Sessional_Paper_1893 — Page 583

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Q.-How do you think the defalcations have occurred then?

A.-I think Alves received money and issued a receipt of his own.

Q.-And there were no counterfoils?

A.-No.

Mr. Thurburn. Some of the receipts undoubtedly were forgeries, but we understood that the greater number of the frauds were committed by altering the counterfoils in the book.

A. We only found, I think, four specific cases altogether of the counterfoils differing from this book. There is one on September 23rd, one on December 31st. There are really four different frauds and these are the only cases we could find.

Mr. Thurburn. And what do they amount to?

A.----About $2,000 I should say.

Q.-The whole deficiency is about-- ?

A.--$59,000.

The Chairman. Then how do you account for the balance?

A.-By false receipts, and there is also another method under which it might be possible, and it is this. In former years, up to the middle of 1891, the counterfoils used to be filled up in advance and I think that in those days he made them agree with this book, and it has struck me that he may have filled in the number and ticked it off as though I myself had done it. Now the counterfoils are all issued in numerical order and have been for some time.

Q. How has he managed then to make away with this amount; you say that he made out different receipts altogether and never brought the amount into account.

A.--I cannot tell you how he has done it except in specific cases we have found, but, of course, they do not cover anything like the amount.

Mr. Thorburn. The fact that he has destroyed the books, I suppose, prevents you?

A. Yes.

The Chairman.-You say that you have been through the books?

A.-All that he left.

Q.--What years are they?

A.-1891 and 1892.

Q.-Going through all the books for 1891 and 1892 you have only found the instances you have given?

A.-That is all.

Q.-And they amounted to about $2,000 ?

A.-About that.

Q.-What is the amount of the defalcations for 1891 and 1892 ?

A.-The amount roughly was $11,949 in 1891 and $7,336 for 1892.

Mr. Thurburn. Then there was about $40,000 taken previous to those years?

A. Yes.

Q.-How did you find those figures out--by balancing?

A. The Rent Rolls for 1888 and 1889 are not to be found; they have disappeared. Therefore the only thing one has to go by is the Rent Roll from the Land Office. We have the book balanced for 1887 and I have taken the arrears not paid and the amounts paid to the Treasury during 1888 and 1889. That ought to give you a balance. For the other years I have taken calculations by Alves giving the amounts he says were collected and on the other side I have taken what has been paid to the Treasury.