The Treasury shall be charged with the administration of this Act, and all persons concerned in the receipt, custody, and expenditure of public moneys shall, subject to the provisions of this Act and of the regulations, obey all such instructions as they from time to time receive from the Treasury in respect to the public moneys or to accounting for the same.

The Governor may from time to time, by Order in Council gazetted, make regulations, not inconsistent with this Act, appointing the bank in which all public moneys are to be kept, and directing the forms in which all accounts of the same are to be kept and rendered, and generally for the guidance of all persons concerned in the receipt, custody, and expenditure of public moneys.

Such regulations shall have the force of law from a day named therein, and shall be laid before Parliament within ten days after its first sitting next after the gazetting thereof.

Any such regulation may impose upon any person in the public service liable to render an account under this Act a fine not exceeding one pound for any one offence for the breach of any regulation, or for any error in any such account; and any such fine may be imposed by the order of the Treasury, and may be recovered by deducting the same from any salary or emoluments due to the person incurring the fine.

All public moneys are the property of His Majesty, and shall, except as herein otherwise provided, be kept in one account at the bank, called “the Public Account.”

All public moneys paid into the bank shall be deemed to be lent by His Majesty to the person or body corporate to whom the bank belongs, and may not be removed therefrom except as by this Act provided.

The Public Account shall consist of the following funds and accounts:—

Moneys received by way of deposit on account of Customs duties or of land fund or otherwise on public account, moneys paid into Court in virtue of any statute, rule, or authority whatever, and all moneys deposited with any person in the public service pending the completion of a transaction whereby the same may become payable to the Government or repayable to the depositor or other person, shall be deemed to be public moneys within the meaning of this Act.

Such public moneys shall be either paid into the Public Account or otherwise dealt with and accounted for by the persons having custody thereof as the Treasury, subject to this Act and the regulations, from time to time directs.

Every deposit unclaimed for a period of one year after having become payable to the depositor shall be paid into and form part of the Consolidated Fund; but the Treasury may issue and pay the same to any legally entitled claimant thereof at any time within ten years thereafter.

Moneys payable to any deposit account, or imprested to any officer or other person for expenditure in the public service, shall be kept in an official account in the bank in the name of such officer or person; and, on the death or removal or suspension from office of such officer or person, shall be dealt with by the bank in such manner only as the Treasury directs; and every such officer or person who makes use of such money otherwise than in the public service, or pays any such moneys into his private account at any bank, except by permission of the Treasury, shall be deemed to have fraudulently converted public moneys to his private use.

Whenever, by virtue of any agreement made between the Government and any person, company, or other body, moneys belonging or due to such person, company, or other body are collected by the Government, such moneys shall be deemed to be and shall be dealt with as public moneys within the meaning of this Act; and such moneys, or so much thereof as become so payable, shall, without further appropriation, be issued and paid to such person, company, or other body in such proportions, in such manner, and at such times as may be set forth in any such agreement.

The Government shall not be liable to any such person, company, or other body for any moneys so payable into the Public Account, except for moneys actually collected under any such agreement.

Every branch of the bank into which money is paid to the Public Account shall, at the close of business on the Saturday in each week, and at such other times as the Treasury directs, transmit the whole of such moneys to the bank at the seat of Government; and shall at the same time send to the Treasury a bank sheet setting forth, in the order of date, every sum so received and transmitted; and the bank at the seat of Government shall, at all times when so required, send to the Treasury full accounts of all transactions in respect of public moneys in the hands of the bank.

The bank at the seat of Government shall from time to time, at such times as the Audit Office directs, send to the Audit Office a bank sheet setting forth the totals of the credit and debit sides of the Public Account, and of the account of each of the offices mentioned in Part VIII of this Act, for the period to which such sheet relates, with the balances brought and carried forward respectively.

The bank shall, if so required, give to every person paying money into the Public Account at the bank a receipt, in such form as the Treasury directs, for every sum so paid in.

The Treasury may from time to time agree with any bank upon terms and conditions for the receipt, custody, payment, and transmission of public moneys in or out of New Zealand, and for advances to be made under the authority of this or any other Act, and for the charges in respect of the same, and for the interest payable by or to the bank upon balances or advances respectively, and generally for the conduct of the banking business of the Government; but no such agreement shall be made for a period of more than one year unless it contains a provision that the same may be terminated at any time after a notice of not exceeding six months.

For the purpose of providing for the transmission to England of funds for the payment of the charges of the public debt in advance of the dates on which the same become payable, and for other purposes, the Minister may from time to time, on the security of Treasury bills, to be issued as hereinafter provided, borrow from any bank or other person, or from the Public Works Fund, any sum of money, and may repay the same or any part thereof; so, however, that the total amount at any time outstanding and unpaid, inclusive of all Treasury bills outstanding on the coming into operation of this Act, shall not exceed the sum of one million pounds.

All moneys accruing from the sale of Treasury bills shall be paid into the Public Account to the credit of the Consolidated Fund; and the principal of every such bill, and all interest thereon, shall be a first charge upon and shall be paid out of the accruing income of the Consolidated Fund.

Every Treasury bill shall be in such form and shall bear such rate of interest, not exceeding five per centum per annum, as the Minister from time to time prescribes, and shall bear a number in consecutive order, so that no two bills shall at any time bear the same number

Every Treasury bill shall be signed by the Minister and by the Controller and Auditor-General, and a register of all such bills shall be kept in the Treasury and also in the Audit Office.

Every Treasury bill shall be payable at such place, in or out of New Zealand, and upon such day as is named therein, not being later than one year from the date of issue of the bill, and not later than the thirty-first day of March, one thousand nine hundred and ten.

Subject to the foregoing limitation of time as to currency and payment, Treasury bills may from time to time be renewed by the issue of fresh Treasury bills of a like amount.

If a Treasury bill is presented at the Treasury so defaced as to be unsaleable, or if any such bill is burnt, destroyed, or lost, the Minister may issue a duplicate bill in the place thereof:

Provided that where the bill is not presented at the Treasury, the Minister shall not issue such duplicate unless the applicant produces a certificate, under the hand of a Judge of the Supreme Court, to the effect that he is satisfied from evidence taken on oath before him that such bill has been so burnt, destroyed, or lost, and unless the applicant gives good and sufficient security to the King to the amount of the said bill should the same be presented for payment at any time thereafter.

No person, body, or authority from whom the whole or any part of such sum is borrowed as aforesaid shall be concerned to see or inquire whether or to what extent the power hereby given has been previously exercised or is intended to be exercised; and any money borrowed under the authority of this Act shall, so far as the lender is concerned, be deemed to be within the powers conferred in that behalf, and to have been lawfully borrowed accordingly.

Except as specially provided by any Act, it shall not be lawful for the Government to borrow, nor for any bank or other person to lend to the Government, any moneys either by way of loan or overdraft; and every engagement for the repayment of any such loan or overdraft shall be absolutely null and void.

The Treasury may from time to time invest any of the balances of the Public Account, or any part thereof, for such periods and on such terms as it thinks fit, in such securities as the Governor by Order in Council from time to time declares to be securities in which such money may be invested, and may from time to time sell and convert into money any such securities, and cause such money to be paid into the Public Account to the credit of the proper fund to which it belongs.

The deposit receipt for moneys deposited for a fixed period with any incorporated bank shall be deemed a security within the meaning of this section.

The Governor shall from time to time appoint some fit person to be the Receiver-General, who shall hold office at the Governor’s pleasure.

Every person receiving or having possession of or control over any money payable into the Public Account, or into any deposit account, is a Receiver within the meaning of this Act, and every Receiver shall day by day pay all such money into such branch of the bank as the Treasury directs.

Where, by reason of distance from the bank or other cause, such payments cannot be conveniently made, then the Receiver shall pay such moneys into the Public Account, or to such other Receiver, at such times and in such manner as the Treasury, subject to the regulations, from time to time directs.

Every Receiver shall keep a cash-book in the form directed by the regulations or by the Treasury, and shall enter therein, in the order of date, every sum received and every sum paid into the Public Account, whether at the bank or as otherwise above provided, and shall, at such times as are directed by the regulations or by the Treasury, balance such cash-book and send to the Receiver-General a copy or abstract of so much thereof as he has not previously sent.

The Receiver-General shall day by day prepare from the cash-books or abstracts of the several Receivers, and shall send to the Audit Office, an account showing so much of the moneys paid into the Public Account or otherwise by such Receivers as he has not previously included in any such account; and shall distribute such moneys to the several funds under the several heads of revenue, or to the credit of the several votes requiring to be credited, according as the same have arisen; and shall at the same time send to the Audit Office all the copies or abstracts of Receivers’ cash-books and other vouchers in support of such account.

The said account, when certified by the Audit Office, shall be deemed to be the Revenue Account of New Zealand for the day to which it relates, and shall be recorded in the books of the Treasury and Audit Office accordingly.

In any case where the amount of the rent or dues payable for the storage of any goods stored in any store belonging to or occupied by the Crown is estimated to equal or exceed the value of such goods, the Minister for the Department to which the store belongs may, after giving one month’s notice to the owner of such goods or his agent, where such owner or agent is known, or if not known, then after notice in any newspaper circulating in the district in which such store is situated once a week for four successive weeks, cause such goods to be sold by public auction.

The proceeds of such sale, after paying the expenses thereof, shall be applied in the payment of the rents and dues then due, and the balance, if any, shall be paid to the said owner or his agent if known, or if unknown, then to the Consolidated Fund.

There shall be an officer to be called the Controller and Auditor-General, and an officer to be called the Assistant Controller and Auditor, who shall respectively be appointed by the Governor in the name and on behalf of His Majesty, and shall hold office upon good behaviour, and shall be removable therefrom only upon an address to the Governor from both Houses of Parliament.

Neither of the said officers shall be capable of being a member of the Executive Council or of either House of Parliament, or of holding any office of trust or profit in the public or any other service other than his office hereby created.

The Controller and Auditor-General shall be paid a clear annual salary of one thousand pounds, and the Assistant Controller and Auditor a clear annual salary of eight hundred pounds, out of the Consolidated Fund.

The Governor in Council may, when Parliament is not in session, suspend either of the said officers or both of them from his or their offices; but such suspension shall not continue in force beyond the end of the then next session of Parliament, and the salaries above mentioned shall continue to be paid to such officers, any such suspension notwithstanding.

In the event of both of the said officers being unable to fulfil the duties of their offices, through absence from New Zealand, illness, death, or suspension, the Governor in Council may appoint some fit person, subject to the provisions of section twenty-three hereof, to be a Deputy Controller and Auditor, who shall hold office until one of the said officers resumes his duties.

The Deputy Controller and Auditor shall be paid for the time during which he holds office the same salary as that of the Assistant Controller and Auditor.

Where by any Act in force anything is required or empowered to be done by the Auditor-General, the Controller of the Public Account, the Commissioners of Audit, or any Provincial or District Auditor, the same may be done by the Controller and Auditor-General under this Act.

Anything which under the authority of this or any other Act may be done by the Controller and Auditor-General may, on his death or during his absence or by his authority, be done by the Assistant Controller and Auditor, or, in the case mentioned in section twenty-six or twenty-seven hereof, by the Deputy Controller and Auditor.

It shall be the duty of the Audit Office to audit all accounts relating to the receipt, custody, or expenditure of the public moneys; and it shall be the duty of the Receiver-General, the Paymaster-General, and of all accountants and other persons, to afford all such information as the Audit Office at any time requires, and to answer all such questions as may be addressed to them or any of them by the Audit Office touching any public moneys, or any account thereof, or any other matter which may enable the Audit Office to fulfil the duties imposed thereon by this Act.

It shall be the duty of the Audit Office to surcharge every Receiver or other accountant with any sum of money which he has wilfully or negligently failed to collect, or for which he has failed to account as provided by this Act, and every imprestee who has expended any public money without the authority of the Minister administering his Department or of the officer duly appointed to authorise such expenditure.

Every sum so surcharged shall, except as hereafter provided, be deemed to be a debt to the Crown due by the person against whom such surcharge is made.

It shall be lawful for any person so surcharged to appeal to the Minister administering his Department, who, on hearing the grounds on which such surcharge has been made, and the objections thereto, shall confirm or disallow the same.

In every case in which any surcharge is disallowed by a Minister on appeal, a report of the circumstances shall be transmitted by the Audit Office to the Speakers of both Houses of Parliament within fourteen days thereafter, or if Parliament is not in session, then within fourteen days after the commencement of the next ensuing session.

The Controller and Auditor-General may, by writing under his hand, from time to time appoint any officer of the Audit Department or other fit person to inspect any accounts which are required to be audited by this Act, and to report thereon to the Audit Office; and for the purposes of such inspection and report any such officer or other person shall have power to inspect all accounts, vouchers, and other papers relating to any public moneys in the possession or control of or due from any accountant.

The Controller and Auditor-General may, by precept under his hand, in the form numbered (1) in the Second Schedule hereto, require any such person as he thinks fit to appear personally before him at a time and place to be named in such precept, and to produce any accounts, vouchers, books, or papers in the possession or control of such person, and shall have full power to examine such person on oath touching the receipt, expenditure of, or otherwise dealing with any public moneys, and touching all other matters necessary for the due execution of the powers vested in him by this Act.

Every Receiver, imprestee, or other person dealing with public moneys shall be entitled, on demand, to receive from the Audit Office a certificate of discharge for so much of such moneys as he appears, upon examination of his accounts, to have received and duly accounted for.

The Governor in Council may authorise and require the Audit Office to make a special inspection of any Department of the public service, and to report thereon to the Governor, and every such report shall be laid before Parliament.

Except as herein otherwise provided, every Appropriation Act shall lapse at the end of the financial year or other period to which it relates, and all payments made thereafter under the authority of section forty-eight hereof or of any Imprest Supply Act shall be included in the estimates of the next financial year or period.

The Minister of each Department shall, within thirty days after the close of the financial year or period, cause to be prepared and sent to the Audit Office a certified statement, in such form as the Treasury directs, of all liabilities in respect of the services of his Department outstanding at the close of such year or period; and the Audit Office shall lay all such statements before Parliament within ten days after its first sitting next after the Audit Office has received the same, together with a summary thereof.

Liabilities on the Consolidated Fund and the Public Works Fund respectively mean all such claims as might by law have been paid out of those respective funds during such year or period.

If during the space of three months after the commencement of any financial year or period no Act is passed granting and appropriating money for the service thereof, the Minister of Finance may, until such Act is passed, issue and pay moneys during such three months, but no longer:

Provided that payments in respect of any service shall not exceed the amount of the unexpended balance of the vote for such service provided in the respective Appropriation Act for the year or period immediately preceding, together with an amount equal to one-fourth part of such vote:

Provided also that no payments shall be made for any services other than those for which provision was made in the respective Appropriation Act and the estimates for such preceding year or period, or in excess of the scale therein set forth.

All moneys issued and paid under the authority of this section shall be included in the estimates and accounts for the year or other period in which the same are paid.

The extended appropriation provided by the last preceding section shall be available for the payment of—

In no case shall any of the payments referred to] in paragraph (a), (b), or (c) hereof be deemed to be in excess of the scale set forth in the Appropriation Act and estimates, or to alter any salary or other charge fixed by permanent Act; and sections thirty-seven and forty-one hereof shall be construed accordingly.

In no case shall any of the payments referred to in paragraph (b) hereof be deemed to exceed the total sum of the item voted; and section forty hereof shall be construed accordingly.

The payments referred to in paragraph (c) hereof may be made notwithstanding that they are for services for which provision was not made in the Appropriation Act or the estimates; and the second proviso to subsection one of section thirty-seven hereof shall be construed accordingly.

For the purpose of meeting the increased expenditure on working railways where such expenditure is consequent upon increased traffic, the following provisions shall apply:—

In any case where any payment of an item is provided for in the estimates as passed by the House of Representatives, and is included in the total of a vote in the Appropriation Act, such payment of the said item may be lawfully made, anything in any Act to the contrary notwithstanding, and the said payment shall be deemed to be irrespective of any appropriation or limit contained in any such last-mentioned Act; but in no case shall the amount so paid exceed the total sum of the item voted:

Provided that this section shall apply only to payments which could not lawfully be made if this section were not in operation.

As and when directed by the Governor, the moneys available in respect of any vote in the Appropriation Act may be transferred in aid of any other vote in the same class:

Provided that the total sum voted for any class shall not be thereby exceeded, nor any salary or other charge fixed by permanent Act altered.

For the purposes of such transfer the Governor may give such directions as he thinks fit from time to time during the financial year, and also during the period thereafter whilst moneys may lawfully be issued and paid under section thirty-seven hereof.

Money received from the sale of stores, or otherwise to the credit of any service, shall be carried to the credit of the vote for such service.

In compiling the estimates the Minister for each Department shall cause the sums estimated to be received to the credit of each service to be abated upon the total estimated expenditure of such service for the year.

All sums so credited to any vote shall be deemed to be appropriated to such service in addition to the vote for the same.

The Governor shall from time to time appoint some fit person to be the Paymaster-General, who shall hold office at the Governor’s pleasure.

No money shall be issued out of the Public Account except in pursuance of a warrant under the hand of the Governor in the form numbered (2) in the Second Schedule hereto; but before submitting any such warrant for the Governor’s signature the Audit Office shall certify thereon that the issue mentioned therein may be made according to law.

Any such warrant of the Governor and certificate of the Audit Office may be sent by telegraphic message, in which code words to be agreed on by the Treasury and Audit may be used; and the money named therein may be issued thereupon.

No such warrant shall continue in force after the end of the financial year in which the same is issued.

Every claim for the payment of public money shall be put into a voucher in such form as the Treasury directs, and, when certified and authorised by the proper officers whose duty it is to certify and authorise the same respectively, shall be sent to the Audit Office; and the Audit Office shall pass such voucher and send it to the Treasury, being first satisfied that—

The Paymaster-General shall from time to time prepare a requisition, in the form numbered (3) in the Second Schedule hereto, comprising an account of so many of the vouchers passed by the Audit Office as are proposed to be paid, charging each item against the proper vote and fund as stated on the voucher; and such requisition, being authorised by the Treasury, shall be sent to the Audit Office, together with all the vouchers in support thereof.

The Audit Office, being satisfied that the issue is within the amount authorised by Parliament and by warrant of the Governor, and that there is a sufficient balance in the Public Account to the credit of/each fund and vote to meet the charges thereon named in the requisition, shall forthwith issue an order, in the form numbered (4) in the Second Schedule hereto, directing the bank to honour the cheques of the Paymaster-General upon the Public Account to the several amounts and at the several branches of the bank specified in such order, not exceeding in the whole the sum named in the requisition; and such order, when countersigned by the Treasury, shall be full authority to the bank to pay the cheques of the Paymaster-General to the several amounts named in such order.

Whenever it appears necessary for the public service that money should be expended in excess of or without the appropriation of Parliament, the Minister for the service of whose Department such expenditure is required shall make a statement in writing setting forth the reasons rendering such expenditure necessary, and shall submit the same to the Treasury, and the Treasury, if it approves the same, shall send it, together with the requisition, to the Audit Office.

The Audit Office shall, upon such requisitions and statements, from time to time issue orders for the payment of vouchers in excess of or without the appropriation of Parliament, to an amount not exceeding in the whole one hundred and fifty thousand pounds in each financial year.

All sums so issued during the currency of the annual Appropriation Act shall be charged to an account to be called the “Unauthorised Expenditure Account,” and an abstract of the same certified by the Audit Office shall be laid before Parliament within ten days after its first sitting-day next after the end of the then financial year.

All sums so issued in anticipation of the Appropriation Act to be passed during the then or next sitting of Parliament shall be included in the estimates for the year in which such issues are made.

Moneys required to be issued by way of imprest for the public service shall be charged in the voucher and requisition against the vote for the service for which such imprest is required.

Every imprestee shall, at the close of business on the Saturday in each week, prepare and post to the Paymaster-General an account showing the whole expenditure of such moneys during the week, and the balance remaining unexpended, supported by such vouchers and other documents as are required by the Treasury or the Audit Office; but the Treasury may extend the period within which any imprestee is required to account to an interval not exceeding four weeks in any case.

It shall be the duty of every Department of the public service to prevent delay in authorising the expenditure made by imprestees of the Department, and the permanent head of the Department shall be liable to be surcharged with any expenditure made by the imprestee if it is not duly authorised for credit, or otherwise dealt with to the satisfaction of the Treasury, within two months after the accounts have been forwarded to the Department for authorisation.

Claims for credit to an imprestee for the expenditure of imprest moneys, and claims to transfer charges from one account to another, shall be put into a voucher and first submitted to the Audit Office, and dealt with as in the case of vouchers for the issue of money for final payment.

The Paymaster-General shall from time to time prepare a credit requisition, in the form numbered (5) in the Second Schedule hereto, containing a full and detailed account of the vouchers so passed by the Audit Office, crediting in such requisition the several accounts against which imprests have been charged, or from which charges are proposed to be transferred, with the imprests accounted for or with the sums to be transferred, as the case may be, and charging the several accounts with expenditure as stated on the vouchers.

The Paymaster - General shall send such credit requisition, when signed by the Treasury, together with the vouchers in support of the same, to the Audit Office; and as soon as the Treasury receives notice in writing from the Audit Office that it has passed such credit requisition, but not otherwise, the several sums therein credited, charged, or transferred shall be recorded in the accounts of the Treasury and the Audit Office.

All vouchers for the payment of which money is issued shall be returned to the Audit Office by the Paymaster-General, duly receipted by, or by the written authority of, the person entitled to receive such money; and the Audit Office shall surcharge every sum for which such properly receipted voucher is wanting against the officer whose duty it was to obtain such receipt:

Provided that the Audit Office shall not refuse to pass and allow an account or voucher by reason merely that it is not stamped according to law, except in cases where the Audit Office and the Treasury are of opinion that the omission to stamp was wilful or fraudulent.

Any such surcharge shall be deemed to be a debt due to the Crown by such officer; but the Controller and Auditor-General may discharge any such surcharge upon a proper receipt being obtained, or upon a bond to the Crown being entered into by such officer for the repayment of such moneys, in case any person entitled to receive and not having received the same shall at any time establish a claim thereto.

If the Audit Office declines to pass any issue or credit requisition on the ground that the charges therein are not according to law, the matter in dispute shall be determined by the Governor in Council, having before him the opinion of the Attorney-General thereon; but the objections of the Audit Office shall, together with the opinion of the Attorney-General, be forthwith laid before Parliament if then in session, or if not, then within ten days after the commencement of the next ensuing session.

In case any difference of opinion arises between the Audit Office and the Treasury as to the vote, appropriation, fund, account, or other authority to which any expenditure ought to be charged, or as to the proper head of revenue, fund, or account to which any receipt should be credited, the question shall be determined by the Minister, and his determination shall be laid before Parliament as provided by the last preceding section:

Provided that if in the opinion of the Audit Office the question involves matter of law, then it shall be determined by the Governor, having before him the opinion of the Attorney-General thereon; and in such case the objection of the Audit Office, the opinion of the Attorney- General, and the determination of the Governor shall be laid before Parliament as provided by the last preceding section.

The Treasury may from time to time transfer any balances of the Public Account, or any part thereof, from one fund or account to another fund or account within the Public Account, for such periods and on such terms as the Governor in Council may authorise.

The moneys so transferred shall be considered as a liability of the fund or account into which the transfer has been made, and shall be paid out and restored to the fund or account from which the transfer was made within three months of the date of transfer.

All such transfers shall be laid before Parliament if then in session, or if not, then within ten days after the commencement of the next ensuing session.

All moneys the property of the Government of New Zealand in the United Kingdom shall be paid into an account called “the New Zealand Public Account,” at such bank or banks as the Governor by warrant under his hand from time to time appoints; and no moneys shall be withdrawn from such account except in the manner provided by this Act.

The Governor in Council may cancel any such appointment, and may remove the moneys in the said account or such part of them as he thinks fit from any bank to any other bank so appointed.

The Governor in Council shall from time to time appoint, and may from time to time remove and may reappoint, three fit and proper persons being resident in Great Britain (herein called “the Commissioners”), who, or any two of whom, shall have full power to do in Great Britain on behalf of the Governor, and subject to such instructions as they from time to time receive from the Governor, everything which the Governor is empowered to do under section fifty-eight hereof.

Upon the death, incapacity, removal, or resignation of any of such Commissioners, the Governor in Council shall appoint another in his stead, and the other two Commissioners may meanwhile appoint a third to hold office until the Commissioner appointed by the Governor enters upon the duties of such office.

Upon the death, incapacity, removal, or resignation of the High Commissioner for New Zealand, the aforesaid Commissioners, or any two of them, shall forthwith appoint some fit and proper person to the office, who shall hold the same and may exercise the full powers thereof until the High Commissioner appointed by the Governor in Council under “The High Commissioner Act, 1908,” enters upon the duties of his office.

The Treasury shall, as often as occasion requires, prepare and send to the Audit Office a requisition, in the form numbered (6) in the Second Schedule hereto, setting forth the several sums required to be issued out of the New Zealand Public Account; and the Audit Office, being satisfied that each such sum has been duly appropriated, and is within the amount authorised by warrant of the Governor, shall countersign such requisition, and shall issue an order on the bank and send it to the Treasury.

Such order, being countersigned by the Treasury, shall be authority to the bank to pay or transfer the amount named in such order, as hereinafter mentioned.

Any such order may be sent by telegraphic message in which code words may be used; and the money named therein may be issued thereupon.

For payment of the charges of the public debt, the order on the bank shall be in the form numbered (7) in the Second Schedule hereto, and the amount named therein shall be paid over to the agent or agents duly appointed to pay such charges, who shall be named in such order.

Every such order shall be made payable on the day before that on which the amount is required to be paid to such agent in London, and shall be finally charged on the Consolidated Fund in New Zealand on the day on which the same becomes due; and such order shall be valid notwithstanding the death or removal from office of the officers signing or countersigning the same.

For payment of all other claims upon the Government of New Zealand in the United Kingdom, the order on the bank shall be in the form numbered (8) in the Second Schedule hereto, and the bank shall transfer the amount named therein from the New Zealand Public Account to a separate branch of the same called the “Foreign Imprest Account”; and all sums so transferred shall be deemed to be imprested to the High Commissioner.

Moneys required to be transferred to the Foreign Imprest Account shall, as far as practicable, be charged in the voucher and requisition against the vote or other authority for the service for which such imprest is required:

Provided that the Treasury may charge money against an account to be called “General Imprest” in lieu of a vote or other authority, and in such case the amount so charged shall be issued accordingly:

Provided also that the total amount for the time being outstanding in the books of the Treasury and Audit Office for “General Imprest” shall not exceed one hundred thousand pounds.

Moneys imprested as a charge to “General Imprest” shall in due course be transferred to the several votes or authorities for the purposes whereof the moneys are expended, and the item “General Imprest” shall be credited with the amount so transferred.

No money shall be drawn from the Foreign Imprest Account except by cheque of the High Commissioner, countersigned by an officer of the Audit Department, who shall be selected from time to time by the Audit Office for the purpose; and such Audit Officer shall not countersign any such cheque except for payments authorised by a requisition as aforesaid; and the Audit Office shall forward to such officer a copy of every requisition, and a schedule of all the orders issued thereupon.

In the event of death, incapacity, removal, or resignation of such Audit Officer, the aforesaid Commissioners, or any two of them, shall forthwith appoint some fit person in his place until the Audit Officer selected by the Controller and Auditor-General enters upon the duties of his office.

In case it may be necessary to pay off any debentures issued under the authority of any Act, or any advances made on the security of any such debentures, or to pay any of the charges of the public debt, or for the purpose of the conversion of the public debt, before the order of the Audit Office for the issue of the money for such payment has been received in England, it shall be lawful for the aforesaid Commissioners or any two of them, on the request in writing of the High Commissioner, to issue an order in the form numbered (7) in the Second Schedule hereto: and such order, being countersigned by the Audit Officer, shall be authority to the bank to pay the amount therein named out of the New Zealand Public Account to any bank, agents, or other person or persons authorised to pay such debentures, advances, or charges, and who shall be named in such order.

The High Commissioner shall, at least twice in each month, transmit to the Treasury, who shall forthwith send the same to the Audit Office, a full and detailed account of all the receipts, payments, and transfers to and from the New Zealand Public Account and to and from the Foreign Imprest Account respectively which shall not have been included in any former account, accompanied by all such vouchers and other documents as the Treasury or the Audit Office may require in support of such accounts.

Such account shall be made up to the latest possible date prior to the departure of each mail for New Zealand.

Immediately on the receipt of each such account the Treasury shall send to the Audit Office a credit requisition, in the form numbered (5) in the Second Schedule hereto, including therein so much of such account as has been passed by the Audit Office, and the High Commissioner shall receive credit for all expenditure out of the Foreign Imprest Account charged in such requisition.

The bank shall at least twice in each month prepare and send to the Treasury, and to the Audit Office under cover to the Audit Officer in England, a bank sheet showing the totals of the credit and debit sides of so much of the New Zealand Public Account and of the Foreign Imprest Account respectively as has not been included in any former account, with the balances brought and carried forward in each such account.

Such sheet shall be made up to the latest possible date prior to the departure of each mail for New Zealand.

The Treasury shall, within fourteen days after the end of each financial quarter except the last, and within thirty days after the end of the last financial quarter, in the financial year, prepare and send to the Audit Office an abstract of the revenue and expenditure of the Public Account, as provided by this Act, during such quarter; and shall also, within thirty days after the end of each financial year, send to the Audit Office a similar abstract of the revenue and expenditure of the Public Account during such year.

Every such abstract shall be certified by the Audit Office and returned to the Treasury within fourteen days after the receipt thereof from the Treasury as aforesaid, and the Treasury shall forthwith publish the same, certified as aforesaid, in the Gazette, and lay the same before Parliament if sitting, or if not sitting, then within ten days after the commencement of the next ensuing session thereof.

The provisions of this section shall apply to every account which is kept by the Treasury, and as to which it is prescribed by any Act that an annual statement thereof shall be laid before Parliament; and every such Act is hereby modified in so far as it is inconsistent herewith.

The Treasury shall, within thirty days after the end of each financial year, prepare and send to the Audit Office an account to be called “the Appropriation Account,” showing the several sums appropriated by Parliament for the public service, and the expenditure thereon during the year, with the amount over-expended or under-expended on each vote severally, or expended under the authority of section forty-eight hereof.

The Audit Office shall certify and return the Appropriation Account to the Treasury within fourteen days after the receipt thereof from the Treasury, and such account, certified as aforesaid, shall by the Treasury be forthwith laid before Parliament if sitting, or if not sitting, then within ten days after the commencement of the next ensuing session thereof.

Every such abstract and account shall comprise all payments made by the Paymaster-General or by imprestees during the period to which it relates.

For the purposes of such abstracts and accounts all payments made by imprestees either in or out of New Zealand shall, in the case of every quarterly period in the financial year except the last, be deemed to be made on the day on which the accounts of the same are received at the Treasury from the Audit Office for entry, and in the case of the last quarterly period be deemed to be made on the day on which the accounts of the same are received at the Treasury.

Imprests unaccounted for at any accounting period shall not be included in the expenditure, but shall be shown as balances in hand.

If the Audit Office objects to any part of such abstract or appropriation account, it shall notwithstanding certify the same, with such remarks thereon as it thinks fit, which shall be published and laid before Parliament, together with such abstract or account.

All moneys payable to the Post Office, the Government Insurance Office, the Public Trust Office, and the Commissioners of the Public Debts Sinking Funds are public moneys within the meaning of this Act, and shall be paid into the accounts of such offices severally at the bank, and all persons concerned in the receipt, custody, or expenditure of such moneys shall be subject to all the provisions thereof, and all the powers and duties of the Audit Office in respect of the public moneys shall apply to all such persons.

All moneys payable to the Government in trust for private persons, and which are not liable to be appropriated for the public service of New Zealand, shall, except as otherwise specially provided by this Act, be paid into the Public Trust Office Account; but shall be dealt with and accounted for as provided by the Acts for the time being in force relating to such office.

Every sum of money in the Public Trust Office remaining unclaimed, and of which no lawful owner is known for a period of six years after its receipt into such office, whether received before or after the coming into operation of this Act, shall, at the end of each financial year, be paid over by the Public Trustee to the Consolidated Fund.

Nothing in the two last preceding sections shall operate as a bar to any lawful claim to any such moneys for a period of ten years after their receipt into the Public Trust Office; and the Minister shall, within such period, issue and pay any such lawful claims out of the Consolidated Fund.

It shall be lawful to invest any part of the balances in any of the accounts mentioned in this Part of this Act in any securities which shall be declared by the Governor by Order in Council to be securities in which such balances may be invested.

It shall be the duty of the Treasury to lay before Parliament within ten days after the commencement of each session a full account of all such investments during the preceding financial year, the investments in mortgage on each account being stated in aggregate only.

The expression “public moneys” and all references thereto in this Part of this Act include the securities in which public moneys are invested.

In any case where public moneys are required to be issued for the purpose of investing the same in any securities authorised by law, the following provisions shall apply

The provisions of the last preceding section shall, mutatis mutandis, apply in any case where, for the purpose of changing one lawful mode of investment for another, securities in which public moneys are invested are required to be exchanged for other lawful securities.

In any such case the directions to be given by the Audit Office under paragraph (b) of the aforesaid section shall be accepted by the custodians of the securities representing the existing investment as sufficient authority to deliver up those securities in order that they may be exchanged for the securities representing the new investment.

Such last-mentioned securities shall in due course (meaning thereby as soon as practicable after the exchange) be deposited with the custodians (who shall forthwith report the same to the Audit Office) in lieu of the securities so delivered up.

In order to insure the safe custody of all securities in which any moneys belonging to any of the undermentioned offices are for the time being invested, that is to say,—

The Post Office:

The Government Insurance Office:

The Public Trust Office:

The Government Advances to Settlers Office:

The Commissioners of Public Debt Sinking Funds:

The Treasury:

Such other public offices or Departments as the Governor in Council from time to time declares to be subject to this Part of this Act,—

the following provisions shall apply, that is to say:—

In order to facilitate the transmission of such securities to or from London, or the inscription, conversion, exchange, payment, discharge, or other disposition thereof, as occasion requires, for the purposes of the office for which they are held, the following provisions shall apply:—

With respect to securities held in England the following special provisions shall apply:—

In any case where, for the purpose of changing one lawful mode of investment for another, securities are required to be exchanged, the following provisions shall apply:—

Save as hereinbefore provided, it shall not be lawful for the custodians to part with the custody of any securities:

Provided that nothing herein shall prejudicially affect any person purchasing or acquiring any such securities in good faith and without notice.

At least once in each year all securities held in New Zealand shall be inspected by the Controller and Auditor-General, and all securities held in England shall be inspected by the Audit Officer in London.

The Controller and Auditor-General shall lay before Parliament, within thirty days after the beginning of each session thereof, or so soon thereafter as is practicable, a return of all securities in New Zealand or elsewhere as on the thirty-first day of March then last past.

In every case where under any Act the Minister or other person authorised to issue debentures, scrip, or other securities is empowered to agree on the terms of their conversion into inscribed stock, the following special provisions shall apply, anything in “The New Zealand Loans Act, 1908,” to the contrary notwithstanding:—

Whenever public securities are paid off, or otherwise retired in New Zealand, they shall be cancelled in due course by the Audit Office, in the presence of the Secretary to the Treasury or an officer of the Treasury appointed by the Secretary for that purpose, and it shall be the duty of the Treasury to keep a record of every security so cancelled.

Nothing in sections seventy-eight, eighty, or eighty-eight hereof shall be construed to limit or affect the provisions of paragraph (c) of section eighty-two and paragraph (b) of section eighty-three hereof.

The Governor in Council may from time to time make such regulations as he thinks necessary in order to give full effect to the provisions of this Part of this Act; and all such regulations shall be laid before Parliament in manner provided in paragraph.(d) of section eighty-two hereof.

Excepting as expressly provided by this Part of this Act, nothing herein shall in any way affect any special provisions of any Act relating to any of the accounts of any office or Department to which this Part of this Act applies, nor interfere with any power of investment given by any statute for the time being in force relating to such office or Department.

This Part of this Act shall be deemed to be an authorising Act within the meaning of “The New Zealand Loans Act, 1908,” and the moneys in the next succeeding section authorised to be raised shall be raised under and subject to the provisions of that Act accordingly.

The Minister is hereby authorised to raise, on the security of and charged upon the public revenues of New Zealand, such sums of money, not exceeding in the whole the sum of eight hundred thousand pounds, as he thinks fit:

Provided that in computing the said sum of eight hundred thousand pounds all sums heretofore raised under “The Reserve Fund Securities Act, 1907,” shall be taken into account.

The sums so raised shall bear interest at such rate, not exceeding four and a half per centum per annum, as the Minister prescribes.

All moneys so raised under the authority of this Part of this Act shall be invested by and at the discretion of the Minister in the purchase of such stock, bonds, debentures, or other like securities as he thinks fit.

The Minister may from time to time sell any securities so purchased, and invest the proceeds of such sale in the purchase of any other securities authorised by this Part of this Act.

All interest received from any securities purchased under the authority of this Part of this Act shall be paid into the Public Account and shall form part of the Consolidated Fund.

All interest payable in respect of moneys so raised under the authority of this Part of this Act shall be paid out of the Consolidated Fund without further appropriation than this Part of this Act.

All moneys so raised under the authority of this Part of this Act shall, pending investment thereof in manner aforesaid, be paid into the Public Account to the credit of a separate account to be called the Reserve Fund Account.

All securities purchased under the authority of this Part of this Act shall be deposited with the custodians of public securities appointed under Part IX hereof, and shall be dealt with by the said custodians as the Minister from time to time directs.

The Minister may from time to time, and without other authority than this Part of this Act, borrow on the security of the said securities such sums of money as he thinks fit, but so that the aggregate amount so borrowed and still unpaid shall at no time exceed the sum of eight hundred thousand pounds, and he may from time to time pledge or hypothecate the said securities by way of security for the sums so borrowed.

All moneys so borrowed shall be paid into the Public Account to the credit of such funds or accounts as in the opinion of the Minister the needs of the public service require.

When and as often as the said securities are redeemed they shall be again deposited with the aforesaid custodians, to be dealt with by them in manner aforesaid.

The Minister may from time to time for the purposes of this Part of this Act appoint such agent or agents outside New Zealand as he thinks fit, and any such agent or agents may exercise on behalf of the Minister such of the powers conferred upon him by this Part of this Act as he from time to time directs.

No person receiving from the aforesaid custodians or agents, or any of them, any of the said securities by way of pledge or hypothecation shall be concerned to inquire into the authority of the said custodians or agents so to deliver the same, nor shall the validity of any such pledge or hypothecation be affected by the want of such authority.

All public moneys expended without appropriation by Parliament, or without the warrant of the Governor, and the amount of all moneys raised upon the security or pretended security of any debenture, Treasury bill, Deficiency bill, overdraft, or in any other manner, except under the express authority of some Act, shall be deemed to be a debt to the Crown by the persons being members of the Executive Council at the time when such expenditure occurred or such moneys were raised, and by the Controller and Auditor-General or the Assistant Controller and Auditor issuing such money or signing any such debenture or bill, and by any and each of such persons severally.

All such sums shall be recoverable in the Supreme Court, by information, in the manner provided by “The Crown Suits Act, 1908,” subject to the provisions hereinafter mentioned:

Provided that the Controller and Auditor-General, and the Assistant Controller and Auditor, shall not be liable for any moneys issued under the authority of any Imprest Supply Act or of sections forty-eight and fifty-five hereof.

Moneys expended as unauthorised expenditure under the provisions of this Act, if not sanctioned by Parliament in the session in which the account of the same is required to be rendered, and moneys expended under the authority of any Imprest Supply Act, if not sanctioned by Parliament in the session in which such Imprest Supply Act is passed, shall be deemed to be moneys expended without appropriation by Parliament.

Every such proceeding shall be commenced only on an order of the House of Representatives directing the same; and on any such order being made the Speaker shall transmit a copy thereof to the Chief Justice.

On the receipt of such order the Chief Justice shall appoint a time and place for such trial, and shall send notice thereof to the other Judges of the Supreme Court, and such Judges, putting aside all other business, shall attend at the time and place so appointed.

The trial of every such information shall be held before all the Judges of the Supreme Court, or before such of them, not being less than four in number, as are present thereat; and all questions of fact as well as of law shall be determined by such Judges at such trial without a jury, and all proceedings on and after such trial shall be, as nearly as may be, the same as in the case of a trial by jury.

On any such order of the House of Representatives the Speaker, with any members whom the House may appoint for the purpose, shall employ all such solicitors, counsel, and other persons, and shall take all such steps, as may be necessary to prosecute such proceedings; and all costs incurred therein, not ordered by the Court to be paid by the defendants in the case, shall be paid out of the Consolidated Fund.

Every person who makes any declaration or gives any certificate required to be made or given by this Act, or by any regulation issued under the authority thereof, knowing the same to be false, commits perjury.

Every Receiver, imprestee, or other person into whose hands or under whose control any public moneys come shall be deemed to owe to His Majesty all such moneys for which he does not receive a certificate of discharge from the Audit Office; and all such moneys, together with full costs of suit, shall be recoverable in any Court of competent jurisdiction as money due to His Majesty.

Every person who refuses or neglects to pay any public moneys into the account into which the same are payable is liable to a fine of one hundred pounds.

Every person who refuses or neglects to make any return or furnish any account, vouchers, or other papers which he is required to make or furnish under the provisions of this Act, is liable to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds.

If the account of any accountant is not received, together with the proper vouchers in support thereof, at the office to which it is required to be sent, within one week after the arrival of the mail by which it ought to have been sent, it shall not be lawful for the Audit Office to pass any voucher for further payment of salary to such accountant until such account is received:

Provided that the Treasury may extend the time within which any account is required to be sent, notifying such extension to the Audit Office.

If at any time any public moneys are lying in the hands of or are due from any person or local authority which ought to have been paid into the Public Account or any deposit account, or any of the other accounts mentioned in this Act, the Audit Office shall call on such person or authority forthwith to pay such moneys into the account to which the same belong; and, in default of such payment, shall take all such steps as it thinks fit to recover such moneys to the use of His Majesty, or in the case of a local authority to cause the same to be deducted from any subsidy or other money due or payable to such authority, and to cause the same to be paid into the account to which they belong; but nothing herein shall relieve any person from any penalties he may have incurred by making default in such payment.

“Local authority” shall have the meaning defined by section one hundred and twelve hereof.

If any person having possession or control of any public moneys fraudulently applies, or causes or permits to be applied, the same or any part thereof to other than the public service, or is a defaulter in respect of any such moneys, the Audit Office shall forthwith take all such steps as it thinks fit to prosecute the person so offending according to law; but nothing herein shall prevent the prosecution of such person other than at the instance of the Audit Office.

Every person who refuses or neglects to attend at the time and place required of him by the precept of the Audit Office issued under this Act, or to produce any accounts, books, vouchers, papers, or money in his possession or under his control which he is so required to produce, or refuses to answer any lawful question asked him by the Audit Office, is liable to a fine of one hundred pounds.

It shall be lawful for the Audit Office to incur all necessary expenses in any legal proceedings which the Audit Office is hereby empowered to prosecute, and the Treasury shall cause the same to be issued and paid out of the Consolidated Fund.

The Controller and Auditor-General, the Assistant Controller and Auditor, and the Deputy Controller and Auditor shall not be personally liable for any costs or expenses arising out of any such proceedings.

All fines incurred under this Act shall, except where it is otherwise expressly provided, be recovered in a summary way.

In this Part of this Act, if not inconsistent with the context,—

But it does not include a City or Borough Council.

The Audit Office shall be the auditor of all local authorities, and shall have the same duties and powers in respect of the moneys and accounts of every local authority, and of every person dealing therewith, as it has in respect of the public moneys and accounts and of all persons dealing therewith.

If at any time the Audit Office finds that any moneys belonging to or administrable by any local authority have been expended or applied, or that any liability has been incurred by any local authority, without lawful authority, then, unless such local authority has acted in good faith and under legal advice, the Audit Office—

It shall be lawful for the Audit Office to allow, in the accounts of any County Council, Town Board, Road Board, Harbour Board, or Hospital and Charitable Aid Board, any moneys spent on purposes other than those mentioned in any Acts for the time being in force authorising the expenditure of the funds of such Council or Board, if the Audit Office is satisfied that such expenditure was made bona fide for the service and in the interests of the inhabitants of the district administered by such Council or Board, and such expenditure has not exceeded one per centum on the income of the Council or Board in the same year, nor in any case the sum of fifty pounds in any one year.

In all cases where the accounts of any local authority are audited by the Audit Office under the provisions of this or any other Act in that behalf, or by order or appointment of the Governor or the Governor in Council under any Act, or otherwise howsoever, and in any arbitration held by the Audit Office between any two or more local authorities under the authority of any Act in that behalf, the following provisions shall apply:—

This section does not apply to City or Borough Councils.

Where by any Act it is provided that the annual balance-sheet of any local authority shall, after being duly audited, be passed at an annual or special meeting to be held on a day or within a period specified in any such Act, and such balance-sheet has not been received from the Audit Office or other the auditor in time for such meeting, it shall be lawful for the Chairman of such, local authority from time to time to postpone or adjourn such meeting until such balance-sheet is received from the auditor.

The said Chairman shall cause notice to be given to every member of the local authority of the day to which such meeting is postponed or adjourned.

All the provisions of any Act applying to such annual or special meeting shall apply equally to the meeting to which the same is postponed or adjourned under this section.

In sections one hundred and seventeen to one hundred and nineteen hereof “local authority” includes every County Council, Road Board, Harbour Board, and any other body receiving grants of public money, but does not include a City or Borough Council.

Whenever it is made to appear that the publication of the annual balance-sheet of any local authority in manner provided by law is unnecessarily expensive, the Governor may by warrant under his hand prescribe some other means of publication, and if the provisions of such warrant are complied with the balance-sheet therein referred to shall be deemed duly published.

In the case of any officer charged with the custody or expenditure of public moneys who is not otherwise guaranteed, it shall be lawful for the Treasury to call upon him to provide security, in such manner and form as the Treasury directs, for the due accounting for and payment of all public moneys which come into his charge, custody, or control, and it shall be his duty to provide accordingly.

Any expense incurred or any sum of money paid by the Government on behalf or at the request of any local governing body shall be deducted from any subsidies or moneys accruing or payable to any such body by the Government.

Notwithstanding anything in any Act other than this Act, where an allowance for travelling-expenses actually Incurred is made to any member of the General Assembly, being a member of any Commission issued by the Governor or by the Governor in Council, or to any other person being such a Commissioner, there shall be paid in lieu of such allowance a commutation not exceeding one pound a day, in addition to money paid for coach, railway, steamship, or other passenger fare.

On the death of any person to whom any sum of money not exceeding one hundred pounds may be payable by a public Department it shall be lawful for the Minister, on being satisfied of the expediency of dispensing with probate or letters of administration, to authorise the payment of such sum or any part or parts thereof to any person or persons whom the Minister may consider entitled thereto without requiring the production of probate or of letters of administration under such regulations as are made by the Governor in Council under this section and are from time to time in force hereunder.

Any payment made in pursuance of this section shall be valid against all persons whatever, and all persons acting under its provisions shall be absolutely discharged from all liability in respect of any money duly paid or applied by them under this section.

The Governor may from time to time make such regulations as he thinks fit providing for the terms and conditions under which such payments as aforesaid may be made.

On the loss of any debenture during the currency thereof, or while it remains unpaid, the Governor in Council may, on receiving proof of such loss, and an indemnity to his satisfaction against the claims of all persons deriving title under the debenture so lost, do either of the following things:—

The powers by this section vested in the Governor in Council or the Governor may from time to time be delegated to such two or more persons as the Governor in Council thinks fit.

In this section—

The Governor in Council may from time to time make regulations for the purchase, receipt, safe custody, and issue of public stores, and for the keeping and rendering of accounts in respect of such stores, and for the audit of such accounts.

All such regulations shall be gazetted, and shall have the force of law from a day named therein.

Upon the gazetting of such regulations they shall be laid before Parliament forthwith if sitting, or if not sitting, then within ten days after the commencement of the next ensuing session thereof.

Wherever by any Act of the Imperial Parliament or of the General Assembly, or by any Ordinance other than a Provincial Ordinance in force in New Zealand (whether made before or after the coming into operation of this Act), any person (whether a public officer or servant or not) is required to give security to the Crown for any purpose whatever by bond, it shall be lawful for the Governor, Minister, Commissioner, or other officer whose duty it is to approve of the security tendered, to accept in lieu of or in addition to any bond or bonds the guarantee bond or policy of any company, society, or association approved by him established and carrying on business in any part of the British Dominions.

Wherever any person has already given any such security as is by this section authorised, the security so given shall be to all intents and purposes as good and sufficient as if this section had been passed before the giving thereof.

Nothing in this section shall apply to any bond, recognisance, or security which by the law for the time being in force in New Zealand is or shall be required from any plaintiff, defendant, petitioner, complainant, executor, administrator, curator, receiver, guardian, or other person in the course of any proceedings in any Court of justice in New Zealand.

In this section the term “Act of the General Assembly” shall not be deemed to include any Ordinance of a Provincial Council validated or re-enacted by the General Assembly.