LOWE, BINGHAM & MATTHEWS, HONG KONG
7
41
ing and Rehabilitation Allowances".
No refund to the
Budget has been made in respect of this expenditure and
it has not been brought into these accounts; the amount
involved cannot readily be ascertained. For the three
years 1947/48 to 1949/50, High Cost of Living Allowance
has been included in the amounts refunded to the Budget.
MARKETING SECTION
The accounts and records of the Section were
found to be in a very unsatisfactory state. Without ex-
tensive and protracted investigation, no reliable yearly
accounts could be produced from the records and in our
view the results would not have justified the additional
time and expense involved. There was also an absence of
liaison between this and other Sections, since this Sec-
tion passed part of its transactions through the Flour
Suspense Account without notification to the Rice Section.
During the course of our examination of the re-
cords we noticed that a number of transactions in the
earlier years appeared to have been conducted in an un-
usual manner and the results were not clearly reflected.
Transactions involving quantities of piece-goods showed
sales at apparent special prices subject to accompanying
sales of tinned foodstuffs. We have been informed that
these foodstuffs were of relatively low value and it trans-
pired later that certain buyers were given credit for the
return of the foodstuffs and accepted in lieu thereof a
quantity of more profitable items, e.g. soap or salt.
Realisation Account
We were unable to be satisfied that all debit
notes issued in respect of past sales had been properly
recorded and as a result of investigation we drew atten-
tion to certain sales effected during November, 1946,