correspondence be placed in consecutive order in the records of the Board. He agreed that the matter was one in which the members shoo’d express themselves in a clear and decided manner. He quite understood than when the deficiency was considered to be small it would be quite natural for Bourke's relations to say they would make good the amount. Then as the amount of deficiency developed the offers of negotiation became more guarded, and when pen Was put to paper the correspondence was cramped with so many conditions that be for one felt they were beyond their power to fulfil. For instance, one offer was made for a .limited sum to be given, and for that they were to certify that the accounts were in order and that the Board suffered no loss—practically that was it. Mr Shelton and he were quite satisfied tbat the amount of deficiency was in excess of the offer, sod they felt however useful the money might be—whether they would have got it was another thing—they could not accept an offer under such conditions. The negotiations, however, in no way prejudiced them. Mr Bourke himself was under no liability, though if he and the family chose to make restriction they would be thankful. He moved, and the Chairman seconded, that the correspondence bo placed in consecutive order on the reqords,

Speaking in support of the motion Mr Shelton said he took strong excep ion to the letter read that night. It was most misleading. Mr Bourke referred to certain conditions discussed by members of the Finance Committee. The Committee met on the Monday, and it was then stated that a report would have to be prepared to put before the Board on the following evening. It was decided, on Mr Bourke’s request, that ho should have time for consideration. The report was not written until the Tuesday morning, so as to give Mr Bourke full time to make any arrangements possible. It was urged upon Mr Bourke that there was only one way if he wanted to square things properly, to pay the whole amount, or give a substantial guarantee, and if if that were not done the whole report would be absolutely published by the Board. There was no disguise of any kind whatever, and when Mr Bourke referred to eon ditions qualifying his letter of the fifth May he was misleading the Board. If arrangements were not made to clear the Board of all chance of loss tho Committee would publish the whole state of affairs to the Board. They were quite as anxious as anyone else that the matter should never have come to the public at all. If the lottor had simply said that the amount of deficiency had grown too big to be met it would not have mattered so much, but Mr Bourke had no business to attempt to throw tho thing on the Board in that way. The motion was carried unanimously. The telegram to the Chairman, which was ilaced on the records yesterday, was as bllows:—

Wellington, 25th April, 1891. —J. Townley, Gisborne.—Deficiency will bs paid, but matter must be kept from Press, See Muir immediately.—P. H. Boubke. The legal opinion from Mr Bell was then read by members, and further consideration of it deferred until next week. Members considered it inadvisable to make the opinion public property at present. The report of the Auditor Inspector was also read. It was much the same as that of the Finance Committee, going more minutely into the details, and finding the same total, with the addition of £37 that had since come to light. The deficiency now is £lBlO 2s 65, which will be increased when the demands sent out have all been cleared up. The total amounts for each year are r—lBBB, £lO7 2s ad ; 1889, £lOO6 4s 5d ; 1890, £5lB Is 4d ; 1891, £l7B 14s 65. Of these amounts £lBB 15s was on goods sold in 1890, and £49 7s 6d on goods sold in 1891. On law costs £l7 12s 5d was taken, and the rest was for rates. The report showed that embezzlements did not take place untjl the latter portion of 1888, but there was clear evidence that the accounts had been tampered with during the whole of the former period,