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Receiver for Greymouth, I find that 23 miner’s rights (£23) have not been accounted for.
As the case is at present being investigated, I refrain from making any remarks thereon,
further than to illustrate the incomplete system of checking the Receivers’ accounts which
had been adopted hitherto.

The Miner’s Rights in question were issued in February last, the accounts have all
been rendered since then and accepted as correct, and the deficiency of £23 has not been
discovered. Why? Because the only way of finding out the error was by comparing the
Receiver’s cash book with the counterpart of Miner’s Rights, &c., &c., issued. Had this been
done, and had the County Treasurer been informed of the numbers of the licences, &c., &c.,
contained in the books issued, so that he could have kept a register of the same in his office
with which to check the Receiver’s account the error would have been discovered at the time,
and not eight months afterwards when being audited, and when it is so much more difficult
to discover who was to blame in the matter.

I have also observed that, in some cases, very little attention has been paid by some
of the Receivers to Clauses VIII. and IX. of the Bye-laws for Regulating the Receipt
of Public Moneys in the County, and which I attribute to the want of a better system of
supervising the duties of the various Receivers of Revenue. As these officers are appointed
by the General Government, I intend to bring under the notice of the Hon. the Colonial
Treasurer the necessity of a person being appointed, whose duty it would be to inspect the
various offices.

The only item that I notice amongst the receipts for the half-year which requires any
comment is, that the rent of the Kawhaka Toll-gate has not been paid by the contractor since
last March; but on enquiry I learn that, owing to some dispute, the matter has been referred
to arbitration.

With regard to the expenditure for the half-year, I beg to inform you that it exceeded
the actual receipts by the sum of £9,396 13s. 9d. This is to be attributed to several
causes. First—To the receipts having fallen considerably short of the amount estimated;
Second—To the defalcations of the late County Treasurer; Third—To the Bank of New
Zealand having allowed the County an overdraft; and also to the fact that the large amount
of £8,447 13s. 4d. was paid away which had not been included in the Estimates for the
half-year. Had no overdraft been allowed, and had the large amount which was omitted
from the Estimates been included in them, and the expenditure confined to its lowest possible
limit, the financial position of the County, on the 30th June, 1869, would have been far
better than it really was, viz., being indebted to the bank in the sum of £7,009 8s. 3d.

The distribution of Land Fund and Surplus Revenue to the various Road Boards and
Municipalities was made payable by a resolution of the Council on the 18th February, 1869,
(vide Journal of Proceedings, page 39), but was omitted altogether from the Estimates, as
forming part of the expenditure for the half-year. Moreover, on the 31st December, 1868,
there was no surplus revenue, or any amount available for distributing the Land Fund, for
the period from the 1st September to the 31st December, 1868. The available balance in
the bank on the 31st December, 1868, was only £241 12s. 2d. The bank pass-book shows
a balance of £4,696 11s. 6d.; but, had the County Treasurer’s cash-book been balanced, and
the unpresented cheques shown, on comparison with the bank pass-book, it would have been
observed that the only balance available was, as above stated, £241 12s. 2d.

The amounts paid for Land Fund Distributed and Surplus Revenue were £4,895
12s. 9d. and £2,000 respectively—altogether, a total of £6,895 12s. 9d. It will be observed
that the bank overdraft on 30th June was £7,009 8s. 3d., nearly a similar amount. Had
provision for these payments been made in the Estimates, and the expenditure kept within
the amount received as revenue, no overdraft would have been required, and the County
would not have been placed in such an undesirable financial position. Up to date, nearly all
the revenue of the County has been impounded by the Bank Manager to pay off the overdraft,
so that no sums have been available for defraying the working expenses of the Government
Departments, or sums due on contracts and other liabilities. I append a statement
showing the assets and liabilities of the County, on the 31st August last:—