4

I.—ll

lii clause 92 the Eight Hon. Sir J. O. Ward moved, That the wording of subsection (29), section 54, be here again inserted. Agreed to. Clauses 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, and 120. Agreed to. Clause 121 Postponed. Clauses 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, and 129 Agreed to. Clauses 130 to 132. Postponed. New Clause " 135. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, the Auditor-General may require any claim or voucher to be submitted to the Audit Office for examination before payment is made; and, should the Audit Office object to pass such claim or voucher, payment shall not be made except as provided for in section 18 of this Act." (Bight lion. Sir J G Ward.) Agreed to. The meeting adjourned until Tuesday, 13th September, at 11 a.m. . '

Tuesday, 13th September, 1910 The Committee met at 11 a.m., pursuant to notice. Present Mr Russell (Chairman), Mr Allen, Mr Fraser, Hon. Mr T Mackenzie, Eight Hon Sir J G. Ward. It was proposed, That the confirmation of the minutes be postponed, to enable the Chairman to correct them. Agreed to. Public Revenues Bill. Clauses 130, 131, 132, 133, and 134, Agreed to. Schedules 1, 2, 3, and 4. Agreed to. Schedule 5, Resolved, That the word " Account " in the heading be struck out, and the word "'Schedule " be inserted in lieu thereof. Agreed to. Eesolved, That the schedule as amended be agreed to. Schedules 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 Agreed to. Eesolved, That clause 121 be recommitted. Amendment proposed, That all the words after the word "fifty pounds," in line 48, be struck out, and the following proviso be inserted: — ■'Provided that if one per centum of the general rate does not in any financial year amount to fifteen pounds, the local authority may in that year expend the sum of fifteen pounds for such purposes as aforesaid. (2.) Any Harbour Board may in every financial year expend on such purposes a sum not amounting in the whole to more than one per centum of its revenue for that year (exclusive of loan-moneys) nor in any case to more than two hundred and fifty pounds. (3.) Any Hospital or Charitable Aid Board may in every financial year expend on such purposes any sum or sums not amounting in the whole to more than one per centum of the amount levied on contributory local authorities for that year in respect of expenditure other than capital expenditure, nor in any case to more than two hundred and fifty pounds." Agreed to. Eesolved, That this Bill as amended be printed.

Thursday, 15th September, 1910 The Committee met at 11 a.m., pursuant to notice. Present: Mr. Russell (Chairman), Mr Allen, Mr Buxton, Mr Fraser, Hon. Mr T Mackenzie, Mr Massey, Mr Eeed, Right Hon. Sir J G. Ward. The minutes of meetings of 7th, Bth, and 13th September were read and confirmed. On motion of the Right Hon. Sir J G. Ward, it was resolved, That new clause 135, as follows —" Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, the Auditor-General may require any claim or voucher to be submitted to the Audit Office for examination before payment of same is made; and, should the Audit Office object to pass such claim or voucher, payment shall not be made except as provided for in section 18 of this Act " —stand part of Bill. On the motion of the Right Hon. Sir J G. Ward, it was resolved, That new clause 135 be struck out. Resolved, That clause 52 be amended by the addition of subclauses 5 and 6, as follows :— "(5.) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this section, if the Controller and Auditor-General is of opinion that any such voucher as aforesaid is in any respect not in accordance with law, he may refuse to countersign the requisition ; but in such case he shall, if so required by the Treasury, submit the question of the legality of the voucher to the AttorneyGeneral in accordance with section eighteen of this Act, and the provisions of that section shall apply accordingly