CO129-545-2 Government House and city development scheme 13-10-1933 - 12-1-1934 — Page 5

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No.3477/15.

No. I referred to funds like that

Set aside for

establishment

University in

the

7 a in Ceylon. Hal

Mr.Cowell,

The comparison which you make with funds

in other Colonies refers, I suppose, to

such funds as "Renewals" and "Depreciation",

and it is true that in such cases lump sums

are appropriated out of general revenue to

the funds and are then spent in accordance

with the rules laid down to govern the funds.

There is, however, a great difference between

funds such as these and a fund such as that

now proposed for the Hong Kong scheme which

involves the execution of a large scheme of

public works to be financed by realising some

of the capital assets of the Colony. A truer

comparison, though not an exact one, would be

to the proposals put up by certain East African

Colonies to account through special funds for

special taxes or cesses and expenditure there-

from (T.T. X.29757/30, X.30231/31, Nyasaland

5303/33). but in all these cases the Secretary

of State held that the receipts should go to

general revenue and that the expenditure should

be accounted for as such in the Colony accounts.

2. I have discussed the matter again with

Mr.Taylor, the Treasurer, and we are agreed that

the Governor's proposal should not be accepted.

As it stands the proposal is that revenue

receipts from the sale of lands should pass to

a special fund instead of to revenue and that

the expenditure on the scheme should be met

from the fund and authorised by Resolution

in Legislative Council, and this involves two

breaches of the ordinary rules of Colonial

Accounting, viz: the diversion of true revenue

to