TECHNICAL COLLEGE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16736, 18 May 1922, Page 5

TECHNICAL COLLEGE.

THE BANK OVERDRAFT. ; REPLY TO MR CAUCHLEY. 7 1 The following letter has been sent by i Air C. H. Opie, chairman of the Board l of Governors of the Christchurch t Technical College, to Mr John C'augli- - l©y, Director of Education : “ Your letter of Alay 10, addressed 1 to the secretary of the Technical College Board and published yesterday in * the Christchurch papers, regarding the bank overdraft incurred by this College last year, consists of so many surprising statements that it calls for an immediate reply. In the first case, the overdraft of £3OOO mentioned in your letter never existed ; the overdraft at its greatest was only £B9l. Your next statement that your Department kept the Board ‘ promptly and amply provided with the necessary amount to pay teachers’ salaries in full from month to month ’ is best refuted by the following return : Amount paid by Board Progress payfor Permanent Teach- ments receivers’ salaries. ed from your Dept. £ £ January, 1921 . 744 Nil. February, 1921 . 724 655 March, 1921 . 761 670 April, 1921 . 773 680 “ This shows that in each of the first four months of 1921 no money was received from your Department ii the month in which it was due, and in ©very instance the amount remitted wrs less than the Board paid out. Further, the Board was required to pay in April the salaries of part-time teachers, and for these nothing was received from your Department. The total amounts paid in salaries for the first four months of 1921 Mere as follows: Permanent Staff—- £ s. d Increments earned, 1920 . 80 15 2 Salaries, 4 months, 1921 3,002 6 8 Part-time Staff Increments earned, 1920 . 250 11 10 Salaries, 4 months, 1921 582 1 0 Total . . . 3,915 14 S “ The total monies received during the same period towards the salaries account were : £ s. d Receipts from your Dept. 2.005 0 0 Fees received . . 458 11 0 2,463 11 0 leaving an amount due by your Department of £1452 3s 8d on tho salaries account alone. “In view of the fact that all Departmental payments were being made with similar slowness, it is not surprising that at Alay 6 the board had a bank overdraft of £B9l. “ The above return shows that your suggestion that the hoard used for other purposes the money intended for salaries is not supported by the facts, and it is easy to understand that if the general fund had not been drawn

on every month, the teachers’ salaries could not have been paid in full, if :it all. The board had, in view of the slowness of payments, a most difficult task t-o keep the salaries and accounts of the college paid in a reasonable time, and the demand for a refund of interest on overdraft is a most just and reasonable one.”