DISHONEST PUBLIC SERVANTS

North Otago Times, Volume CI, Issue 13324, 26 July 1915, Page 6

DISHONEST PUBLIC SERVANTS

'necessity por Supervision. LACK OF RESPONSIBILITY, ,j , ' WELLINGTON, ,luh 21 v lit- referring tu tliu jlcJ.iilcntioiii),-tliiit 1 •aine to light- Hi' Cliristelnufell in Octo-. - nor.' last" in connection with', the. eollec- ! lion of laud revenue, the,l luid iepqit-. 3i the public Bcnuc CoinniiwuilPi, which incidentally lol'cis to these pai tjciilnr, defalcations as " tin;..moat ihu- .., Dtis heietofoic bj am uicmliu oi the Public: yci'vico," makes the idllowing lemaiks: — " It. is? necessary to suggest a remedy. It'is ;useless io attempt to patch the present system, \yhicli; lins Hie. inherent defect of entrusting the collection, ol a ioveituc of\Cl,ooo,ooo per aniiuin tp local >. oiiiccis, without supervision;and'check oi' tho lieud office, ,-The head office control prior • to 1900, although Spiijewhjij}elaborate,' was eiledtive,' and it 'is > i'ni- ■ perative that, a ieasoiuiblc,niodili'etiLipj] of the system should-lie resumed. -It is now proposed that the. keeping of ledgers;should be rseuined in tho-iiea'd' office';".'' The Com in issjoiiera a i ; o : ol:' opinion tJtul by'Uiis'course the otyiortiimlirs for fraud'will- be reduced ;to : a minimum, whilst senior officers in the local.offices, instead of taking a more or. less. perfunctory jnterist in the collection of. land -revenue, will lie compelled to, keep., in closer touch it than appears lo be the case-at present. / • "From other eases which have come 'uildoi' notice; it is evident'that many oiiiccis do.not recognise,the responsibility attached to the care of public (nofieys. The (loiniiiissioners liavq observed an absence of supervision on tiro part 'of those whose duty it is to exorand that accounts clcrlis. arc allowed'both to deal with cash,and keep ; the account book, thuifpaving the way •for■ peculation and fraud.- During the year, in one .'department it was/foun-l. ,'thiit sonic hundreds';of pounds' : .\voii'i Of negotiable documents had boeii received in,payment for services carried out, and no entries had been made in the books. Moreover, these documents' were not in the care of anyone, and- .to one could guarantee that.theft had not resulted. In another, case, in ivliieh' trust moneys!were involved, an officer had carte blanche to issue cheques without, any couutei' : siguature. Again, in another department, it was found that moneys had been received-and no officer was able .to give any satisfactory account of them or of what had become of a portion of the cash itself. These arc some of the cases that have hup- , pened, but there are several others, all equally pointing to the conclusion that the supervising elenieut is weak,' ami that the responsibility on the part of those whose'duty places them in positions' of trust is not properly appreciated.' "In this matter it seems to the loin(missioncrs that a great change in ') jflftliods, )s j'oph'crt. _As soon as- pos siblc compete iustuuittoifs id paiiipMet 1 'torn, indicating the i'csponsiMitv ol officers handling moneys, should be is--1 sued by'the Treasury. It, is also con--1 sidcred that surprise audits should' ik J eiuviciV owl." . v . v