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He was at Sheung Shui at the time of the absconding of the shroff Ip Wai Lan. He wrote in the first report on the subject directly to the Colonial Secretary. After these embezzlements and the auditing of the books at Sheung Shui, instructions were issued by the Treasurer for a stricter system of collection, while I myself also issued instructions to the shroffs to ensure accuracy and guard against defalcations in the future; at this point also I was instructed to furnish security in the amount of $1,000.
Collection Books were now prepared for use by the shroffs and precautions were taken against the giving of temporary receipts, but no proper cash book, or books for the entering and accounting of warrant fees or licence fees were provided or suggested by the Treasurer, nor was any clerk with experience in accounting provided for the work. I had in fact to carry on, in the intervals of my Police and Magistrate's work, which often took me away to other parts of the Territory, a system of collection which had never since its institution been either checked or audited in full. In addition to this, I had been instructed to press on the collection of overdue and current revenue with special diligence, with the assistance of new powers given by the Regulations of December, 1905.
The collection in past years had never exceeded $140,000, and had never been checked by the Treasurer or by the Auditor, whereas in my first year, 1906, the total collection exceeded $115,000, and when I left in May of that year, there was only a sum of $900 or $1,000 outstanding, while the system of collection in out-stations had been so organised that there could be no expectation of any great difficulty in the future. And not only did this extra collection involve greater labour than before, but it also increased the possibility of leakage at some point or another. Moreover, as it was the first...
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