540
that if done by the clerk who is desirous of defrauding, as would have been the case in the instance of the Rent Roll, its value would be rather problematical. To make it of value it ought to be accompanied with an independent examination, and as such only do I consider that it would be valuable as a check.
26. I entirely deny that I did not furnish the Audit with the necessary books, and I certainly furnished them with all that they required. I do not admit that I did not see that no arrears of rent were being allowed to accumulate, and I state in my evidence that I constantly examined the books for the special purpose of guarding against this contingency. Further, I did not accept ALVES's excuse that he had too much work, and I expressly state in my evidence, that I had no recollection of his making such excuse; and lastly, I did not repose unlimited con- fidence in ALVES, whom nevertheless I knew to be an old and valued servant of the Government of unblemished repute and tried integrity.
27. I have now, I think, gone over the whole of the ground traversed by the Commission in their report so far as it affects myself, and I have the honour to submit that the lines upon which the enquiry has been conceived and carried out, and the loose fragmentary character of the evidence, afford no proper basis upon which either to formulate charges of neglect or to deduce from them pecuniary responsibility. In many respects the findings of the Commission are actually opposed to the evidence and where they are not so the evidence is too inconclusive to justify their endorsement. In the present stage of the proceedings, therefore, I disclaim any blame for what has occurred and I desire further enquiry before judgment is given.
28. I have the honour to request that my letter may be published concurrently with the report of the Commission, and I desire to thank His Excellency the Governor for the opportunity which he has given me of meeting their charges.
I have the honour to be,
Sir,
Your most obedient Servant,
H. E. WODEHOUSE.
The Honourable G. T. M. O'BRIEN, C.M.G.,
Colonial Secretary.
SIR,
(Colonial Secretary to Mr. H. E. Wodehouse.)
COLONIAL SECRETARY'S OFFICE,
HONGKONG, 24th April, 1893.
I am directed to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of 20th instant (received on the afternoon of 21st instant) and to point out that, except in so far as it urges that while you were in temporary charge of the Treasury the greater part of your time was occupied in the duties of your other and substantive appointment, it affords no reply to my letter of 11th instant calling on you to show cause why you
should not be held pecuniarily responsible for the amount of Government money misap- propriated in the Treasury during your tenures of office as Acting Treasurer.
2. In your letter under acknowledgment you point out the difficulty of stating with precision, in the absence of certain books, the exact amounts misappropriated during each of the broken portions of the years in which you acted as Treasurer; and you also argue at length the unfairness of a finding of the Commission in regard to your not having had a certain book balanced. For the reasons stated in the next paragraph the Governor does not think it necessary at present to enter into a discussion of these points.
3. The question whether you should be held pecuniarily responsible for the amount of certain defalcations, or relieved of such responsibility, is quite distinct from the precise ascertainment of that amount; neither does it in any way depend on any finding of the Commission other than that which establishes the fact that Government money was misappropriated in the Treasury while you were acting as Treasurer,