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with any balance issued in excess of the amount received or short issued, as the case might be; and that in the same manner deficiencies or excesses of special deposits or other special receipts not available for the ordinary estimated expenditure of the subsequent year should be debited to Hong Kong Government as deductions from the cash balances in hand.
The Commissioners perceive that in your statement of 26th Nov. you have correctly charged the Colony with a sum of £117. 9. 11, but that as regards the balance on the 1st January 1886, you have not credited the colony with a sum of £662. 5. 0 issued on account of Diplomatic and Consular services on 31st Dec. 1887 beyond the amount of cash received on these accounts.
The Commissioners are not aware how you arrived at the sum of £888. 16. 1, the balance in the Treasury Vault and £2002. 4. 1, the balance in the Treasury chest, amounting together to only £2991. 0. 5, as stated in your account. The balance was on 1st Jan. 1887 shown by the Treasury account as £28262. 15. 3.
I have to remark that the Commissioners are not in possession of all the information necessary to furnish a complete statement showing the balances which were applicable to the services of the years 1887 and 1888 respectively, after providing for the services of each preceding year.
I have, &c.
(signed) C. Macaulay, Secretary.
Commissariat, China Company, 12th January 1888.
In compliance with your request I beg leave to state that, to the best of my recollection, on some occasion during the period when I was Acting Auditor General, you did me the honor to confer with me on the subject of the Parliamentary Grants, when upon reference being made to the annual Abstracts of the Receipts and Expenditure of the Colony, it was...