726
Copy.
Statement of
the
Treasurer (N.G. Mitchell-Innes)
with reference to the Report
of the Treasury
in taking
over
Commission
22 April, 1897.
On taking over the Treasury at the beginning of 1891, I found the department in a state of perplexity as to its duties. In former years, the Treasury had collected revenue and disbursed expenditure, checking to the Audit Office for the detection of errors on both accounts. I found in charge of the various collections trusted clerks of from 24 to 35 years' service, to whom change in the recognised practice was naturally distasteful, and to whom therefore it was explained.