49

of each Province, the charges on account
\nof collection, the proportion due to each
\nProvince during the quarter, and any
\nbalance which might then be found due
\nto any province, was to be paid over to
\nthe Treasurer of the Province. These
\nRegulations were issued on the 8th
\nAugust, 1853. But, with the exception
\nof a portion of the Customs’ accounts,
\nnone of the Southern Accounts had, up
\nto the termination of the month of January,
\n1854, been received at Auckland.
\nThe Officer at Wellington who audited
\nthe Public Accounts at the South, had
\nnot considered it his duty, under the new
\nfinancial arrangements, to call upon any
\nof the new Accountants, such as the Commissioners of Crown Lands and the Collectors of Customs, to render accounts
\nof their receipts and disbursements.

\nAs your Honor has indirectly animadverted on the performance of the duties
\nof the Audit Department, I am directed,
\nin justice to the Auditor-General, to
\nmake the following statement:—In the
\nbeginning of February, 1854, the Auditor-General proceeded from Auckland to
\nthe Southern Settlements, to obtain information respecting the new duties
\nwhich had devolved upon his Department. About the end of May, a day or
\ntwo before the opening of the General
\nAssembly, that Officer returned to Auckland, and brought with him many of the
\nmissing accounts; most of which however, had been prepared by Officers new
\nto the duties of a Public Accountant.
\nMuch time and labor were required to
\nbring into uniformity these numerous
\naccounts, which embraced the transactions of the Accountants named in the
\nmargin. The Auditor-General’s time
\nwas, however, principally engaged during
\nthe first two sessions of the Assembly in
\nfurnishing information for the Assembly,
\nand in attending several Committees of
\nthe House of Representatives, while his
\nonly clerk was promoted at an early
\nperiod in June, 1854, to the clerkship of
\nthe House of Assembly. And in respect
\nof the Land Fund Accounts, the Auditor-General found on his visit to the
\nSouth, that no accounts had in any cases
\nbeen prepared, but the accountants
\nwere waiting the receipt of instructions
\nas to the mode in which their accounts
\nwere to be prepared, and to whom they
\nwere to be rendered, although some of
\nthem had been in receipt of the territorial
\n
\n 2 Colonial Treasurers, 8 Sub-Treasurers,
\n5 Commissioners of Crown Lands, including Surveyor-General, 11 Collectors and Sub-Collectors
\nof Customs, 8 Postmasters, the whole of which
\nwere entirely new to their Departments.

\n
\nrial revenues during the greater portion
\nof the quarter ending 30th September,
\n1853. On the 30th June, 1854, none of
\nthe undermentioned accounts had reached
\nthe Audit Office in Auckland. The
\ndates on which they were received are
\nplaced opposite them:
\nAuckland Customs’ Accounts
\nfor March Quarter, 1854, received...
\n22nd Sept., 1854.
\nLand Purchase Department for
\nthe period ending March,
\n1854, (Wellington Purchases)
\nreceived...
\n5th Nov., 1854.
\nPost Office Accounts for years
\n1852 & 1853, received 30th May, 1855.
\nLand Purchase Department,
\nAuckland, received...20th June, 1855.
\nNew Plymouth Post Office,
\nMarch Quarter, 1854, received...
\n6th Nov., 1854.
\nNelson Land Fund, April and
\nMay, 1854, received 6th Nov., 1854.
\nDitto, do., June, 1854, received...
\n27th Dec., 1854.
\nHawke’s Bay Land Accounts
\nfor the whole period, ending
\n31st March, 1854, received...
\n30th March, 1855.
\nOtago Land Fund, April and
\nMay, 1854, received 12th Sept., 1854.
\nCustoms’ Accounts, Kaipara,
\nMarch Quarter, 1854, received...
\n26th Oct., 1854.
\nSub-Treasurer’s Accounts, Nelson,
\nJune, September and
\nDecember Quarters, 1853,
\nnot yet received.
\nWellington Treasury, April and
\nMay, 1853, not received.
\nNelson Customs, June Quarter,
\n1854, received... 27th Dec., 1854.
\nNew Plymouth Land Accounts,
\nJune, Quarter, 1854, received...
\n1st Dec., 1854.

\nIt is quite clear, therefore, that the
\nAudit Department had not the means to
\nadjust the Accounts at the end of each
\nquarter, and that the facts of the case
\ndo not support your Honor’s assertion,
\nthat the late Governor’s Instructions had
\nbeen wholly disregarded.

\nThe Auditor-General, with the aid of
\na clerk new to his Office, reported as
\nearly as the 23rd November, 1854, about
\ntwo months after the termination of the
\nsecond Session of the General Assembly
\nthat he had so far advanced in the examination of the Public Accounts, as to
\nhave determined the amount of surplus
\nRevenues for the period ending 30th
\nJune, 1854, so far as could be done from
\nthe accounts which had reached his
\nOffice, but that in consequence of...