CO129-510-14 Report of committee of enquiry into discrepancies and losses in government departments in Hong Kong... 21-4-1928 - 24-10-1928 — Page 16

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(as laid down in Colonial Regulations 205 and 206)

which the unfortunate experience of the last few

years has shown to be so necessary in Hong Kong

and so apt not to be secured under the existing

system.

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In the Hong Kong General Orders it is laid

down that "Cadets, if qualified, have a prefer-

ential claim to, and may be called upon to occupy

the following appointments ..... Treasurer,

Assessor of Rates". Contrast this with the

Ceylon rule:- "The posts of Colonial Secretary

and Colonial Treasurer will not ordinarily be

filled by promotion within the Civil Service".

It is probably extremely difficult for an

officer in the position of a senior cadet officer

to learn in Hong Kong, in a Department almost

entirely staffed with Chinese or other nations of the East, the way in which the duties of Treasurer should be carried out; and it seems clear from the

report of the Committee of Enquiry that the system

of appointing as Treasurer a Cadet Officer who,

however able, has had no training in the work has

led to considerable slackness in the control

exercised both in the Treasury and over other

Hong Kong Departments which deal with public funds

It is not desirable that the Treasurer and the

Deputy Treasurer (if appointed) should be so un-

acquainted with their duties that they would have

to rely almost entirely on the advice of a Chief

Accountant.

If an experienced officer were appointed as

Treasurer and a more junior but still a trained

officer were appointed as Deputy Treasurer, they

ought soon to be able to introduce reforms which

might