The Voucher Charges.

Opunake Times, Volume XXII, Issue 771, 8 September 1905, Page 3

The Voucher Charges.

MR. FISHER'S QUALIFIED APOLOGY. Wellington, September 5. Late this afternoon Mr F. M. 6. Fisher, M.H.R.. forwarded the following letter to the Premier:— " Sir,—ln reference to the report of the Auditor and Controller-General upon a charge made by me of a payment to Captain R. J.-S. Seddon, at Christchurch last year, I wish now to inform you ihat I have very carefully weighed the evidence attached thereto, and, as a result, I am desirous of carrying out my expressed intention by taking that course which would seem reasonable and honourable under the perplexing circumstances. First, I desire therefore to express to you and your son my deepand sincere regret at the unfortunate posiition which you and your son have been placed, and I wish to assure you that I freely and frankly accdpt the decision of the Auditor-General so far as the charge of a payment to Captain Seddon is concerned. Second, I wish to assure you that at no stage in the proceedings was I actuated by personal motives either against yourself or Captain Seddon. I had in my possession evidence such as no public man would disregard, and I believed then, and continue to believe, that I acted in accordance with the trust reposed in xae by my constituents. Third, the evidence taken by the Auditor-General still, however, leaves ground for a public inquiry. Whilst it completely exonerates Captain Seddon, it leaves us confronted with the fact that the document handled by Messrs Willis, Larcombe, West and Lundon was in existence, and, accepting the denial of Captain Seddon, must have been signed * R. J. Seddon ' by someone, a person who, in the interests of common justice, should be discovered. Fourth, I submit, further, that we have a right to prosecute a most searching investigation in order to discover the origin of the document handled by my witnesses, and if it still exists, to ascertain its present whereabouts. Fifth, that accepting the certificates of the departmental heads as being accurate, does not the evidence of my witnesses prove conclusively that a duly certified voucher has been in existence, has been handled by four competent men, was signed by one 'R.J. S. Seddon,' and apparently paid, and all without the knowledge of those in authority? Sixth, does all this not point most conclusively to the fact that an illegal document has been in existence, and that on the document there was a signature which, in the face of the evidence, must have been a forgery ? Seventh, I have unbounded evidence in the testimony of Messrs Willis, Larcombe, West and Lundon, and it is now due to them, as you recently held it was due to Messrs Hey wood, Collins and Gray, that this matter should be effectually cleared up ; and this, I submit, can only be done by an exhaustive public enquiry. I sincerely trust that this letter will remove the matter entirely from that sphere of personality with which it has unfortunately become associated, and Igo further and suggest that it has now become your duty as Prime Minister to sift this matter to the bottom, I may add that I am handing this letter to the newspaper pres 3 for publication."