CO129-380 - Governor Sir Lugard - 1911 [9-10] — Page 298

Evelo upo

No. 87.

C

Sir,

C O

36469

298

283

REC

Audit Office NOV !!

Hongkong, 10th. October, 1911.

I have the honour to draw your attention to

two more instances where I think the new procedure, adopted by the Government during the current financial year, of crediting expenditure heads with monies directly derived from expenditure heads, might be extended.

2.

The first case I would bring to your notice is that of the Fees collected by Hon. Principal Civil Medical Officer for Medical treatment, these fees average between $3,000 and $3,500 per mensem and therefore under the present system of accounting pay Military Contribution to the extent of $600 or $700 per mensem or say roughly $8,000 per annum. These fees are derived principally from monies paid for Medical treatment at the Government Civil Hospital, the cost of the upkeep of the Government Civil Hospital to put it at a very low figure costs the Government $120,000 annually, then there must also be taken into consideration the large expenditure incurred on the other hospitals. I therefore think that the Government would be per- -fectly justified in crediting the funds of the Government Civil Hospital, or other hospital, with any sums received on account of treatment, the other hospitals being credited with the amounts they have respectively collected.

3.

The second case I would draw your attention to are the fees paid by the Queen's College Scholars for tuition. The Government philanthropically conducts a College at a great loss of money for the benefit of the inhabitants, the actual cost being roughly about $80,000 per annum, it is therefore incongruous to expect the Government to pay Military Contribut- -ion on the fees which they receive in return for this great expenditure, the fees for the current year have only averaged Y

83,317.22