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various Departments, or the pay of them, I cannot be expected to say much, but I agree as to the desirableness of having the duties of Registrar of Shipping and Emigration Officer performed in the Harbor Master's Department, as was proposed in the original Draft of the Estimates.
97. It has also been often spoken and I believe been proposed, to have the duties of the Treasury transferred, either to the Commissariat or to the Bank. I think it worth a trial, and in that case, an arrangement with the Bank. For the performance of certain duties which the Bank could not undertake, arrangements could be made with other Departments; but what then would be required is separation of the duties of Auditor from those of the Colonial Secretary.
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Both combined are too much for one person; and, as it is, an effective Colonial Secretary has all his time occupied, and none to devote to auditing the accounts, not only of the Colony, but also of the Superintendency of Trade and the different Consulates in China, and, it may be, of those Consulates which may be expected to be created in Japan, Cochin China, and Siam; inconvenience will often recur from the connection of the Colonial Treasurer and Auditor of the Colony with the British Consulates in China.
98. The Estimate shows a decrease of £309.8.4 on four items, as compared with the Estimate for the current year; viz £27.10 on the Governor's Department-