DRAFT.
735
prevented the later defalcations, or at least have led to their earlier detection. Although Mr. Mitchell Innes had, prior to being appointed Treasurer, no special financial experience, an officer of his standing and experience must be taken to have been well aware that it is a Treasurer's duty to close and balance his books at the end of the year and that it is the duty of every head of a Department to be thoroughly acquainted with the manner in which the business of his office is conducted, and to satisfy himself by constant personal investigation that his Staff conform in all respects to the rules and regulations.
Further, it might have been expected that a gentleman who, after a comparatively short service, had been promoted to a new and important position, would have sought to justify the exceptional confidence reposed in him by endeavouring to master and improve the administration of his Department, instead of acquiescing in arrangements made by his predecessors, which, as it happens, have proved