THE VOUCHER EPISODE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 8281, 24 October 1905, Page 6

THE VOUCHER EPISODE.

Commissioners' Report.

Discussion in Parliament,

{By Telegraph—Press Association)

Wellington, Last Night,

When the report was laid on the table of the Hope, Sir Joseph Ward, in answer to Messrs-F; M. B. Fisher and T. E. Taylor, said that no decision had yet been come to by the Government. He moved that the report lie on the table. Mr H. D. Bedford moved as an amendment : " That the Houso directs the Government to decide the men's fate immediately. Mr Fisher denied that these officers had broken their declarations. Ho asked for the punishment of Williams (operator) who had intervened, offending equally with the others. He also urged that copies of the regulations were, till this case, (oo scarco fo? officers to understand them. He was agreeably surprised at the impartiality of the Commissioners, but he objected to the political character of the questions asked of the officers .implicated. Ho thought the men were entitled to a prompt decision by the Government, and to a recognition of the fact that, having played their part in a big iMit, their evidence remained unshaken. °Mr Seddon thought thatthiswas a case of " save me from my friends." Tho facts were that the whole of the officers admitted having broken regulations. Theso circumstances required consideration, and it was not desirable to inflame the minds of Ministers before deciding. They had, moreover, been too busy to direct it. Furthermore, another situation was pending, and in such circumstances the references made in the House bordered on the indecent. Language failed to characterise the conduct of Mr Fisher in referring to the oflicers' conduct as a " share in the big fight "

The amendment was lost on the voices

On the House resuming at 2.30 p.m., Sir Joseph Ward replied. He declared that no harshness had been shown towards these officials, and they had not been prejudiced by the Government. He was glad to hear during debate that morningt hat the practicability of the Commissioners had not been in any way questioned. It was regrettable, he thought, that the debate had not been deferred until the Government had been able to go carefully into the report and evidence. He' (Sir Joseph) had not yet had time to read the evidence. With regard to what Mr Fisher had said about political questions having been put by the Commission, he wished to make it clear that no instructions whatever were given to the Commission by any member of the Ministry. If there was any alleged wrong-doing in any public department, the proper course for the official who found it to pursue was to communicato the facts to his superior officer and not to an outsider. Any person should be able to use any of the Department's officers without being afraid that his private business would be disclosed, lie went on to quote from the evidence to show that the theory that the four officials were not conversant with the regulations would not hold water. With regard to a telegram sent by Williams (a telegraph official at Dunedin) to Mr Fisher, that was merely the sending of a question as to whether Mr Fisher's reflections on the service referred to Dunedin. This was quite a different thing to committing a ' breach of the regulations. He added that the Electric Lines Act Amendment Bill had nothing to do with the officers who had been the subject of the enquiry. It was not retroactive, and it would not in any way interfere with any officer who had committed a breach of the existing regulations. The report was ordered to lie on the table, and be printed. The M to Z Public Petitions Committee reported on a petition presented praying that a full public enquiry be held into the alleged improper payment to Captain 11. J. Seddon. As a Royal" Commission had been appointed, the Committee had no recommendation to make. Mr Taylor said the Commission would not allow'full and unrestricted access to the official records, and there was therefore no prospect of proving whether the four Christchurch officials were light in their statements or not. These officials were, by the decision of the Audit Commission, once more foiled in their efforts to get at the information they required. The Executive should remove "all giounds for belief that concealment was desired. He moved to refer the matter back to the Committee.

Mr Seddon reviewed the position at length, urging that the Government had granted all that the petitions asked, and declaring that there had been no alteration of the order of reference under the Audit Commission. Every payment made to Captain Seddon was under enquiry, and nothing could be wider than that. The people must realise by now that the enquiry was full and complete. Mr Fisher said he had now got to establish for the people of New Zealand the defects in the Audit system, and he did not think it was right with that burden on his shoulders that he should have to pay the expenses of the witnesses he desired to summon to give evidence before the Audit Commission.

After further discussion, the motion to refer the report back to the Committee was lost on the voices, and the report was ordered to lie on the table.