Message No. 2.

Wellington Independent, Volume XVII, Issue 1488, 11 January 1861, Page 4

Message No. 2.

" Tbe Superintendent has received for transmission to his Excellency the Governor of New Zealand, a requisition signed by a majority of the members of the Provincial Council, to the effect that.he (the Superintendent) may be removed from office, on the ground that b» had used a portion of the public, funds for private purposes, and that he was for a considerable time awaie that there wan a deficiency in the public funds without having made the members of the Executive acquainted therewith.

" As respects the first allegation, namely, that he had made use, of public monies, the Superintendent begs leave to observe that as this appears to be taken for granted upon the sole testimony of the Provincial Treasurer— evidence manifestly tendered with a view to palliate his own deficiency — itis of little use attempting to rebut thecharge here, inasmuch as it would only he the assertion of one man against thatof another. He would, however, call attention to the discrepancy between Mr. M'Glnshan's statement <o the Auditors and his statement to the Committee; in the one, he attributes the deficiency on 30th June to payments in the South ; in tbe other, to the Superintendent having held the money.

" The Superintendent is prepared to prove that at the time he had nny transactions with Mr. M'Glashan, that gentleman was in posses* sion of funds (irrespective of private monies in his hands), for which he was accountable to the General Road Board alone, and which had nothing whatever to do with bis Provincial^ account. With respect to the second allegation, namely, that the Superintendent, .being for a considerable time a»are of a deficiency on the part. of the Treasurer,. failed to acquaint the members of the Executive with the fact. The Superintendent distinctly denies having been aware of any deficiency at all in the Provincial Treasury account, until prior to the audit of the accounts to 30th June last. He certainly is to blame for not having apprised his Executive of the fact; bis motive, however, in seeking to screen a valuable public servant from the etfects of exposure, appear to have l>een a good one, and justifiable under the ciioumsttnoes, and certainly not deserving of the action which the Provincial Council has been pleased to take upon it. " The Superintendent regrets that the confi dential memoranda which passed between the Treasurer and himself during the time that the latter was endeavouring to shield the former, appears to have been brought forward as proof £hat the deficiency in the Provincial Chest was in the hands »f the Superintendent, while in reality it was in the hands of the Treasurer, by whom it was ultimately made good by raising money on mortgage on his private property. " The Superintendent regrets the necessity for making these statements ; but, in self-viu-dication, he is constrained to do so. Had the question been decided by a Court of Law, he is persuaded that there is no evidence before the Committee which at all inculpates him. If Mr. M'Glashau made use of public money at all to accommodate the Superintendent, the Wlouey was at the time in his hands — if from «jo other source, as Treasurer to the Road Board —and was forthcoming when wanted,

"The Superintendent cannot help feeling that the Council have arrived at a foregone conclusion, and would only further express his regret that a political body like the Provincial Council — liable to be biassed by the feelings of the moment, and influenced, it may be, by some whose personal animosities and ambitions may be stronger than their patriotism — should have so precipitately, aud on the sole testimony at the party most interested, stigmatised a man {oil the eve of his voluntary retirement from office) who has devoted the best ten years of Bis life to the interests of this Province. He feels that, even assuming the allegations contaiued iv the memorial now under review to be true, regard for the public interests might have! dictated a different course. As it is, he will transmit the memorial to his Excellency, .with the prayer, *' audi alteram parlem;" and, if I necessary, will afterwards appeal to those by whom he has beeu placed in his present position. ♦'James Maoandkew, , " Superintendent. * { Superintendent's Office, " Dunedin, 20th December, 1860.