CO129-356 - Governor Sir Lugard - 1909 [4-6] — Page 324

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many cases of detection, while the more common fault of

overspending of votes without authority must remain un-

-detected for months if detected at all. There is in

0

addition the question of allocation, a fruitful source of

irregularities, which it is practically impossible for an

X

Auditor at Home to scrutinize.

(a).

Public Works Recurrent. The same

remarks with some modification as regards rates apply to

the expenditure under this head which is estimated for the

current year at no less a sum than $433,000. Rates conform

generally to the authorized "Schedule of Rates" but it is

very doubtful whether this check can be effectually em-

-ployed at home owing to the difficulty of identifying

descriptions. In any case no test measurings of work per-

-formed under contracts can be taken. It is noteworthy

that only one query was raised on these accounts during the

five years 1903 - 1907.

(e).

Public Works Extraordinary. It is

true that for many of the subheads under this head the

auditor has a fixed contract price to guide him but there

still remain three large miscellaneous votes which are not

always subject to the same restriction. Three queries only,

two relating to the same matter, were raised on these

accounts