THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES SATURDAY, AUGUST 30, 1902. THE AUDITOR-GENERAL.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 12445, 30 August 1902, Page 6

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES SATURDAY, AUGUST 30, 1902. THE AUDITOR-GENERAL.

Tub frequency with which disputes between tlio Auditor-general and the Treasury Office relative to the expenditure of public money are being submitted to Parliament this sossion should have the effect of directing public attention to the position occupied by the official We have mentioned and to the manner in which his powers are being industriously whittled away by the present Ministry. . Tho Auditor-general is the official who holds, on behalf of the taxpayers,. tlie keys of the public chest. His office was created for the establishment of an efficient safeguard nguiost tlie illegal expenditure of money by the Government; and in order that he" might be rendered completely independent of political influence and tlmt he i might thus be wholly unfettered in the discharge of his duties as the people's watchdog," lie was made irremovable from office except upon a resolution of both Houses of Parliament. Tho Ministry that is now in office has, however, chafed throughout nearly the whole of its existence under the restrictions which are imposed Upon it through the presence in the Government- Buildings of a permanent official whose con' corn it is to see that the expenditure of public money that takes placo is made in accordance with the law. By the aid of a subservient Parliament it has succeeded in tying the Auditor-general's hands to an extent that prevents liini from exercising the check upon illegal oxpondituro that is desirable. Under "The Public Revenues Act, 1901"—, the Act that enabled the "£<lo grab" to bo effected—tho Colonial Treasurer is given the settlement of any question iu which a difference of opinion arises between

fcho Audit Office and the Treasury r> specting the legality of any expenditure. Iho Colonial Treasurer decides, of course, in favour of the Treasury. TJicn, if in his opinion a matter of law is involved, the Auditor-general may appeal to the Governor—and, in this sense, the Governor means the Ministry. The opinion of the Solicitor-general is then obtained, in the absence of any At-torney-general, and in no single instance so far has the Solicitor-general who holds his office afc tho will of the ■Ministry, differed from tho Colonial Tieasurer. Ihus is tho Auditor-general flouted in his efforts on behalf of the public to keep the expenditure of the Government within legal limits. His latest tilt with the Treasury has been on a rather curious point. Colonel Francis, of the Fourth' Contingent, died on the 31st March, 1901. To entitle his widow to a pension under " The Military Pensions Act, 1866," it was necessary to show that he was first certified to 'ho ill on the 30th September, 1900, at the earliest, the pension being payable where the deceased succumbed to "illness brought on by the fatigue, privation, and exposure incident to active operations in the field before an enemy within six mouths after his foeing first certified to bo ill." According to his own diary, however, Colonel Francis became ill on August 19, 1900. As a matter of fact, it is well known that he was ill long before that—that he was under medical treatment before the contingent left Dunediii, and that, in tho opinion of local medical men, lie was not then in a fit state of health to leave the colony. Hut even the date given by himself— August 19, 1900—iwas unfortunately too remote from the time of his death, to entitle his widow to the pension tlm Treasury proposed to grant her. The Solicitor-general, however, rose, as. usual, to the occasion. The period of six mouths, he has advised, is to be computed from the date on which the Medical Board first certifies that tho officer is ill of the illness from which ho died, and if he is dead when the board meets the limit of six months will not a PPb'. al) d it will be sufficient- compliance With the Act if the board certifies that lie died of ail illness brought on by the fatigue, privation, ami exposure incident to active operations in the field without any reference to the six months. • The' widow, whom no one would desire to see deprived of the pension, may be congratulated upon the ability with which the Solicitor-general, when called upon, can "drive a coach and six" through an Act of Parliament.