1382.
C.0
23550
Rect
8
In any further correspondence on this subject, the above number should be quoted,
and
the communication should be addressed to
EXCHEQUER AND AUDIT DEPARTMENT,
SOMERSET HOUSE,
London, W.C.
The Comptroller and Auditor General,
December, 1892.
547
Sir,
I am directed by the Comptroller and Auditor General to acknowledge the receipt of Mr. Fairfield's letter of the 28th October last, enclosing an extract from a Report by the Director of Public Works, Hong Kong, on the subject of the Store Accounts of the Colony in relation to procedure under Colonial Office Circular of 16th June, 1891, and asking whether certain proposals made by the Director of Works meet with the Comptroller and Auditor General's concurrence.
In reply, I am to state, for the information of the Secretary of State for the Colonies, that so far as it is understood, the most important proposal (paragraph 55) to "in future close the Store Account each year carrying any Cash Balance to the credit of Revenue, Miscellaneous Receipts" appears to be open to serious objection; inasmuch as it involves an Annual Augmentation of Revenue of an unreal character, which would be misleading, where (as in the case of Hong Kong) considerable sums would apparently require to be dealt with each year.
The Comptroller and Auditor General desires me to recall the fact that the original scheme upon which Colonial Office Circular of 16th June, 1891, was based was devised, not as being an exposition of the most approved system available, but to meet the requirements of a special case, that of the Windward Islands.
Hon: R.H. Meade, C.B.
16345