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8. The ship was launched under an unlucky star, for an entirely erroneous impres- sion of the objects of the proposed legislation gained currency, and the office was from the outset besieged by crowds of people far greater than anyone, having regard to the real objects of immigration control, could ever have anticipated. In one local Chinese newspaper, for example, long articles based apparently on official communiques were published on 8th and 9th November. The earlier article was published under the cap- tion Residents having occupations are to be registered and to apply for certificates ", while the second article includes the statement All Chinese residents must apply for certificates of residence ". The South China Morning Post too appears either to have misunderstood the communique or to have been misinformed of Government's inten- tions, for in the issue of 9th November it published a lengthy article the headlines of which are

Immigration check. All Residents of Colony to have identification docu- ments". Small wonder, then, that the new office was swamped with applications, many of which need never have been made.

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9. The Immigration Control Ordinance, 1940, contains in section 24 the usual provision for suspending the operation of the Ordinance until such time as the Department was adequately staffed and equipped. It had originally been the intention, on Mr. Forrest's recommendation, to bring the Ordinance into force on 17th December, but on 4th December Mr. Forrest advised postponement until 14th January on the plea that he had not yet built up an effective machinery for the control of immigration. To this request His Excellency the Officer Administering the Government acceded, minuting “It would be a mistake to start until the measure can operate effectively ". On 18th December the Chinese Chamber of Commerce suggested a further postponement until after Chinese New Year, which this year was in the last week of January. This suggestion was strongly opposed by Mr. Forrest, and it is not, we suggest, unreasonable to presume that Government therefore took it for granted that Mr. Forrest had got together a staff and devised an office system adequate to the calls which, in view of the experience gained since 18th November, he might anticipate would be made upon it when the legislation should come into force on 14th January.

10. The congestion which had been evident ever since the office opened in November became still greater after 15th January, and the conditions under which Mr. Forrest and his staff had to work must have been well nigh intolerable.

Office accom- modation was so scanty that there was barely floor space for the members of the staff, not to mention the large numbers of insistent applicants who freely moved about the office, and very long hours of incessant work had to be put in by everyone even on Sundays and public holidays. There was little likelihood therefore that any radical change in office system or routine could be expected at a time when no member of the staff had a moment to spare.

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11. With this brief historical introduction we pass to our specific terms of refer- ence, of which we propose to deal first with (3) The adequacy or otherwise of the financial system instituted in the Immigration Department ".

Financial System.

12. It must have been manifest to anyone that the application of a system of control on immigration by means of the issue to approved applicants of permits against pay- ment of fees must involve at least a simple system of book-keeping and the co-ordination of accounts. It must have been equally obvious to anyone with experience of the Government system of accounting that, inasmuch as the Department handled large numbers of audit-numbered documents, registers would be required to ensure that the movements of these documents were recorded and their safe custody thereby ensured. There is nothing in the requirements of the approved system of immigration control that calls for any involved system of accounting. In these circumstances Mr. Forrest's attitude to this most essential form of financial control is to us incomprehensible. 31st October Mr. A. J. C. Taylor of the Accountant General's office minuted to Mr. Forrest giving details of the various simple books and registers which he recommended should be kept in the new office. Mr. Forrest made, no effort to have the books printed, being convinced, he has told us, that they could not be got ready in time. At a later date Mr. Forrest devised a system of accounting for the Macau branch office which is based on Mr. Taylor's recommendations, yet at no time did he make any effort to institute any adequate system in his own office, at least until early February, 1941.

On

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