" of $60 ordered to be paid to him in April 172, although the voucher testifies that the said Loh. Yum. Tring signed the voucher as having received the said amount, and that you witnessed the receipt of the payment on the 18th, 19th or 20th April.
I answered three Charges on two different occasions, the first on the 13th July, the second on the 20th of the same month; they were deemed insufficient. I was brought before the Executive Council on the 20th July, where it was decided that I should be suspended from Office and salary pending reference to your Lordship.
The first charge was decided against me principally on my own acknowledgment, that it was probable that I had received the sum of $75 (Allowance for the months of September, October and November), but I deny my liability for the other two months.
The most serious part of this case, as viewed by the Council, I believe, was in my having signed, or rather witnessed the marks or signatures to payments made in my presence, but this I beg to inform your Lordship is only a grave irregularity which has existed for a number of years past.
I have on more than one occasion spoken of the absurdity of my witnessing marks or Signatures to payments made in my presence and I have spoken of doing which. I now beg to explain to your Lordship the manner in which the paying of the Force is conducted.
The Chinese Clerk has charge of the Pay sheet and Allowance Vouchers with a view to getting the signatures of the men who are paid. The men sign first and receive their pay afterwards. After signing the sheets, the number of the man is called out and I (in my capacity as Paymaster) refer to the Pay book and call out the amount of the Pay due to each man for the information of the Captain Superintendent, who then pays the man the amount mentioned by me.
For this method of paying, two tables are necessary, one for the Captain Superintendent, at which also sits the Chinese clerk with the Pay sheets, and another for myself (or the Officer acting in my capacity) with the Pay book.
The men receiving their Salaries invariably stand immediately between the Clerk, who is attending to the Pay sheets and myself, and in addition to this obstruction, the outer edge of the desk at which I sit is raised, and used for the purpose of holding books and papers, so that, I most respectfully submit, it is almost impossible for me to witness with the greatest accuracy.