t
t
:
is of course another matter; but, if this were
forbidden by the Secretary of State now, it would
involve a considerable upheaval in the accounting
arrangements of most Colonies, and many of the
Treasurers would, I think, require a lot of
persuading.
3. The prompt payment by the Treasury of sums
which are due and properly authorised presents, so
far as I am aware, no difficulty as a rule, (the
other
only case in which I have come across any diffi-
culty is in that of Trinidad, regarding which I am
now in correspondence with the Auditor). In most
Colonies, the payments due, if not paid in cash,
are made by means of cheques which are signed and
despatched within the month, and by this means the
rule of date of payment is properly complied with.
In the case of Hong Kong, however, according to
the Treasurer, this method cannot be followed owing
to the local circumstances fully explained by the
Accountant's Memorandum enclosed in No.20 herein.
There are several alternatives which might conceivably
be adopted to meet the difficulty.
(a) As proposed in Mr. Bader's minute above.
This is quite orthodox and complies in
every way with both Home and Colonial
rules. It is true that it does not secure
the charges being made in the year to which
they relate, but the reason for deferring
the charge until the next year is that it
is not possible to make the actual payment
within the year; and the last sentence of
*Col. Reg.288 is qualified by "as far as
possible", while the rule in the first
sentence of the Regulation
the date of
payment