COMMITTEE'S ACCOUNTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20234, 19 April 1929, Page 13

COMMITTEE'S ACCOUNTS.

SUM OF £lO UNTRACED.

DARGAVILLE SCHOOL FUND.

METHODS OF BANKING.

[BY TELEGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT.]

DARGAVILLE, Thursday

Reference to the statement by. the accountant to the Auckland Education Board, that no trace could be found of the £lO donated by Mr. S. C. Williams to the Dargaville School Committee's ground improvement fund, was made today by the chairman and secretary of the old committee.

It was stated that the sum was hanked in the Post Office Savings Bank along with other moneys collected at the same time. From time to time, as funds were required for ground improvement, money was taken from this account, and the subsidy, as provided by the Education Department, was claimed. A full list of the donors was kept, and, as each claim was made, the amount and name of the donor was sent to the board on the prescribed form, the donor's name being ticked off the list, so that 110 duplications could occur. A full list of the donors and the amount collected was in the hands of the Education Board's commis-

sioner. A copy of this list was, or should have been, among the books and papers handed to the board by the committee. If the board's officers would look up the list they would find that the name of Mr. Williams appeared for an amount of £lO.

The chairman said that when the claim for subsidy on the £lO was made, some work at the High School ground had been completed, and the contractor wanted his money. One of the trustees of the Post Office Savings Bank account was away, and, to expedite matters, the amount was drawn from the current account and paid back when the subsidy came to hand. The members of the committee said they had done nothing illegal, and courted the fullest investigation that the board and its officials cared to make.

STATEMENT REITERATED

CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD

When the Dargaville committee's reply was referred to Mr. A. Burns, chairman of the Auckland Education Board, he reiterated his former statement that no trace could be found of the £lO donation. He said the donor, Mr. S. C. Williams, had been asked for particulars, and the board would be pleased to see the matter satisfactorily explained. No reply had yet been received from Mr. Williams. The committee had two accounts, one at the Post Office Savings Bank and the other at the National Bank. According to information furnished bv the committee to the board, the former had paid the £lO donation into the Post Office Savings Bank, but, for expediency sake, when applying for a subsidy, £lO was drawn from the other account and sent to the board. The board added its £lO subsidy, and sent £2O back to the committee.

There was record in the Savings Bank pass-book of the £2O being paid in on January 19, 1929. This payment, and one for £l2 7s 6d, dated April 9, 1929. payment for tar sold in June, 1928, were the only ones recorded in the book since March," 1928, when it was stated the donation from Mr. Williams had been received.

Although the hooks and papers of the old committee had been in the hands of the hoard for some time, it- was not until last, week that the Savings Bank passhook had been obtained. No trace of the donation could he found in the other records, and the board had been of opinion the £lO had been placed in the ■Savings Bank. Perusal of the pass-book showed there was no trace of it in thatbook also.