8.—5

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to be Agents for the purpose of making payments on behalf of the Government of New Zealand within the said United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and tho Continent of Europe, and to be Agents for the purpose of drawing moneys from the said account, kept at any bank or banks so directed or appointed by you under the authority hereinbefore given to you, and for signing cheques upon the said account kept at any such bank or banks; and Ido further declare and appoint that any power or authority hereinbefore given to you the said Isaac Earl Featherston, Penrose Goodchild Julyan, and William Charles Sargeaunt may be exercised by any two of you. Given under the hand of His Excellency Sir George Ferguson Bowen, Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over Her Majesty's Colony of New Zealand and its Dependencies, and Vice-Admiral of the same; and issued at Wellington, this 18th day of January, in the year of our Lord 1873. John Hall. Such warrant was forwarded to the parties therein named with a letter of instructions on behalf of the Colonial Treasurer, dated 18th January, 1873, of which the following is a copy : —■ " I have the honor to enclose a copy of ' The Public Revenues Amendment Act, 1872,' and to call your attention to section 16 of that Act. " I transmit likewise a warrant under the hand of His Excellency the Governor appointing you, in conjunction with P. G. Julyan, Esq., C.8., and W. C. Sargeaunt, Esq., to be Agents for appointing the bank at which the New Zealand Public Account shall be kept, and authorizing any two of the Agents so appointed to operate on that account. " It is the desire of the Government that the account shall be kept at the A. B. C. Bank ; but, as a measure of precaution, you are empowered tinder the warrant enclosed to remove the account to some other bank, should circumstances at any time render it expedient to adopt that step. " You will observe that the immediate effect of this constitution of the New Zealand Public Account is to necessitate the maintenance of but one account at the bank, from which account all transfers for expenditure to be made, either by yourself or by the Crown Agents, will be made to subordinate accounts in the hands of the persons operating on those accounts, to be styled in each case ' The Imprest Account.' " Thus the transactions occurring in ' The New Zealand Public Account' will be, on the one side all sums lodged to that account for loans raised or other original receipts ; and on the other side the several sums transferred for expenditure to ' The Imprest Accounts.' These Imprest Accounts will consist of the account of the Colonial Agent for moneys transferred to his credit to make authorized payments, and the accounts of the Crown Agents for moneys transferred to their credit to pay interest on Sinking Fund or other authorized payments. " As the latest London accounts reaching New Zealand prior to the 30th June are those for the month ending the 30th March previous, it is desirable tbat any balance to the credit of your Imprest Account on the date last named should be repaid on that date into the New Zealand Public Account, and that any balance at credit of the Crown Agents (except the balance of moneys in their hands applicable to the payment of interest and sinking fund due prior to that date) should be repaid in like manner —such sums as may be required for expenditure being reissued from the New Zealand Public Account on the Ist April. " Thus, on closing the accounts of the colony on the 30th of June, the English Imprest Accounts incorporated therein will be found to be closed, and will be uniform with those of the colony at the end of the financial year in that important particular. " You will be good enough to call the attention of the Bank to the requirements of section 18 of the Act in respect of the Bank sheet, and you will please to take care that the Imprest Accounts are rendered in compliance with section 19. " I shall be glad if you will transmit a copy of this letter to Mr. Julyan, and one to Mr. Sargeaunt, as there is not time to forward them from here before the closing of the mail." The nominees in the warrant thereupon wrote to the A. B. C. Bank a letter, of which the following is a copy : — " Sir, —We enclose for your information copy of an Act passed by tho General Assembly of New Zealand, to amend the Public Revenues Acts of that colony, and also a copy of a warrant, under the hand of tho Governor, appointing Messrs. Featherston, Julyan, and Sargeaunt to be Agents in London for the purposes specified in the 16th and following sections of the Act. " To enable us to comply with the provisions of this Act, we have to request that you will, on the 31st instant, open a new account called the 'New Zealand Public Account,' and that you will transfer to that account whatever balance may then be standing to the credit of the ' Public Works Account ' and to the ' Defence and Other Purposes Account,' together with all interest accrued thereon. " Under instructions you will receive from the Crown Agents for the Colonies and from the AgentGeneral for New Zealand respectively, further sums will be paid in on the same date to the credit of the ' New Zealand Public Account,' and thenceforward that account will be operated upon only by the gentlemen named in the warrant, or by any two of them. " We have further to request that you will, in compliance with the requirements of section 18 of ' The Public Revenues Act, 1872,' transmit to the Commissioners of Audit in New Zealand monthly, commencing with the month of April next, a Bank sheet showing the totals of the debit and credit sides of the ' New Zealand Public Account' for the preceding month, and the balance brought and carried forward respectively. " The directions contained in our letter of yesterday for the transfer, at the expiration often days, of £20,000 to the account of the Agent-General for New Zealand, will still hold good, only that the transfer will necessarily be made from the ' New Zealand Public Account,' instead of from the ' Public Works Deposit Account.' " No formal appointment has been made of any Bank or Banks into which moneys of the Government in England should be paid, but all moneys have been from time to time paid to the A. B. C. Bank