207

MR. LOGAN—Examined.

Q. Will you produce for my information the Superintendent\'s letter to the Provincial Treasurer, authorising the issue of £400 or £500 to the Accountant of the Treasury as petty cash?

A. Furnished.

[The letter directs the above sum to be retained as petty cash, which Mr. Street was to have access.]

MR. REYNOLDS—Examined.

Q. Does the National Bank of Scotland usually issue its Bills of Exchange in duplicate?

A. I believe they are always issued in triplicate.

Q. Did Mr. Macandrew state to you that he had remitted the "Gala" money to Messrs. Gladstone & Co.

A. He said that he had remitted the money. I asked him then to show me the third of Exchange, and I would have signed the receipt; which he declined to do.

Q. Has Mr. Macandrew, in conversation with you, prior to the discovery of the defalcations of the Provincial Treasurer, alluded to Mr. J. M\'Glashan being in pecuniary difficulties, and of his having assisted him out of them?

A. No, not to my remembrance.

Q. In reference to the remittance of monies to Messrs. Gladstone & Co. for immigration purposes, were they made by Messrs. Macandrew & Co.?

A. In the cases previous to the "Savilla," I satisfied myself that the monies for immigration purposes had been satisfactorily adjusted with the ship; but in the case of the "Savilla" I had reason to believe that a Bill of Exchange which had been shown me as a bill for remittance to Messrs. Gladstone & Co. had been sent to Melbourne for negotiation. I have not been informed that Gladstone and Co. have received payment for that vessel. It was in consequence of this that I refused in the case of the "Gala" to sign receipts until such times as I had received the money along with him, and had lodged it at the Bank to a separate account.

Q. With whom did the Messrs. Gladstone & Co. correspond on the subject of the contract for immigration purposes?

A. With Messrs. Macandrew & Co. and with myself. The ships were always consigned to J. Macandrew & Co. Messrs. Gladstone & Co. have given me instructions similar to those sent to James Macandrew & Co. respecting the payment of monies due in New Zealand on account of the "Gala."

Q. You are requested to hand in the original letter, in order that an extract may be made of the instructions alluded to.

A. I cannot give a better answer than the one I have already given. With respect to the letter of Messrs. Gladstone & Co., I have not been able to lay my hands upon it as yet. I, however, produce other letters, proving the correctness of my statement with regard to previous ships.—(Copy of letter of authority, dated 19th December, 1859; also extract from letter, 17th June, 1859, from J. Gladstone & Co. to W. H. Reynolds, Esq.)

MR. E. B. CARGILL—Examined.

Mr. Cargill said—In reference to my evidence taken before the Committee of the Provincial Council, I may state that I hold a power of attorney from J. Watson and others, owners of the "Gala," to recover from James

Macandrew & Co. the freight due on account of the "Gala." Messrs. Gladstone & Co. chartered the "Gala" to convey emigrants from Glasgow to Otago. They gave an authority dated 14th December, 1859, to the Commander of the "Gala" to receive payment in cash for the balance of the passage-money due in Otago.

The Commander of the "Gala" having failed to obtain payment from Mr. James Macandrew, power of attorney was sent out to me by James Watson and others, to recover from James Macandrew & Co.

I make this statement for the purpose of showing that, up to the latest dates from Great Britain, the claim of James Watson and others, on account of the "Gala," has not been discharged.

JOHN HYDE HARRIS, Esq.—Examined.

Mr. Harris stated, in reply to the question whether the Board of Audit, during the time he was a member of it, verified on the last day of the financial year the correctness of the cash balance by counting the monies in the Treasurer\'s chest, that as far as his recollection goes, the Provincial Accounts were not audited on the last day of the financial year, but were subsequently, when convenient to the Provincial Treasurer, audited up to that date, and the cash balance was verified on the day of audit by counting the monies in the Treasurer\'s chest. These monies always agreed with the amount shown by the cash book to be on hand on the day of audit.

MR. MORRIS—Examined.

On the 11th November, 1857, I paid £300 to Mr. Macandrew, which he stated he was going to pay Mr. J. M\'Glashan to make up a deficiency of cash in his Provincial balance. I am enabled to state that the money was intended for Mr. M\'Glashan from the circumstance that I made a shorthand note in the cash-book opposite the entry. In this instance Mr. Macandrew neither gave a receipt for the money nor initialed the entry as he usually did. I charged Mr. Macandrew with the amount, and the charge has never been questioned.

His Honor the Superintendent,

JAMES MACANDREW, Esq.—Examined.

1. Q. It is requested that Mr. M\'Glashan\'s Bond for the faithful discharge of his duties as Provincial Treasurer may be supplied for my information. Mr. M\'Glashan states that it is in the custody of the Superintendent.

A. The Superintendent (Mr. Macandrew) never saw the document; and on enquiry of his Clerk, Mr. Logan, it appears that it is not in the office, and was never seen by him; Mr. M\'Glashan, as Provincial Solicitor, must have prepared the deed, of which he will no doubt have a copy. Mr. M\'Glashan was in the office a few months before Mr. Logan, and most probably, as he was at the time virtually Superintendent with everything under his charge, the document is in his own possession. When I assumed office, there was no inventory or formal recognition or installation by the late Superintendent. I simply walked in, and took the office as I found it. Executive Minute Book produced, copy of entry on 7th February, 1854:—

"The Provincial Treasurer handed over to