7-
2
VEND.
votes.
The Af.
to include all sum received exclusive of re- The Superintendent of the Money Order Office comes to me when he wants postal I issue them to him and he initials the amount. On the other side of the book appears the amount he pays into the Bank for money received for postal notes. The prisoner balances this book every quarter. The balance in July 1889 shows $786.93 in hand. entry is in the prisoner's handwriting. ter that I issued orders to him to September to the amount of $3,659.93. The prisoner's in- itials are placed against each issue of notes. On the other side are certain sums on various dates which should be paid into the Bank. Had they been paid in they should appear in the collec tor's accounts for the months of August, Eep- tember and October. There is no such entry that I can find of their having been paid in. Money received from Shanghai and orders issued to there are entered in tho Imperial Cash Book. Orders payable in the Un- ited Kingdom are sold in Shanghai and the drafts are sent to the Postmaster-General wh hands them to the Superintendent of the Money Order Office who pays them into the Bank, This money should appear in the collector's ac- connte. We keep a copy of the lottery of advice to the Crown Agents in a letter book. So far as I know we have all those letters in the office.
By his Lordship-The prisoner left the offios without giving notice. He left, I think, on the 22nd March. He disappeared without any warning. I next saw bi at the Magistracy the other day.
Cross-examined-I have been in the Post: Office since May, 1893, I left for a short holiday on the 17th April last, I was acting Postmaster from Jane 1888 to January of this year, dur- ing the absence of the late Mr. Lister. Prior to that I was assistant Postmaster. I had not been in charge before as Acting Postmaster General. I had, as assistant Postmaster, nothing to do with the money order department. Prior to June 1888 I had no knowledge of the duties or accounts of that department. When I took charge in 1888 I had no written instructions as to what were the duties of the different officers. The prisoner was in the department during that time, I believe. I do not think the prisoner was away for a month in March, before he left. I think he was away for about a weck. He had returned to the office again before he finally left.
I think postal notes were first introduced here in 1887. The postal notes are sent from the post office direct to the Post- master here and are paid for through the Crown Agents. There is a book showing the amount of postal notes received from London. It is kept by the Postmaster himself. It does not show the other side of the account. It is sim- ply a record of notes sent out. The postal note book here is written up by the Superintendent, It is kept in the office of the Postmaster. It contains a record of stamps also issued to the stamp office. Up to June 1583 the entries in the book are in Mr. Lister's writing, not in the prisoner's. When I took charge I made the prisoner make the catrin The entries previous to 1856 appear in Mr. Rocha's bandwriting aud I think the credits for January, February, and March this year are for in Mr. Rocha's writing. This book was kopt in a drawer in my office.
kopt another account besides this of the notes issued to the prisoner. The postal notes sout fo Shan chai are also entered in the same book. All the coast ports requisition on us for postal notes. There is nothing in the credit entries in this book to show what represents money paid into the Bank. Tho prisoner sold money orders to the United Kingdom over tho counter. We draw on the United Kingdom in money orders about £250 a wook on an average. I cannot say how many orders we pay from the United Kingdom on an aver- age per week. The balance is always in favour of the United Kingdom. We draw more orders on them thau we pay. With regard to Aas- Itralia it is the reverse. We issue a few orders un them and pay a good many drawu on us The coast poris do not, with the excep- : tion of Shanghai, isane money orders them.!
I
selves. The Australian Colonies remit to usi at uncertain periods, never less than a month. Sometimes they reuit in advance. I did not know how the acconuts stoo 1 between us. I bave no list of the drafts which I received from the Australian Colonies during the time I was Postmaster-General. Sometimes the prisoner. would run short of money, not having sufficient to meet the orders drawn on the office, and then I gave himacheque. There is no book except the one I have mentioned, in which accounts appear with reference to postal notes: The prisoner had no book in which he entered the sums received for postal: notes sld. The money received for postal notes and money orders all went into the same cash box. There ought to have been a separate ao- count kept of each. If the prisoner had asked for a separate book it would have been given to him.
The prisoner should not have used the Imperial funds to pay local money orders. I think that instruction is laid down in the Post Office Ordinance. I do not think there is anything in the Ordinance about. postal notes. The prisoner should not have used the money from postal notes to pay money orders. There were not two separate cash boxes provided for receipts from money orders and postal notes. I do not know whether prisoner was in the habit of paying money orders from the common fund. The prisoner was not at liberty to pay money orders from Australia with the money received from postal notes.
There was an ac count prepared by the prisoner in May, 1889. when there was some question as to the correctness of his accounts. His explanation was that he had been paying Australian money orders from the Imperial fund. I think the prisoner was reprimanded for so doing by the auditors. I did not say anything to him myself about it. The collector'a monthly accounts handed to me were signed by me. There is no mention in them of postal notes. I did not notice when I sigued them that postal notes were omitted. I cannot say what the average amount of postal notes sent monthly was.
So far as I know the amounts in the collector's accounts for August, September and Octobor are correct. I know now, sincs I have investigated the matter, that money or- dere wero, as a matter of fact, paid out of the common fund for money orders and postal notata, We send advices to the Crown Agents very mail and the Superintondout is supposed on the mail day to pay a corresponding amount into the Bank. I never enquired to see if that was being done. I have examined the Imperial cash book and find that neither in my time or in Mr. Lister's time is there any trace of prisoner having made these weekly payments. It shoull have been done but I do not know of any such rule existing.
The entries in the prisoner hand- writing in the Imperial cash book end in Nov- embor, 1889. I cannot fiad in the book sny existence of monthly balances. When the pri- j aoner asked me for money to meet current demands I never checked his balances to sea if he really wanted this money or whether besboull have money in haad. The Bank pass book is written up about once a month. The Post Office has only one account. All the prisoner's payments ware to the Treasury account. When & draft came from Australia it went into the Postmaster- General's acconut. It was sent to the Bank by me.
The entries in the Postal note book are simply statements as to the amount of postal notes sold. We have no account in the Post Once showing how we stand with the Crows Agents. I believe there is such an account in the Treasury. The monthly accounts bear the signature of an audit clerk and of Dr. Stewart I as having been examined and found correct. don't think there is any book in the office for money received from Shanghai for postal notes and money orders.
Tu drafts are separate for losal money orders, Imperial money orders, and postal notes. The drafts for postal notes and Imperial money orders are paid into the Colonial Government account and the drafts for local money orders are treated as cash.
At this stage the Court adjourned till to-day at 2 p.m.
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