CO129-334 - Governor Nathan - 1906 [5-7] — Page 449

(0 O P Y)

Treasurer's Statement of 14th. Ma

27315 1906.

1R: 30 JUL 06

The two kinds of responsibility involved in this matter have not been sufficiently differentiated and I beg to point out that they should be considered apart. They are (1) Personal pecuniary liability and (3) Personal responsibility in carrying out the rules generally.

¿. As regards the question of my personal liability in connec- tion with the embezzlement by ip hai Lam 1 have to offer the follow- ing remarks:-

1.

It is impossible to read Financial Instruction No.5 toge-

ther with No.8.

The former is addressed to all responsible Collectors (of whom I happen to be one in respect of two-thirds of the Revenue col- lected at the Treasury) whereas the latter is addressed to the Trea- surer alone containing directions as to his responsibility in the way of general supervision and which carries no specified pecuniary

penalty.

Lapse of duty under the former carries with it the personal liability of making a deficiency good whereas under the letter any lapse from duty is a matter for ordinary discipline.

It would be obviously unfair to make the treasurer pecuni- arily responsible under rule 5 for the collection of all the Revenue

as this would involve the proposition that the Collector was responsi-

ble only for a portion of the deficiency in any case of erbezzlement.

In cases where ronies are collectable by Sub-Accountants other than the treasurer the latter is responsible personally only after the cash has been paid in.

As it is in my opinion impossible to make an officer

responsible pecuniarily for the collection of monies over which he has

no constant personal control, I think you will agree with me that

what is really intended is to make only those officers who are in

regular

བསམཡཧཅ⪜* མ';