(c) In Part III with the supervision and control exerciseable by the Treasurer over
the accounts of departments other than the Treasury;
(d) In Part IV we shall express our views as to the persons whom we consider responsible for the defects in and failure of the systems in force and the losses consequent thereon; and
(e) In Part V we shall make those recommendations which we consider desirable
for the further safeguarding of public moneys.
Part I.
THE TREASURY.
5. Since the 11th December, 1918, the Hon. Mr. Charles McIlvaine Messer, O.B.E. has been Colonial Treasurer.
This Officer was appointed a Cadet in November, 1897, and has since held many ap- pointments under the Government of the Colony, including, inter alia, those of Postmaster General, Head of the Sanitary Department and Captain Superintendent of Police. He had prior to his substantive appointment as Colonial Treasurer acted as such for various periods in 1901, 1902, 1909, 1910, 1912 and 1917.
6. The Treasury Staff, exclusive of that allocated to the Stamp Office and the offices of the Estate Duty Commissioner and the Assessor, with which it is unnecessary to deal in this Report, is divided into five Branches known respectively as the Revenue, Ex- penditure, Book-keeping, Examination and Correspondence Branches.
7. (a) The staff of the Revenue Branch consists of a Cashier, eight shroffs, who receive moneys payable at the Treasury, six clerks in charge of collection books and four clerks in charge of rent rolls, and assessment lists and the pre- paration of notices.
Mr. L. A. Barton, the present Cashier, formerly held the appointment of Accountant at the Treasury, but on his return from long leave in February, 1927, took up his present duties. The other members of the Revenue Branch staff are Chinese, with the sole exception of Mr. Moosa Azim, the Chief Revenue Clerk, who is a local born Indian.
(b) The staff of the Expenditure Branch consists of the Accountant, Mr. T. Black, a Cash Book clerk and an assistant to the Cash Book clerk, both of whom are Chinese. Mr. Black countersigns cheques on the Government General Ac- count as "Cashier", a form of nomenclature which tends to cause some con- fusion as Mr. Barton actually holds the appointment of Cashier.
The senior shroff, who is shown as a member of the staff of the Revenue Branch, receives only moneys in connection with the Trade Loan and as he pays out Treasury Salaries, Pensions, Suitors' Funds, Contractors Accounts and all other disbursements made over the counter at the Treasury, he might perhaps more properly be regarded as a member of the staff of the Expendi- ture Branch.
(c) The staff of the Book-keeping Branch comprises four clerks, two of whom are Portuguese and two of whom are Chinese, and that of the Examination Branch four clerks, two being Portuguese, one Indian and one Chinese.
(d) The staff of the Correspondence Branch comprises two clerks who are assisted
from time to time by Probationers who are undergoing training.
(e) In addition to the foregoing there is an Assistant Acountant, Mr. H. S. Martin, whose duties have largely been confined to matters in relation to the Trade Loan and there is also a junior clerk, Mr. G. H. Fowler, who assists with Trade Loan matters.
(f) The Revenue, Expenditure and Correspondence Branch staffs are accommodat- ed in the General Office of the Treasury, to the counter in which the public has access for the purpose of the payment and receipt of money.
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