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for public tenders md, except for the agreement for the letting of advertising space, without obtaining the authority of Government to dispense with this procedure, Government has since given the necessary covering approval for the arrangements; but has directed that, in all cases, tenders should be called for, through the Tender Board, on the expiry of the current contracts. The agreement with the catering contractor for servicing the train to Canton has since expired and the new contract (which was arranged through the Chinese Section of the Kowloon-Canton Railway) has resulted in revenue fran this source being doubled,
23. The charges for the goods handled by the coolie labour referred to in paragraph 22 above, are collected by the Railway and, under the terms of the contract, 90% of the receipts are payable to the con- tractor. The method of accounting followed by the Railway is for the total receipts to be credited to a suspense account, from which 90% of the total is paid to the contractor and the remaining 10% to Revenue. Payments to the contractor are therefore being made without the authority of the General Warrant and are not included in the Estimates for approval by the Legislatire and the Secretary of State. Accordingly, to this extant, the Colony and the Railway Accounts do not reflect the whole of the Railway expenditure and revenue. Government has directed that the accounting procedure should be regularised on the expiry of the present agrement.
24. It was also brought to notice by this Department that the contractor supplying coolie labour at the Kowloon and Yaumati Railway Stations was allowed the use of an office on the Kowloon Station, free of rent. Government has since directed that he should pay rent, computed in accordance with the Landlord and Tenant Ordinace, and rent has been charged from January, 1948.
25. The Quarterly Returns of Appointments have not been furnished to the Secretary of State in accordance with Colonial "Regulations 28 må 355 and the attention of Government has been drawn to the matter.
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26. An audit inspection of the Steward's stores of the Queen Mary Hospital revealed that free issues of household nccessities such as crockery, cutlery and foodstuffs etc. had been made, without authority, to certain medical officers. As a result of this query the recipients were charged with the value of the stores is sucd.
27. It was reported by the Accountant General that the difference in value between the closing stock of Revenue Stamps on the 6th December, 1941, and the opening stock of the Revenue Stamps which were discovered after the re-occupation of the Colony, amounted to $1,196,731.85 and it is presumed that this amount is the value of the Revenue Stamps looted during the Japanese occupation. Revenue Stamps of a value of $16.212, illegally held by an unauthorised person, were, in fact, actually seized and confiscated by the Treasury after the close of the period under review. The attention of Government was drawn by this Department to the possibility that those revenue stamps might be used improperly and that a considerable loss of revenue might resulti The Accountant General later reported that arrangements were being made to overprint $1.00.postage stamps for use as Revenue Stamps pending the receipt of new revenue starps with all existing colours changed.
28.
MISALLOCATIONS BROUGHT TO NOTICE TOO LATE FOR ADJUSTMENT IN THE ACCOUNTS OF THE YEAR UNDER- REVIEW AND ADMITTED BY THE ACCOUNTING OFFICER
A list of misallocations admitted by the Accountant General as brought to notice too late for adjustment in 1946/47 is attached as
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