ACCESS TO BOOKS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21876, 11 August 1934, Page 10

ACCESS TO BOOKS

FACILITIES REQUESTED

SALE OF ASSETS DESIRED TEN DAYS' ADJOURNMENT HELP FOR THE AUDITORS (Received August 10, 9.45 p.m.) SYDNEY, August 10 At the outset of to-day's sitting of the Roval Commission which is investigating the affairs of certain companies an officer of the Auditor-General's department asked the Commissioner, Mr. Justice Halse Rogers, for further assistance from the Public Service Department. He said he estimated that two men working 12 hours a day would take six weeks to examine the books and papers of all the companies into the activities of which the Commission was inquiring. The Commissioner agreed that it was desirable to deal with important details as soon as possible, in order that the companies' business should not be interfered with unnecessarily. The sitting was adjourned to enable the required assistance to be obtained. Later in the day Mr. Lewis Baker, an officer of the Auditor-General's department, said he had visited the companies' offices and had made a list of eight pages of securities handed to him. These were mostly share certificates. Mr. J. W. S. McArthur and Mr. H. C. Glasson, secretary of three of the companies, were recalled. Ihey informed the Commissioner that they had commitments to meet within a fortnight. Therefore, they desired to have access to their books. Mr. Glasson said it was intended to sell about £16,000 worth of assets. The Commissioner, in announcing the adjournment of the inquiry until Monday week, said a digest of the audit officers' reports resulting from their investigation would be available to legal representatives at the next sitting. In the meanwhile, the Government had sanctioned the appointment of three officers and three typists to expedite the work. His Honor gave no ruling with regard to the application for access to the books by the companies' directors.