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made beforehand.
In making this provision however, it seems to me that to do so smoothly and without disarrangement of the local balances a larger margin is necessary than that of the total Government balances to which the Secretary of State desires to limit them. The coins are shipped in quantities of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars worth each quarter, and these have to be paid for by a single draft each quarter out of the local balances. On the other hand, the coins themselves do not at once upon arrival form part of the local balances of the Colony, but are kept in a separate chest drawing no interest, and are gradually doled out as far as possible until the arrival of the next shipment.
If the sums required to meet the Crown Agents' drafts are not to be regarded as part of the local balances, in so far as the restriction placed upon such balances is concurred, which is what I gather from the fourth and fifth paragraphs of Secretary of State's dispatch, the difficulty of complying with the Secretary of State's wishes is very greatly reduced, and as a rule the general account would, I think, not exceed one hundred and fifty thousand dollars in our bank.
I may point out, however, that although a separate account might be kept of sums put by to meet anticipated drafts, there is no real difference between money at current account and money deposited for ...