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taken the management of Roads into their
own hands, in anticipation of an alteration in
the law. In consequence of that, the balance
that was in my hands in the month of October
last was paid into the Provincial Account at
the Bank.

16. Q. Will you produce the Road Board
    Account?

A. Handed in accordingly.

17. Q. Where did you deposit the funds of
    the Road Board? I find that the balance on
    hand sometimes exceeded £1400. From the
    1st July 1859 to the 29th September 1860,
    the balance varied from about £900 to £700.

18. Q. Did the Board of Audit, on any occa-
    sion, the 24th September 1857, when the
    monies belonging to the Provincial Account
    were first deposited at the Union Bank, count
    the cash deposited in the Chest alluded to;
    and, if so, did you state to the Board that the
    monies deposited were monies belonging to
    the General Road Board and Education
    Board?

A. The Provincial Account money and the
Road Money and the Education Board money
were severally kept in separate bags deposited
in the Chest. The Provincial Auditors always
asked for exhibition of the Provincial Account
money, and it was exhibited. The Auditors
of the Road Board and of the Education
Board did not ask for exhibition of the money
belonging to those several Boards, and it was
not exhibited.

19. Q. It is understood from your reply
    that after the 24th September 1857, you con-
    tinued to hold in the Chest monies belonging
    to the Provincial Fund Account?

A. Sometimes to a small amount, and I was
empowered to do so by the regulations of the
service. I produce copies of three letters of
instruction in regard to these matters, dated
respectively 16th December 1859, 13th Janu-
ary 1860, 26th December 1860.

20. Q. I hand to you a statement of the
    Accountant of the Provincial Treasury, show-
    ing certain deficiencies in the balance of the
    Provincial Account at the Bank: do you ad-
    mit that these deficiencies existed, and will
    you explain how they occurred?

A. I have no doubt the Provincial Accoun-
tant's report is correct; but with the excep-
tion of the sum of £1086 13s. 4d., that was
in the hands of the Superintendent, I am
positive all the public monies not in the Bank
were in the Provincial Chest.

21. Q. On some occasions monies were is-
    sued without the Superintendent's warrant for
    payment of wages of men employed on the
    Public Works. It is stated by the Accoun-
    tant that these issues were not shown in your
    Cash-book until after the Superintendent's
    warrant had been obtained. This would cause
    a deficiency in your balance?

Can you point out an instance where such
payments have not been inserted in the Cash-
book at the time when the balance was struck?

A. I wish to explain that when I stated to
the Provincial Council's Committee, that the
discrepancies between the Cash-book and Bank-
book balance must have been owing to sums
advanced for wages not credited, I, of course,
alluded to any excess beyond the sum bor-
rowed by the Superintendent, and had parti-
cularly in view the sum of £1877 16s. 11d. on
15th May, 1860 (vide report, p. 6), reported
by them apparently deficient on that date;

for I was certain that if, in point of fact, there
was so large an apparent deficiency, it must
have been owing, not only to the loan to the
Superintendent, but to advances made on ac-
count of wages which had not been placed to
my credit; and the Accountant's statement
now before you shews that I was correct in
that. I am quite certain that Provincial ac-
count money kept in the chest never exceeded
£400; and I put in three letters authorising
a sum to be kept to meet wages.

Letters dated 16th December, 1859
13th January, 1860
26th December, 1860.

As an instance where such payments have not
been inserted in the Cash-book at the time of
survey, I refer to the Accountant's Pass-book
with the Union Bank on the 29th and 31st
March, 1860.

21a. Q. It is stated in the evidence taken
before the Select Committee that the pay-
ments unvouched for at Invercargill account
for the deficiency. I have examined the ac-
counts in your office, and find the course
adopted, in respect of the Invercargill pay-
ments, regular, and that you have taken credit
for them before the vouchers were received.

A. My statement to the Committee was so
far erroneous. I could not conceive how it
was that the Auditors could have found a de-
ficiency of £1800 odd. On the Committee
asking me about it, I answered that if it was
the case, I could not account for it in any way,
except by advances have been made for
wages here or at Invercargill, for which I had
not been credited.

22. Q. I find from the documents you have
    placed in my hands, that on the 16th January,
    1860, you drew from the Provincial account a
    sum of £400 by cheque signed by the Provin-
    cial Treasurer. This sum you state you paid
    to Mr. Macandrew. It appears acknowledged
    by an I O U for £400 signed "J. M." and dat-
    ed 16th January, 1860. There is a notation
    on the I O U, dated the same day, in your
    handwriting, stating that the amount was to
    be repaid out of money of next trip of "Pirate."
    A subsequent notation states that £333 6s 8d.
    was received on 21st Jan., 1860, towards pay-
    ment of the I O U, thus leaving a balance unpaid
    of £66 13s. 4d. There is another document in
    your handwriting, dated 23rd January, 1860,
    stating that "Mr. Macandrew borrowed to-day
    £500 to enable him to retire an acceptance of
    Mr. Reynolds." You now state that this sum
    of £500 was repaid, but that Mr. Macandrew
    immediately borrowed another sum of £420,
    viz; on the 1st February, 1860, thus making
    up a sum of £486 13s. 4d. For this amount
    the £500 was the Macandrew on the 1st
    February following gave a cheque on the Union
    Bank of Australia.

Referring then to the above sum of £500, I
find that a cheque for the amount was drawn
on the Provincial account at the Union Bank,
on the 23rd January, 1860, and paid on the
same day to Mr. Cheyne, a clerk in the Trea-
surer's office. Do I understand you to say
that, when you gave Mr. Macandrew the
cheque (which is signed by you as Provincial
Treasurer), he said "Go yourself, or send
Cheyne," and that you sent Cheyne?

A. I said to Mr. Macandrew, I cannot give
it you, except by drawing on the Bank. He
said then, "Go yourself for it, or send Cheyne."

23. Q. Out of what funds did you pay the
    loan of £420 to Mr. Macandrew on the 1st
    February, 1860?

A. It was given to him out of the £500 re-