CO129-548-1 Annual reports from various government departments 3-4-1934 - 11-6-1935 — Page 14

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I agree

allowed are refunded to the Treasurer and

credited to the respective votes.

It seems prima facie likely that, when

the practice was first started, the money was

drawn by the Department from the Treasury and

most of it, if not all of it, was paid out by

the Department the same day and the receipted

vouchers returned to the Treasury either the

same, or the next, day; but that gradually

payments became less prompt, until finally a

limit to the period of grace was laid down.

This practice has no doubt been regarded

locally as complying sufficiently with the first

sentence of C.R.288 because the payment by the

Treasury to the Department is actually made

within the month, but the fact remains that

the real payments may not be made by the depart-

ments until after the close of the month.

I think I am correct in saying that under

Home practice such an interpretation of the

date of payment rule would not be admitted, and

that the date of charge would be held to be the

actual date of payment by the department.

The practice of the Treasury handing over

the money to Departments to enable the Depart-

ments to make the actual payments to the persons

entitled to the money is necessary in Colonial

accounting, owing to the differences in the

accounting organisation in the Colonies from

that in the Home Departments, and it is a

practice to which, I think, little if any

objection can be taken. Whether Colonies

should continue to be allowed to treat payments

of this kind to Departments as final expenditure

is