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51
explained by the Immigration Officer as representing receipts
issued in respect of security other than Hong Kong dollars. No
detailed statement has, however, been furnished in respect of
receipts so issued and I have little hope of ever getting such a
statement. I am quite unable to accept foreign currencies or
to acquiesce in their acceptance by other departmenta. There
was even a suggestion at one time of accepting deposits in kind.
No attempt was made to open a Deposit Ledger and the only
attempt at keeping a departmental cash book was so amateurish
as to be quite useless.
Farly in January it came to my notice that a number of
unsecured ladies were handling monies and that the monies they
received were placed with those of shroffs supplied to the
department after Treasury training so that it was impossible to
verify or control the cash received by any particular iniividual.
It did not surprise me, therefore, to find several forged notes
amongst the cash brought to the Treasury from the Immigration Department, including one of $100. It was impossible to discover
who was responsible for the presence of the forgeries, one of
which was particularly obvious, since the serial number was
printed in deep blue. At the same time the shroffs complained
of the conditions under which they had to work. In view of
these facts I deputed Er. L.A. Barton, Treasury Cashier, to
inspect and report on the Immigration office from a Revenue point of view. His report is at 61 in Treasury File No.
33/26/20
(Mr. Fudney read the Report which was also laid
before the Commission as a Confidential Paper).
At the same time, Mr. A.J.C. Taylor, Treasury Accountant,
reported to me as in 63 in the same Treasury File.
(Mr. Pudney read the Report).
Owing to the pressure of work in the Treasury due to the
high rate of expenditure arising out of the war it was not
possible to spare a Treasury Officer as he suggests, but on my