No. 27

I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your Despatch No.
32 of the 4th of June in which you enquire whether the practice of not
sending home the public accounts for audit in this Country has been
sanctioned by the Secretary of State.

In reply I have to acquaint you that the accounts of the General
Revenue in a Colony possessing Representative Institutions, like
Vancouver Island, are not subjected to Audit in this Country, but that
the Crown Revenue, that is to say, the monies derived from the disposal
of lands, and other sources not under the control of the Assembly ought
to have been so audited.

In case therefore it should appear probable that the Assembly will
not take over the Crown Revenue on the terms offered by the Duke of
Newcastle, steps should be at once taken for placing this Audit
upon a proper footing prospectively: submitting annual statements
of Estimates and Accounts similar to those furnished in Crown Colonies,
as provided by the 10 Chap: Sec. II of the Colonial Regulations.

In any case, however, a statement of the past Receipts and
Expenditure of the Crown fund should be compiled and sent to the
Secretary of State.