(or as soon as they are submitted) and I hope that it may result in some practical method of reducing office work while maintaining the control and supervision of expenditure which is required by Financial Instructions.
I observe in this connection that the Chief Resident Engineer in his letter of 21st September, 1907, to the Consulting Engineers states that he is endeavouring to "retain the powers he had under Sir M. Nathan of making appointments of men charged to works on his own authority and also of entering into petty contracts without reporting them for sanction", and he adds that "under the system now being forced upon him he can hardly do anything without reference and sanction".
These phrases appear to me (as I have said) as misleading to the Consulting Engineers as his representation of their proposals, to which I alluded in paragraph 8, was to myself.
At the request of the Local Auditor I directed the Chief Resident Engineer to notify appointments of other than labourers but no interference whatever has been made with his power of making such appointments. As regards petty contracts I find that these have never been made by the Chief Resident Engineer on the usual tender system, and that he denies power to increase the payment to the contractor.