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Hon. A. LISTER.-I don't know, because had they been kept they would think the advantage to them would ultimately have been greater.
Q.-The CHAIRMAN. Is the system universal in the Royal Engineers of having an Officer who looks round and I suppose from time to time sees the work is being pro- perly carried out; then a man who actually supervises the work being carried out, a foreman of works; and then a man like Mr. FLEMING who is a check on him as to quantity and quality of works?
A. Yes, the Surveyor is really an assessor; he is not a divisional officer.
Q.--I see; he is a sort of man who comes from outside, unconnected with the work,
a sort of auditor?
A. Yes.
Q.-Is that the universal system?
A. Yes, that is the universal system. It is found necessary to carry out the work, because there is a great deal of labour in making out the bills. Measuring the work is an operation that takes time; in the meantime work is constantly going on, and the Surveyor is available, amongst other duties, to measure these large works and check
the bills.
Q.-And he is available for other purposes as well?
A. Yes.
Q.-Hon. A. LISTER.-I think Mr. FLEMING told us some large sums of money had been realised somewhere by a man writing entries into bills after they had been passed. Have you known of a case of that kind?
A. Yes, that was done soon after I joined, I think about the year 1860, the only. case I know of.
Q.-Where was this?
A.-In Ireland, I hardly remember how it was effected, but I think after the Com- manding Engineer had signed the bill the amounts in it were altered. Now no erasure is allowed. If it becomes necessary to make an alteration the bill must be remade.
Q.-Then are you dependent for the correctness of the amount paid on the accuracy of that one piece of paper?
A.-No, because it is checked by all the measurements given in. That one piece of paper is the mere outcome of a long series of measurements which all check each other.
Q. What I mean is this: Has the Paymaster any idea of what he is to be called upon to pay, or is this bill simply presented to him, and it may be for $1,500 or $15,000?