AUDITOR'S REPORT.

Press, Volume XI, Issue 1435, 14 June 1867, Page 3

AUDITOR'S REPORT.

Audit Office, June 11. To H. J. Tancred, Esq., Speaker of the Provincial Council. Sir, —I have the honour to enolose the accounts of receipts and disbursements for the quarters ending September 30th, December 81st, and March Slet, together with a comparative statement showing tho sums voted for the period from the Ist of July, 1866, to 30th June, 1867 ; the expenditure on the vote; the unexpended balance; the amount paid in excess of vote, or without the appropriation of the Council. This account is made up to the 31st of May inclusive. The Treasurer's balaneo to the same date will be forwarded to you in a few days. To come of the items contained in this statement I shall have to draw particular attention ; but before doing so I desire to bring under your notice the difficulty I have had to contend against in tho interpretation of the Appropriation Aot, when read in conjunction with the Audit Act now in force. The first olauee of the Appropriation Act states that out of the public revenues of the province there may be issued and applied for the public service, and for defraying the charge of the Government for the period commencing on the Ist day of July, 1866, and ending on the 30th day of June, 1867, the IBlGunt let forlh in lh© schedules to ihe Ordinance ;. axs<3 X *».i-»-» y>x-olx£l>it:ecl by *t»e Audi*--jSLcfc from xny o^a?fca fic»t o »»y pri&txon, unless aeooxnpnTiieti by & special order from the Superintendent directing mc to certify. There has been imported into the financial year not only the whole of the expenditure on MCOtiui of i&Wies belonging to the inontli of June, 1866, bat a large unomt of liability outat&ndrag at the close of the past year, and for which the Council should have been asked to m&ke such special provision in the Appropriation Act for the ourrent year- This liability, I find, amounted to £16,500, and had been paid prior to the Audit Act coming into operation, and it had accordingly to be brought into the account for the year 1866 67, and to Sβ dealt with as part of the ordinary expenditure of the year. But the inconvenience does not rest there. Special provision has been made for the expenditure of the departments of Government incurred during twelve months ending 30th June, 1867 while there will be brought to eocount the coet and charges of those departments for thirteen months. U has been customary in former years to twat the salaries for the month of June, and certain ourrent liabilities, as part of the expenditure chargeable upon the ensuing finance year. It was to avoid this that, in a letter I had the honour to address to the vouncil in December last, I endeavoured to point out the necessity for making full proin the Appropriation Act for all the requirements of the province within the financial year; but it seems that in the prePwation of the Act the neceseity for its harmony with the Audit Act has been overlooked. S« months of the year, during which a »*ge expenditure had been incurred, had elapsed before the Appropriation Act was I know it wae questioned whether I *ac ju tified in regarding the expenditure up w> the l ß t of January, when the Audit Act into force, ac liable to its operation; w»t the Appropriation Act itself, although P**ae<i in January, was to be retrospective, and we past expenditure of the Government was »ure!y intended by the Provincial Council to oe considered as part of its vote for the financial jear. No other course was open for mc "'an to bring the whole expenditure within jne scope of the Act, and I accordingly •"ought it my duty to confine the Superintendent's special orders for the issue of money ** far ag possible within the limits prescribed jjT the Act, even at the risk of subjecting the woverameut to some inconvenience by doing

The Council will therefore have to pass either an indemnity for the unvoted expenditure belonging to the year 1865-66, or it must deal with it as I have done, as part of the current expenditure ; and, in order to avoid any difficulty arising under Clause XV of the Audit Act, it must pass, at once, a short Appropriation Act, legalising the payments which have already been made without vote, and those which require to be made to meet the salaries for the month, and all other outstanding liabilities. I propose now to deal with the accounts in the order of their Schedules A, B, C, and D. Upon Schedule A, which comprises the ordinary expenditure, I have but few remarks to offer, as there are but few items which have been materially exceeded. Under Class 2, the department of the Provincial Solicitor shows a sm<»H sum paid in excess of the vote, amounting to £l'J 10s. In Class 4, Legislative, th:> vote for the expenses of members has been exceeded by £696 8s ; this is attributable, first, to the greater length of the session than was at first contemplated, and next hy the provision required to defray the daily rs well as the travelling expenses of the members for the West Coast, in accordance with the practice j of the General Assembly. His Honour's special authority for my certificate was obtained for this expenditure, and is appended to this report, a» well as for all other payments made in excess of the vote of the Council. Class 5. There is a small amount of £7 6s paid in excess of the vote for " Fitting up the Town Hall for the use of the Supreme Court;" but the importation into this account of the liabilities of last year, for which no provision had been made, shows that the cause of this vote being in excess is the payment, in July laat, of £29 12a which ehould have been paid in June. In the Gaol Departments there have been a few items paid in excess of the vote. Salaries in Lyttelton, £75 Iβ ; miscellaneous, £8 13a 8d ; in Christchurch the miscellanous vote ie also £416s 8d in excess ; and £49 Iβ 7d has been required at Timaru in excess of the vote for travelling expenses of in charge of prisoners. Nearly all the contingency votes for the Police Department have been exceeded, and liabilities under this head, to a considerable amount, await the sanction of the Council. The vote for forage has been exceeded by £99 2s 3d. Uniform clothing has called for an expenditure of £7 15s 3d in excess of the Tote. The vote for printing has been exceeded by £420 7s 10d ; under this head charges have been included for copies of the Acts of the General Assembly for each of the police depdts. If it is necessary to furnish the police with these Acts at all, I would respectfully suggest that application ehould be made to the General Government for the issue of a sufficient number of copies for the purpose, or that a selection should be made of those Acts which have reference to police functions. The item of " house rent" has been exceeded by £54 12s 6d, but £40 of this amount was chargeable to the past year. Furniture is exceeded by £48 2s; incidental expenses by £343 8s 5d ; fuel by £15 4s 5d ; and outstanding liabilities by £70 19s 7d. In the department of Charitable Aid £53 10s Id has been required in eiosss of the vote. Under Hospitals, £45 7e 4d h*e been paid on account of salariee in excess of the vote ; and in Lyttelton the fuel end cleansing vote has been exceeded by £22 0s 9d. In Titnaru the vote for Miscellaneous expenditure has been exceeded by £41 3s 9d. This hospital has been inconveniently full, and larger provision should be made for rations and medical comforts. There haa been no vote hitherto taken for fuel, and the vote under miscellaneous ia not sufficient to cover the expenditure. In the department, Lunatic Asylum, it has been found necessary, in consequence of the increased number of patients, to provide extra attendance, which has resulted in an excess of £21 3s 2d. The special authority of the Superintendent has been obtained for this payment. The only other departure from the vote ie in the item medcial comforts, amounting to £65 13s 10d ; but for the June liability this vote would have been within its limit. Under General Miscellaneous there is but little to comment upon. To the item postage, cartage, &c, has been charged the cost of telegraphic messages, which are now considerable, and stamps required under the new Act, showing an excess upon the vote of £97 2s 9d. The item £63 10s under the Diseased Cattle Act is only a cross entry. The inspector is entitled to and receives the fees, which he is required to pay into the Treasury, and they are subsequently refunded. The next items—salary paid to Chaplain to the Gaol arid the steam bonus are both apparent excesses, occasioned by the importation of the June liability. There is a sum of £50 paid in excess of the vote on account of Pastoral Associations. The next item is the excess of expenditure over vote for the expenses attending the Governor's reception; the amount voted was £800, but £1381 3» 7d has been expended, and there are outstanding liabilities to be provided for. These accounts are distinct from those of the West Coast. The license fee paid by a publican at the Otira gorge has been remitted and refunded by special authority ; and lastly, the sum of £387 16s 10d had to be paid without vote on eocount of the Canterbury Bond stamps. The total amount of unvoted expenditure under Schedule A amounts to £3580 15s Bd, and for all of which I have annexed his Honour's special authority. In Schedule B, tho department of Land and Works, the first item in excess of the te-le ia 6ne of £15 134 fdr i\\& fi6Mflfl of flMemptive right notioc aod JBX22 Oβ 6d f S M8T»? m July of an account for d 8209 forwarded from England, and for which no provision had been made in the Appropriation Act. In the Geological department, the salary votecl was for nine months from the Ist of July; the eioisee m. therefore caused by tbe payment in July of tho June liability. The contingency vote is exceeded by £173 Is 10d. In the Telegraph Department an additional lineman was authorized, and that has occasioned the increase on the vote to the extent of £48 Iβ 2d. The vote for the maintenance of the line, at the suggestion of Mr Bird, has been divided equally between the East and Weet Coast—an injury to one portion of the line necessarily affecting the whole. The vote, when so divided, shows an excess on each side of £28 138 2J. In the class Public Plantations, under fencing, £129 10e has been paid in excess of the vote. It has been necessary during the progress of the year to find work for a number of men who would otherwise have become a burden upon the Charitable Aid Fund, and the Government directed their employment in the Domain, at the rate of 5s per day. The deficiency in the Harbour Departauet calls for no observation. I pass therefore to the department of Pubho Works: here the only departure from the vote of the Council of any moment is that for the Gaol, upon which £669 3s 10d appear to have been expended in excess of the vote, but this amount hae been paid to Mr White, for stone, all of which is in store. One-half of the whole expenditure on this account has been paid back to the Treasury in part liquidation of the £5000 advanced to Mr White by the Provincial Government on account of the tramway works. Under the Provincial Government Works, there ia only one item in excess of the vote — clearing the Avon in Hagley Park. Here, as iv the Domain, the work has been done by men who would otherwise have become chargeable to the Charitable Aid Fund. Class General Miscellaneous shows an excess of expenditure over vote of £254 lls for the purchase of the buildings at the Rakaia ferry; the whole amount was fixed at £554 11b—£300 was paid on account in July and omitted from the Appropriation Act. £96 7s lid has also been paid in excess of tbe vote for the erection of the Godley statue. Insurance of the Government Buildings has occasioned an excess of expenditure, amounting to £75 8a 3d. The largest item under this class is that of contingencies—here is an excess of £2200 7»,

but £1100 of this amount has been spent in the purchase of gtone from Mr White, upon the same conditions as those alluded to for the gaol, and upon this etone men have been employed to prevent a further demand upon the Charitable Aid Fifnd. £1000 has to be carried to the credit of this account for material sold and paid for, po that the actual excess is not more than £1200, and £235 of this balance has been expended in purchase of agreement stamps required by the Waste Lands Board under the Stamp Act. Under Unvoted Expenditure there is an item, £292 18s 6d, paid for services rendered from time to time by Mr Williamson in the superintendence of public works at Tiraaru. It is a claim some time standing, and therefore called for a special order to certify. The amount paid on account of the West Coast Reconnaissance Survey has also been passed under special orders from his Honour. It will be recollected that £5000 was voted for this survey under a resolution of the Council. I was compelled to disregard this vote, and deal with this expenditure as with all others not embodied in the Appropriation Act. There is a considerable amount due on • his account, which I have not certified—the Superintendent's power to direct mc to do so having been exceeded. The last item is one of £150 granted to Timaru without vote for its water supply. The total expenditure in excess of the vote in this department is £4876 16s 4d. In Schedule C, the department of Railway and Harbour Works, the items in excess are very few; under the class " Great Southern Railway," £459 Iβ 10d for law expenses has been paid in excess of the vote, but a considerable portion of this sum is due to liabilities of the previous year. The Timaru Landing Service for the same reason has called for an expenditure in excess of the vote of £64 9s 10d. I would respectfully suggest that steps should be taken as speedily as possible to lease this service Nothing can be much more unsatisfactory than its present tenure. Although every possible precaution seems to have been taken to ensure attention to the public requirements, there still appears to be considerable difficulty in collecting the dues. A large amount is now owing to the Government and is, I fear, scarcely likely to be recovered unless a material compromise is mado. The landing service, when put into efficient working order, if leased might be made a source of profit to the individual, and a material benefit to the district; but he should be under heavy sureties, and should be made liable for all damage, and bound by a moderate maximum rate of charges. By the returns submitted to mc while inspecting the Harbour-Master's account, I observed that the exports during the past year in wool alone amounted to nearly £155,000. There is about £1700 due to the Government on this service, and unless some person is sent down with full authority either to make allowances where required, or to enforce payment, there will be a difficulty in collecting it. The last item of this echedule is that of the sea-wall, Lyttelton. Here there has been an expenditure of £3596 in excess of the vote, occasioned solely by the necessity for winding up the contract, and the amount in question ■was deoared to be due to the contractor. The total excess of this department is £4127 11s Bd. Schedule D —ln the department of the West Canterbury Goldfields I regret to say there has been a very considerable expenditure in excess of the vote of the Council. The greater portion of it had however been incurred before the new Audit Act came into operation. It was the practice formerly to grant money to the Commissioner in sums of £5000 and upwards, under imprest, and the expenditure incurred there was defrayed under his direction without audit; and as no Appropriation Act was passed until January of the present year, there had been payments made not only considerably in excess of the subsequent vote of the Council, but also for purposes for which no vote had been taken. I shall draw attention to them in their order. The first item in excess of the vote ie in the Engineer's Department, under the head Incidental Expenses, £120 jf the whole sum expended was so expended in the September and December quarters, on the West Coast. In the department Administration of Justice £50 has been paid under special authority in excess of the vote for the office of Crown Prosecutor. And in the Supreme Court it will be seen that £2051 4s 6d has been drawn for the expense of witnesses in that Court, of which sum £1551 4s 6d is without vote; and also in Resident Magistrate's Court, £861 16s was expended, of which £711 16s was also in excess of the vote. It must be borne in mind that these large sums were required for sessions in which the calendar was unusuul'y heavy, during one of which the trial of Wilson took place. Each item of this expenditure is supported by vouchers. The next item calling for special remark is that for Salaries to the Polioe. This vote is exceeded by £478 7s 2d, and the cause for this appears to be that no vote under this department was asked for the police in charge of the lock-up at Hokitika —the salaries for the portion of the force so employed were debited on this side to the District Gaol, which is a different establishment altogether, and for which a vote was taken to defray only the salariee of the Warders. I have had no other alternative therefore than to charge these amounts drawn for this purpose against the Police Department, to which in fact the officers belong. The other items in excess of this depart--11l Oil t are, trancing espiwes, &W Hβ 4ii j fuel £43 XSa -Ad ; printing and stationery, £94 -J&. - n-rtiform. clothing, £39 12d S<A s furniture, *161 3a 7<S ; and outstanding li&bililLlllLU ImJ agammvilL attention of the Council to tlie further sume due on aocount of police expenditure which are waiting its sanction before they receive my "llieTelβ a email cum of £2Q 12e 0d required to defray the excess of the vote for medicines to the District Gaol. In the Harbour Department the salary vote is exceeded, and that for materials also. £12 17s 9d has been in excess of the vote for Greymouth, and £80 8s for Okarita. In both these places a regular boate crew has been maintained, and there are vouchers awaiting authority for payment, and which if paid, would place these votes considerably in excess. A new service has also sprung up at the Haast, which has eince decayed, and for which there was no provision in the Appropriation Act, and consequently I could not certify for payment. A necessity of a like nature may arise at any moment, and provision should be made in future estimates to meet emergencies of this kind, or serious inconvenience may result. In the Telegraph Department»there is a slight increase occasioned by the services of an additional lineman being required. The excess in the item Maintenance has already been accounted for under Schedule B. Upon the class Public Buildings I have only to remark that the amounts paid in excess of votes were in all cases paid before the Audit Aot came into force. The same observation will also apply to the next class, Public Works, but I have to request the attention of the Council to the vouchers, I which still await my certificate for payment, which, has been withheld only because I found the votes exceeded by the Commissioner's disbursements to the end of January. The most important of these are on item No. 6. Breakwaters amounting to £691 9<J 4d, and item No. 8 the Cutting through the Shingle Bank amounting to £147, but on this last account there have to be brought to account further vouchers paid without audit by the Commissioner since the Audit Act has been in operation, amounting to £722 10s 6d. I have not passed these vouchers, and must leave them for the Council to approve. The Overland Route to Christchuroh has been exceeded by £617 5s 3d, but there is a set-off of £600 against this amount, being a refund of money granted on imprest to pay wages. The list attached will show a liability still to be provided for of £633 18s 2d. There are other roai-hers paid by the Com-

missioner without audit, and for purposes which are not in the Appropriation Act. They consist of:— Police quarters at Ross £152 15 0 Warden's house at Greyruouth 20 0 0 Miscellaneous expenditure at the Commissioner's house ... 34 5 0 One-third maintenance of the Greymouth hospital in excess of vote 110 13 10 Bailiff's fees, for which there is noYote 19 7 8 On account of the reception of his Excellency, paid under direction of his Honour, but after his power to authorise had been exceeded ... ... £75 0 0 Revenue detectives, without vote 97 13 0 if ating a total, with the amounts already alluded to, of ... £1232 14 8 The items unier the following class— Unvoted Expenditure —wero all paid by the Commissioner before the commencement of the current year, with the exception of the last two —viz., the Governor's reception, £44-1 los Id, to which amount outstanding liabilities have to be added, and the remission of a public-house licensing fee, amounting to £25 The excese of expenditure, exclusive of th? items above referred to on the West Coast Goldfields account, amounts to £11,163 17s 3d. The gross amount of the expenditure in excess of the vote amounts therefore t0... £23,661 14 10 From which we may deduct refunds to the extent of ... 1,600 0 0 Leaving a balance of £22,061 14 10 By the Audit Act his Honour the Superintendent is limited in the exer-ise of his power to issue special orders for the Auditor's certificate to one-twentieth of the previous year's revenue, and I estimate this amount at £19,000 for the past year. The Council will perceive that notwithstanding the operation of the Audit Act being only of five months duration, the expenditure lias been virtually kept within the bounds prescribed, because reasonable allowance should be made for the excess which took place before the Ist of January. In conclusion, I would respectfully suggest that provision should be made upon the West Coast estimates for tho shifting character of the country. More elastic powers are required under contingencies in nearly every department to facilitate the operations of the Government in that portion of the province, and to avoid the obvious necessity which otherwise will arise, for the refusal of the Auditor's certificate. I append to this report an abstract under the different classes of the voucher* waiting my certificate, and which the Council must be good enough to provide for before payment can be made. I have the honor to be, Sir, Your most obedient servant, J. Oi/livieb, Provincial Auditor.