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Government moneys which ought to have been received only by the shroff, he says that he was not aware of the circumstance, and that if he had noticed it, it would probably have occurred to him that ALVES was receiving the moneys on his personal account from private debtors of his own. He adds that the work of the Treasurer is heavy, that it is increased by frequent references from the Colonial Secretary's Office on financial matters, and that Mr. MAY found his work as Acting Treasurer much more arduous than he finds his present work as Acting Captain Superintendent of Police.
13. Dealing with his two replies and his separate statement together, I have to remark that looking to the amount of ALVES' misappropriations, and to the reasonable presumption that he misappropriated only a small fraction of the total moneys that reached his hands, it is clear that Government moneys were impro- perly received by him habitually, and the observation by the Commission that the Treasurer, if he had exercised proper supervision, would have been cognizant of the practice, is a reasonable one. Mr. MITCHELL-INNES' rejoinder that if he had noticed it, he "might well have imagined that it was a private payment from some of the tenants of his own houses," argues a somewhat strange conception of his duties, for it implies that he would, in the event supposed, have been content to allow his subordinate to transact his private money affairs in the Treasury and during Office hours. It is almost superfluous to add that the most casual investi- gation would have shewn him that the moneys in question were not private, but Government moneys.
14. As regards the amount of the Treasurer's work, it is not quite clear whether Mr. MITCHELL-INNES is referring to what he now does, or to what he did before the defalcations were discovered. But assuming that he refers to what he is now doing, which includes the signing of all receipts (vide his evidence before the Commission, pages 5 and 52), it is not, in my opinion, more than could easily be performed by an experienced Treasurer considerably within the limits of the official working day. The references from the Colonial Secretary's Office, which he mentions, need certainly not occupy more than a few minutes of his time daily on the average, and looking to the smallness of the Treasury transactions here as compared with those of some other Colonies, and to the simplicity of the Cash Book, I have reason to believe that, if his work were continuous, the Treasurer could exercise all necessary supervision and perform the whole of his daily work in the Treasury, including the signing of all receipts, within three hours per diem on the average. As his work is not continuous, he would, of course, have to be in the Treasury for a considerably longer time daily, and his surprise visits to other departments, his work in connection with the Executive Council, and his attend- ances in the Legislative Council, would give him occupation in addition to what I have described as his daily work in the Treasury. The circumstances under which Mr. MAY found the work of the Treasury so arduous are described above in paragraph 8.
It may be convenient here to observe that Mr. MITCHELL-INNES appears to entertain incorrect notions as to the length of time required for properly dealing with books. On page 54 of the Evidence, attached to the Report of the Commission, he states that "Mr. NICOLLE and an ordinary Portuguese clerk took three weeks to do it" (ie., to balance a certain Rent Roll), "and they did nothing else, and I believe Mr. NICOLLE is pretty quick at this sort of thing." As a matter of fact Mr. NICOLLE had nothing whatever to do with the balancing of the Rent Roll, and estimates that he could do it unassisted in 10 or 12 days. This, however, is merely by the way, as it is not necessary that such work should devolve on the Treasurer, perfect security against fraud being obtainable by the Treasurer's sign- ing every receipt himself after personally satisfying himself that the corresponding amount has been duly entered in the collection book, and seeing on the following morning that the totals of the daily collection books have been duly entered in the Cash Book, and that the total of the Cash Book corresponds with the total amount credited to the account of Government by the bank.
15. Coming now to Mr. MITCHELL-INNES' pleas in explanation or justifica- tion of the neglect of duty which rendered possible the misappropriations committed while he was in charge of the Treasury, I feel that I need say nothing in regard to his failure to have the Rent Roll balanced, for in that particular he admits his fault and expresses regret for it. But on his general contention that it was no part of his duty to check receipts, or to take any steps to secure the placing to the credit of Government of all Government moneys that reached his Office, it is my duty to make a few observations.