3

P.—l [Pt. [I].

PUBLIC ACCOUNTS FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR ENDED 31st MARCH, 1915. REPORT OF THE CONTROLLER AND AUDITOR - GENERAL, AS REQUIRED BY SECTION 84, SUBSECTION (2), OF THE PUBLIC REVENUES ACT, 1910. The Statement of the Revenue and Expenditure of the Public V.ccounl for the year ended -'> I >• 1 March, 1915, lias been submitted bo the Audit Office as directed by the provisions of section 84 (1) of the Public Revenues Act, L9lO. The several transactions sel forth therein have been examined, and 1 desire to report that — 1. The statement lias been examined and found correct. 2. There are no discrepancies between the statement and the books of the Treasury. 8. Vouchers as under have been passed by Audit without supporting receipts on the authority of the Minister, as provided for by section 69 of the Public Revenues Act, 1910 : Education Department— £ s. d. Special School, Otekaike Travelling-expenses ... :.. I '•> o George Benstead Checking luggage ... .. 1 9 o C. \V. Naylor Incidental expenses ... ... ... I 5 0 Henderson and Pollard- Freight ... ... ... ... 010 0 £4 13 0 Internal Affairs — A. Hall, Private Secretary— £ s. d. Motor-hire ... .... ... ... ... 7 15 0 Launch-hire... ... ..... ... 'A 2 (i Steamer-fares ... ... ... ... • ... 3I (i o £14 13 G Native Department — Salaries. £s. d. Grimstone (deceased) ... ... ... 18 15 0 Parata (deceased) ... ... ... ... ... 12 10 0 Packer (absent from Dominion) ... ... ... 5 0 0 Davy (absent from Dominion) ... ... ... ...' 5 0 0 £41 5 0 (Original receipts lost, and for reason stated not possible to obtain duplicates.) Public Health— . £ s. d. V. E. Harridge Hotel expenses ... ... ... ... 110 0 P. (.'. Pirani—Sleeping-berths ... ... ... ... I 0 0 Dr. J. L, Gre^g—Expenses incurred during typhoid outbreak at lianana ... ... ... ... ' ... ... 19 10 6 £22 0 6 Defence Department- £ s. d. Captain 11. E. Avery ... ... ... ... ... 2L3 II Crust and Crust-—lnsurance ... ... ... ... 22 17 o £25 10 II Lands for Settlement — ,c g . a. J. I). Ritchie —Trap-hire ... ... ... ... I 5 o * Justice— £ s . (|. .1. I). X. Beasley ... ... ... ... ... 716 9 I. Defalcations in connection with public moneys have been discovered and dealt with as under:— Land Revenue Acoount, Christchurch: As a result of an examination of this account by an Inspector of the Audit Department it was ascertained that amounts totalling £12,670 had been misappropriated by a clerk in the office (A. Costello). The default in<;' officer was brought to trial, convicted, and sentenced to three years' imprison ment. In regard to the aforementioned defalcations, I must express my extreme regret that such a paragraph as the final one on page I of the Public Service Commissioner's Report has been laid upon the table of the House, for the reason that it is so constructed as to present a relationship of cause ami effect which is inconsistent with the facts of the ease, and is therefore unfair to the officers who comprised the Con* ference therein referred to. So far as these defalcations are concerned there is no conclusive evidence as to when they commenced, but it certainly was not as a result of the Conference of lilll that "facilities were offered to a dishonest officer" in the sense implied by the Public Service Commissioner's Report, the real fact being that such essential " facilities" were created by the systematic lack of supervision mi the part of the supervising officers, who totally disregarded the requirement of the Lands Department that a regular internal cheek of the accounts should be applied.