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L 905 NEW ZEALAND.
"THE PUBLIC REVENUES ACT, 1891." CORRESPONDENCE IN A CASE UNDER SECTION 32 RELATIVE TO THE DISALLOWANCE OF A SURCHARGE Of £1,433 Os. 3d. MADE BY AUDIT OFFICE UPON ALEXANDER AITKEN, THE MANAGER OF THE WAIMEA-KUMARA WATER-RACE.
Laid on the Table of the House of Representatives by Act.
Sib,— Audit Office, 31st August, 1905. In compliance with the provisions of section 32 of " The Public Revenues Act, 1891," I have the honour most respectfully to report that the Hon. the Minister of Mines has disallowed thereunder a surcharge of £1,433 os. 3d. made by the Audit Office upon Alexander Aitken, the Manager of the Waimea-Kumara Water-race. The surcharge was for amounts owing to the revenue, and uncollected, for water which the Manager had during the several years supplied on credit; and the particular circumstances of the surcharge and its disallowance appear in the Audit Office correspondence, of which I beg leave to append a copy. I have, &c, J. K. Warbubton, Controller and Auditor-General. The Hon. the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
No. 1. The Manager, Waimea-Kumara Water-race. Audit Office, 4/9/97. In connection with the account sales of water at Kumara, the moneys owing for water supplied average £150 every month. Of course, some parties are in debit one month and in credit the next. The total debits exceed the credits, however, in the proportion of about 3 to 1. Would it not be possible to obtain in advance in every case for all water to be supplied—the debits at least should not be allowed to such an extent. You might kindly let me have your views on the whole subject. J. K. Wabbubton, C. & A.-G. The Manager, Waimea-Kumara Water-race. Audit Office, 12/10/97. Will you kindly reply at once to Audit query No. 789, sent to you on the 4th September, and explain cause of delay in so doing. J. K. Wabbubton, C. & A.-G.
No. 2. Sib,— Kumara, 27th October, 1897. In reply to your query No. 789, 4/9/97, I have the honour to state that after due consideration I am unable to propose a satisfactory solution of the question of doing away with the debits in the water-race accounts, and I am using every endeavour to keep the debits down in amount consistent with the interests of the races and good of the gold-mining industry. If I receive instructions from the Hon. the Minister of Mines, I will supply no water from the races unless I receive payment in advance. Payment in advance used to be the rule, but the increasing poverty of the ground now being worked in Kumara and Waimea has made payment in advance impossible without serious injury to mining. I try to work the races in the same manner as I would do if they were my own private property. One way of getting over the difficulty would be to place all water supplied to a Suspense Account, and not bring any water supplied to charge in the ordinary water-race accounts until the cash was received. This could be done in ordinary commercial business, but I am not clear that it could be done in Government accounts; but the conduct of water-races is hot at all like any other Government business. ' ; " ' ' ,; ;
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