3

I.—6a

would meet the case, and would secure the meeting of Parliament, which the Committee take to be the main purpose of the provision referred to. 4. The Controller, in his evidence, refers to the difficulty and annoyance caused to the Audit Office by the provision in the Land Act limiting the payment of travelling expenses for members of Land Boards to the "expenses actually incurred." The Audit Office refuses, under this provision, to pay any account for travelling expenses, unless the account is accompanied by sub-vouchers for the small sums of which such expenses largely consist. Members of "Waste Lands Boards object to this, and have been in the habit of commuting the charge at 20s. per day. The amounts are then paid, on the authority of the Ministers, out of unauthorized expenditure, and included in the Appropriation Act of the following year. 5. The same difficulty and annoyance are experienced by the Audit Office in dealing with the travelling expenses of members of Parliament engaged on Eoyal and other Commissions, and whose travelling expenses are also limited by the same Act to expenses " actually incurred." 6. The Committee recommend that authority should be obtained to commute such expenses for a fixed sum of 20s. per day, in addition to money paid for coach, railway, steamship, or other passenger fares; such commutation, in the case of members of Waste Lands Boards, not to exceed days for each sitting of the Board. On motion of Mr. Wright, Besolved, That the consideration of clause 1 be postponed. Clause 2 put and carried. On motion of Mr. Montgomery, Besolved, That after the word "that," in the first line of clause 3, the words "to remove doubts " be inserted. On motion of Mr. Montgomery, Besolved, That the words " a slight addition to," in the first line of clause 3, be struck out, in order to insert the words " an amendment of." Motion made by Mr. Wright, That the words "31st May," in line 2 of clause 3, be left out, in order to insert the words " 30th June." Motion made, That " 30th June " be substituted for " 31st May." The Committee divided. Ayes : Hon. Major Atkinson, Hon. Mr. Dick, Mr. Peacock, Mr. Wilson, Mr. Wright. Noes : Mr. Barron, Mr. Dargaville, Mr. Montgomery. Motion therefore carried. On the motion of Mr. Wright, Besolved, That all words after " case," in the third line of clause 3, to the end of the clause, be left out. Question put, That clause 3as amended be agreed to. Carried. Clause 4 put and carried. Clause 5. The Chairman, before reading this clause* inserted the following words after " Commissions " : " who are debarred by the Disqualification Act from receiving remuneration of any kind for their services." Clause as read put and carried. On the motion of Mr. Wright, Besolved, That all words after " exceed," in the third line of clause 6, be omitted, in order to insert the words "twenty shillings for each day that the Board sits." Motion made, That all the words after " consideration," in the fourth line of clause 1, to the end of the clause, be struck out. Question put, That the words proposed to be left out stand part of the question. The Committee divided. Ayes : Mr. Barron, Mr. Dargaville, Mr. Montgomery. Noes : Hon. Major Atkinson, Hon. Mr. Dick, Mr. Peacock, Mr. Wilson, Mr. Wright. Motion therefore carried. Motion made and question put, That the report as amended be adopted. The Committee divided. Ayes : Hon. Major Atkinson, Hon. Mr. Dick, Mr. Peacock, Mr. Wilson, Mr. Wright. Noes : Mr. Barron, Mr. Dargaville, Mr. Montgomery. Motion carried. On motion of Mr. Montgomery, Besolved, That a copy of this report, with evidence, be forwarded to the Treasurer, and that, at the desire of the Treasurer, the report be brought up to the House to-day.