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130. You would have all the money in hand between the closing on the Saturday night and the Monday morning period, and you would have no check upon that until the end of the next four weeks?— The returns could easily be made to show that. 131. Your books check the cash you have at 12 o'clock on the Saturday night, and you have to balance everything you have received right up to the period of closing. A dishonest man could xvork on his cash for a considerable period by closing up his books as has been suggested? —I do not see that. 132. The Chairman.] Would he not have to balance every day! —Yes. 133. You say he x\-ould still have to balance at the close of Saturday, and then that balance would go into the following period? —Yes, from 2 o'clock. 134. Well, from 2 o'clock on the Saturday xvould really commence the new period?— Yes. 135. And that money xvould remain, we will say, as Mr. Millar suggests, for four weeks, just as now the Monday morning money remains unaccounted-for?— Yes. 136. And the Department would not have any money outstanding longer than at present under a system like that?— No. Richaho William McVillx further examined. (No. 24.) 1. The Chairman.] You intend to deal xvith clause 14 on behalf of the Department?— Yes. Touching this question of the necessity of officers going on duty on Sunday to prepare their accounts, I may say right at the outset that I entirely disagree with the necessity for such a thing being done at all. I am perfectly well aware of that us a result of experience, and I know what I used to do myself as a matter of choice. 2. Mr. Witty.] You mean as regards the accounts?— Yes. I used to think it a very good thing xvhen I xvas a relieving officer to have somewhere to go and something to do on Sundays at the end of the period. I used to make it a field day in the office, but it xvas not a matter of necessity at that time. Moreover, the returns then had to be posted to reach Wellington, I think, on the Wednesday. I think xve had to post them on the Tuesday in Southland. As a result of representations that were made regarding the necessity tit the principal stations for men going on duty on Sundays to balance up, the Department arranged that instead of the accounts being posted on Tuesdays they should be posted on Thursdays. Thai practically means giving the men two days extra in xvhich to prepare their accounts. Now, if the xvork at the stations is done at all accurately during the period there should lie absolutely no delay and no difficulty in balancing. There are special books and forms suitable for tin- purpose of showing every item of xvork —that is, special provision for shoxving passengers, parcels, goods in, and goods out, and rents and miscellaneous. Noxv, at the end of every day a man is supposed to enter in his cash-book the items he collects under the separate headings. At the end of the day he totals up the business and balances the cash. If he has money over he looks for the item and should have no difficulty in discovering xvhat it is and paying it in. At the end of the week he makes a preliminary balance and balances up that xveek's xvork. He takes the cash-book and total traffic and looks through and sees xxdiat items he has got outstanding. If it conies out square it is then settled, so far as that week is concerned : all he has to do is to carry fonvard the item outstanding. There are certain items outstanding xvhich go from one xveek to another. When he finishes the second week he balances again. The outstanding balance may have been increased or reduced according to the xvork of the week, and the same xvith the third and fourth weeks. At the end of the fourth week he can balance right up to Friday night if he likes, and he knoxvs xvhere he is up to that time. On the Saturday xvhen he finishes up he >'s right down to the one day's work. Now, the statement that you have got to carry on from one week to another and that you cannot ascertain the exact position until you get to the end of the last xveek will not stand investigation. Officers knoxv as xx'ell as I do that a man can take his balance out xveekly, and at the end of the third week all that x\'ork is finished. There may, of course, be instances xvhere they are dealing with separate items, but they are easily treated at the end of the fourth week. They balance the abstracts week by xveek, and they have to get out the fourth xveek, but there is no difficulty in that. That does not affect the balance, and does not necessitate their going back over the three weeks' work. If the three xveeks' work is done accurately it is finished with. Tf you have got an error you can bring that error right doxvn to the item, whether it is goods outwards or parcels inwards, or parcels outwards, or passengers — you can tell day by day. If you come to the end of the four-xveekly period and you cannot balance and have 10s. over or short, you have a sheet on xvhich to make an explanation. It used to be done quite frequently, and I have no doubt it is done just as frequently at the present time. Now, when you come down to these late trains, if your last train is 11 o'clock at night you can balance before that all the trains that have gone up to 11 o'clock, and in a fexv minutes you can enter your tickets up for the last train. You do not necessarily need to stop there and balance if you do not want to : you can do that on Monday. You have to enter the closing number of your tickets in the cabinet. The closing number of the tickets indicates your commencing number for the next period, and the closing number for the period just ended. Tf you have got ticket No. 10 in your cabinet, that means that ten tickets have been issued for that period, and if the next period starts on Sunday you open out on No. 10. You do not need to mix your cash for the last day of the period with the cash for the Sunday or Monday; you keep that separate. You can start on Monday and can get the balance for Saturday before paying into the bank at 3 o'clock. You do not need to enter the guard's bookings on the Saturday nisrht or on the Sunday; you can ascertain the amount of guard's bookings from his ticket-book xvithout entering the tickets in the journal book at all. All that the Stationmaster or booki'mr clerk has to do is to account for the money he receives from the guard. Subsequently xvhen he enters up the guard's tickets in his P/8 book, or on tie- form, he is supposed to cheek (he tickets. Tf there are undercharges on

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