MR. MORRIS-Examined.

Otago Witness, Issue 497, 8 June 1861, Page 3

MR. MORRIS-Examined.

On the 11th November, 1857, f paid £300 to' Mr. Macsndteift w&ch he' stated h6 was* filing' to pay Mr. J. M'Glashan to toake up a deficiency of cash in his Provincial balance. I am enabled' to state that fh&'hYdney" was intended for Mr. M'Glashan from the circumstance that I made a shorthand note in the cash-book opposite the entry. In this instance Mr.- Mfa^ndrew^ neither gave a receipt for the money nttt initialed the entry as he usually did. I ' gbarged Mr. Macandrew with the amount, arid' the charge 1 has never been questioned.

< His' Honor tfie Superintendent, JiAMEfc MACANDfiftW* Es^.— Examined}

1. Q. Jtisre'qutestetfthat Mr. M'Glasban'd Boifi' for 1 the Mthful discharge of his duties as Provincial Treasurer may bfr supplied foi 1 my information; Mr. M'Glashan states that Ms^ttetfctotfy of the Superintendent.

A. The Superintendent (Mr. Macandrew) never* saw the document ; and on enquiry of his Clerk, Mr. Logan, it appears that it is not in the office, and was never seen by him ; Mr. M'Glashan, as Provincial Solicitor, must have prepared the deed, of which be will no doubt have a copy. Mr. M'Glashan was in the office a few months before Mr. Logan, and most probably, as he was at the time virtually Superintendent with everything under his charge, the document is in his own possession. When I assumed office, there was no inventory or formal recognition or installation by the late Superintendent. I simply walked in, and took the office as I found it. Executive Minute Book produced, copy of entry on 7th February, 1854: —

" The Provincial Treasurer handed over to " the Superintendent a Bond by Edwavd "M'Glashan, Esq., M.P.C., for the faithful " discharge of his trust, which was approved "of.

(Signed)

"W. Cabgill, " Superintendent."

2. Q. The original authority given by the Contractors to pay J. Gladstone & Co. monies due on account of Immigration was virtually security for payment of services rendered, and could not be revoked by you in the case of the " Gala." It is necessary, therefore, that you should produce evidence to shew that the sum of £1712, which you received from the Provincial Treasury, has been duly paid over, either to Messrs. Gladstone and Co. or to their order.

A. Messrs. James Macandrew and Co. produced to me a letter from Messrs. Gladstone and Co. under date 19th December, 1859, of which' the following is an extract : — " The " Gala sailed frdm Glasgow last month with "214 adults for the Provincial Government. " We will thank you to settle the balance of " her freight in cash. It is at one-half of £14 " ss. per adult landed." The letter can be produced when required. (Letter produced and extract verified). I may state that in all cases previous under the contract, the balances were settled by Messrs. Macandrew & Co. by drafts on Messrs. Gladstone and Co. at 30 days' sight. It will be observed that although £1712 was the sum due to the contractor, only £1524 was payable to the ship, which amount appears to have been paid by Messrs. Macandrew and Co. to the owners of the ship " Gala," a portion having been drawn by the master of that vessel, and the residue passed to the credit of the general account of the owners and that Firm. It may be mentioned that the total transaction between Messrs. Macandrew and Co. and the owners of ship " Gala," in respect of the voyage in question, amoxxnts to £3000 or upwards, and that the whole of this amount may epter into the question now under discussion with equal propriety as any portion thereof. It may tend further to elucidate this matter to state that the difference between £1524 and £1712 was due to and appropriated by J. 1 Macandrew and Co., in terms of their arrangement with Gladstone and Co., and that the former are in no way accountable to the latter for this sum.

3. Q. The letter of Messrs. Crawford and Auld addressed to the Superintendent and dated 24th August, 1860, the duplicate of which was enclosed in their letters of the 15th September following, is requested. A. No letter of the date named, either original or duplicate, has ever reached me, which as regards the duplicate, I am not surprised at (that being an occasional occurrence), but as to the original it must have miscarried.

4. Q. Among the documents printed in the Report of the Select Committee on the Provincial Accounts is the copy of a letter addressed to Messrs. Crawford and Auld, Edinburgh, enclosing a Bill of Exchange for £1000. You are requested to state when the original letter and the Bill of Exchange was forwarded to the Provincial Agents, and whether the receipt of them has been acknowledged. A. The original letter and Bill of Exchange were forwarded from Wellington in July last, so as to have gone home by the August mail. There is no acknowledgment yet from the Agents, and I am strongly inclined to fear that the letter must have miscarried. I have written home, however, to secure the Bill from passing into other hands, and have little fear of the ultimate safety of the money.

5. Q. Please to state when you sent the second of Exchange, and of whom the Bill was purchased, and produce the third of the set for my information. A. The Bills in question were purchased from James Thompson, Esq., of Melbourne, drawn' by the National Bank of Scotland on Glyn & Co. 30 days' sight, which drafts are only issued in duplicate ; the second was posted in November last.

6. Q. Mr. M'Glashan states that when he had drawn a cheque for the sum of £500, in January, 1860, for the purpose of lending "you that amount, you asked him either to go himself, or send Mr. Cheyne to the bank for the money. Do you admit the correctness of this statement ? A. I deny the correctness of the statement. 7. Q. Do you know whether Mr. M'Glashan ever kept a private account at the bank ? A. I believe he never did.