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Whilst taking credit for the £56,000 remitted since 11 July 1865, the Governor has entirely lost sight of the very considerable expenditure of the Crown Agents, irrespective of those services to which he has made special reference, that £15,000 of the amount remitted had been brought to account in September and November 1865 and expended, leaving the Colony notwithstanding indebted to the Crown Agents about £750 for monies advanced at the commencement of this year.
Deducting the £15,000 thus accounted for and a further sum of £15,000 locked up in Agra and Masterman's Bank Bills, there would remain to the credit of the Colony £26,000 to meet liabilities estimated by the Governor at £34,571, leaving a considerable deficit in place of a balance of £6,000.
I have adhered to the figures referred to in the Governor's Despatch. The state of the account, however, was reported on in my letter to the Crown Agents of the 16th ultimo, and the assets and liabilities at present date will be found in the annexed return, from which it will be seen that notwithstanding the advance of £10,000 recently made by the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury on Hong Kong Account, there is yet a deficiency of £11,880.
It is expected that Agra and Masterman's...