Confidential.
A. A. M. S.
2
627
It may be of use to the Government before the close of the year to receive a statement of the expenditure incurred on the works of Defence chargeable to the vote of £116,000 passed by the Colonial Legislature for Fortifications:-
Expenditure to 30th September, 1889,
Deduct for exchange.
Deduct credits received.
£113,761
7,787 £105,974
1,145 104,829
2.
Approx: expenditure from 1-10-89 to 30-11-89....£3,600
Total expenditure to 30th November, 1889, about...£108,429
The expenditure to 30th September, 1889, includes every item so far as is known to me; some future correction may however, perhaps be necessary on accounts of stores purchased in England of which full particulars may not have reached me.
3.
In explanation of the item for exchange it is necessary to point out that for convenience of bookkeeping the local payments in dollars are in the accounts furnished to the War Office, converted into sterling money at the Treasury rate of exchange. In accordance with instructions from the Secretary of State for War, a return has been prepared which shows that if these payments were converted into sterling money at the actual market rate of exchange on the day on which they were made, they would amount in the aggregate up to the 30th September, 1889, to £7,787 less than shown by the above accounts.
4.
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