THE AUDIT INQUIRY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 8452, 21 October 1905, Page 5

THE AUDIT INQUIRY.

AN IMPORTANT PRINCIPLE. [Peb Pbess Association.] WELLINGTON, October 21. An important preliminary principle bearing on thegapole scope of the investigation was •fettled by the. Audit Commission to-day. The tenor of the judgment is that evidence must be relevant, notf only to the audit system, but to the alleged voucher. Mr Jellicoe, counsel for Mr Fisher, had applied that Mr Warburton, the Auditor-General, and Mr Collins, the Secretary to the Treasury, should hf called upon to produce all books, documents and vouchers relating to payments made out of the public account during 1903 and 1904. He also had applied that a number of witnesses, whom he named, should be subpoenaed, including Colonel Porter, the manager of the Bank of New Zealand at Christchurch, and the four suspended postal officials at Chrisfccluirch. The Commissioners in tlieir judgment said they would issue a summons to any person named as witness to produce any voucher which in the yeans 1903---1904 was issued in favour of Captain Seddon for payment to him at Christchurch out of the public account o? a sum of between £70 and £80, or for any other sum for the reorganisation of defence stores, or for any other services, and all books, accounts, cheques, requisitions and returns related to or in any wise, referring to suoh voucher. If the matter submitted to them for inquiry were a matter capable of coming, and which had actually come before them in their Supreme Court jurisdiction, they could make no wid«r order for the production of documents than that. Referring to Mr Jellicoe's contention that a subpoena- could be issued as in the Supreme Court to a witness to produce all documents without reference to their relevancy to the inquiry, their Honors said that the subpcena duoes tecum issued of the Supreme Court was really the act of the party involving no personal discretion of any officer of the Court. Their Honors thought that, before they issued a subpoena in the present proceedings, they should be satisfied that the documents applied to be, produced might prove relevant. The documents applied for by Mr Jellicoe'were not deemed co admissible, and their Honors declined to make any wider order than had already been mentioned. They would issue subpoenas for any witness named by any person admitted as a party to the inquiry, on the conditions set forth, viz., on that person depositing a sum of money sufficient to pay witnesses' expenses. If a person is shown to be a material and necessary witness their Honors will apply to the Colonial Secretary for his expenses, no deposit being required in such. case. Their Honors had no power to enforce the attendance of any witness except subject to these conditions.