duties at once, subject to return if the legislature alters them in their passage through the houses.1 So much for the way in which revenue and expenditure are voted. Now we must consider how they are actually collected and distributed. When the office of Auditor-General was abolished in the year 1857, a new system under the control of Commissioners was introduced.2 The new scheme was itself remodelled in 1859, but the Commissioners were continued, and in outline the scheme is now as follows. The Commissioners of Audit, whose salaries are permanently charged upon the revenue, are appointed by the Governor in Council, and cannot be removed except upon Addresses of both Houses in the same session, or of the Legislative Assembly in two successive sessions. They may, however, be temporarily suspended by the governor in council.5 They cannot be members of parliament or of the Executive Council. 4 Monies payable to the Consolidated Fund' are in the first instance received by "Collectors of Imposts" stationed at various places throughout the colony, and by them paid over to "Receivers of Revenue" in such places as the Governor in Council shall direct, and at such intervals as may be prescribed by the Treasurer.9 The Collector, in handing over the monies to the Receiver, furnishes him with a detailed statement of the items of which they are composed, and sends each month a return of his receipts to the Commissioners of Audit.10 The Receiver discharges the Collectors of their payment, pays the amounts daily into a bank to the credit of "The Public Account," and forwards daily statements of the sums so paid in, together with duplicate banker's receipts, to the Treasurer." Sums received by public officials for private persons are similarly paid into the bank, the interest accrues to the Consoli 1 For evidence as to the process above detailed, cf. 53 Vic. Nos. 1012, 1018, 1019, 1043, and 1053; V. and P. (L. A.), 1889, pp. 41, 59, 81, 83, 125, 128-156, 184, 187-205, 210, 213, 217-225, 226-229, 230, 233, 236-279, 281, 283, 285, 291, 294, 326-339, 342, etc.; Hansard, vols. Ix.-lxii. sub titt. "Supply," Means," etc. 2 21 Vic. No. 24. 5 § 8. 4 Audit Act 1890, §§ 6-8. 7 It will be remembered that by the are to be paid into a Consolidated Fund. 8 Audit Act 1890, § 13. 10 Audit Act 1890, §§ 16, 21. 99 66 "Ways and $ 22 Vic. No. 86. 6 § 7. Constitution Act (§ 48) all incomings Cf. also Public Monies Act 1890, § 3. 9 §§ 12, 15. 11 §§ 17, 19, 20. CHAP. XXXI EXPENDITURE OF PUBLIC MONIES 283 dated Fund, and, if the sums are not claimed for three months, they are paid into a "Trust Fund" account kept in the Treasury. After six further years' non-claim, provided that the persons entitled are not under disability, the sums become part of the Consolidated Revenue.2 The expenditure of public monies is effected through "Paymasters" in the following way. The Treasurer estimates the amount which will be payable out of each local account during the ensuing month, and prepares a warrant in official form which he signs and transmits to the Commissioners of Audit.3 The latter examine the warrant, to see that the monies upon which it proposes to draw are "legally available" for the purposes to which it is proposed to devote them, and, if it is satisfactory, two of them countersign and return it to the treasurer, who submits it for the signature of the Governor.4 Upon securing this final attestation, the warrant is filed in the Treasury, and becomes the official authority for the payment of the money.5 The Treasurer, by order in writing, directs that the cheques of certain Paymasters named shall be honoured at any bank at which the Public Account is kept, but even this document must be countersigned by a Commissioner of Audit before the bank is entitled to act upon it. The Paymaster, finally, must only pay such claims as are transmitted to him by the Treasurer.7 In making this distribution of public monies, the executive is only entitled to depart to a very limited extent from the appropriation made by the legislature. It may make up the deficiency in any one item in a "subdivision of the annual supplies" by transferring to it any surplus from another item in the same subdivision, provided that the subdivision is not expressly stated to be "inalterable." But such alteration can only be effected by Order, not by warrant, and may not be employed to increase any salary or wages fixed by law. And the sums appropriated can only be expended within the financial year for which the appropriation was made.10 Further precautions are taken, by provisions which compel bankers with whom public monies are deposited to send 8 I.e. (presumably) in the Schedule to the Appropriation Act. 9 Audit Act 1890, § 32. 10 10 § 33. daily, to the Commissioners of Audit and Treasurer respectively, a statement, known as "The Bank Sheet," showing the position of the Public Account at the bank, and which direct the Treasurer to forward daily to the Commissioners of Audit a "Cash Sheet" showing the amounts of the statements, accounts, and receipts forwarded to him by the Receivers and Paymasters.2 From all these documents the Treasurer prepares a quarterly statement of receipts and expenditure, which is published in the Government Gazette, and an annual statement of the Consolidated and Trust funds, which, when audited by the Commissioners, is transmitted to the Legislative Assembly. Of late years it has become the custom for the Premier of the colony to occupy the office of Treasurer. 3. THE capacities. ATTORNEY-GENERAL acts in several distinct a. As Legal Representative of the Crown, he conducts all process in which the Crown appears as a party. A striking example of this capacity is to be found in § 388 of the Crimes Act 1890, which authorises the Attorney-General to make presentment of any person for any indictable offence, and in the 391st section of the same statute, which empowers him, in the case of any person imprisoned under committal for trial on a charge of felony or misdemeanour, to grant a certificate of nolle prosequi addressed to a judge or the judges of the Supreme Court, whereupon the prisoner's immediate release must be ordered. b. As Legal Adviser of the Government, the Attorney-General is bound to furnish, when called upon by the Governor, a written opinion with regard to any legal question which may arise in the conduct of the executive, such as, for example, whether the provisions of a certain statute have been complied with by a government department, whether a certain contemplated course is constitutional, or whether certain alleged offenders have brought themselves within the limits of the law. In the difficult and important matter of death sentences, it would seem that it is the function of the attorney-general to request the judge who tried the case to forward his notes of the trial to the executive, and to advise the Government upon the course to be adopted. Information as to the actual conduct of the trial is furnished by the judge, while the final decision on the matter rests with the Governor, and is communicated to the judge by the Chief Secretary.4 c. As Administrator of the Legal Department, the Attorney-General is the head of the legal staff of the Government. Under his 1 Audit Act 1890, § 34. 2 § 35. 3 §§ 48-52. The position of the Governor, with regard to death-sentences, cannot, however, be said to be free from doubt. CHAP. XXXI COMMISSIONER OF CROWN LANDS 285 supervision are the Crown Solicitor, and the Public Prosecutors, the various officials of the Land Transfer Office, and the sheriffs. The publication of official legal documents is also in his charge, and he is deemed accountable to Parliament for the working of the legal machinery of the state. d. As Adjudicator, the Attorney-General also acts in certain special cases, as, for example, in the case of disputes between the Postmaster-General, and any depositor in the Post-Office Savings Bank, and where, under the Insolvency Act 1890, he orders payment of the costs of a trustee or assignee out of the "Insolvency Suitors' Fund." 2 In these cases he appears to act rather as a judicial than an executive official. In 4. THE COMMISSIONER OF CROWN LANDS AND SURVEY, who has succeeded to the old office of Surveyor-General, and who takes over the duties of that office. To him belongs in effect the administration of the unalienated lands of the Crown. his duties are included the survey, sale, and management of the public domain, and the carrying out of the legislation enacted with respect to it. We have seen that, in the early days of the colony, no subject was more sure to excite public interest than the matter of Crown lands. All alike were interested in their distribution, and the desire to obtain complete control over them was one of the strongest elements in local feeling. It becomes almost essential therefore to notice, in outline, the developement of the policy of Responsible Government on the subject. In the year 1857 the functions of both the SurveyorGeneral and the Commissioner of Public Works were transferred to the new department of the Board of Land and Works created by statute. The Board was to consist of not less than three nor more than five members, of whom one, the "President of the Board of Land and Works," was to be a Responsible Minister, but all the others were to be permanent officials, incapable of sitting in Parliament.5 To this body were also transferred the functions of the Central Road Board. The object of this scheme was, clearly, to abolish the offices of Surveyor-General and Commissioner of Public Works, and to place the whole administration of Crown lands, together with the creation and 1 Post Office Act 1890, § 84. 2 Insolvency Act, § 127. 3 The post of Surveyor-General has been reconstituted as a non-political office. 4 21 Vic. No. 31. 5 § 1. By the 21 Vic. c. 58 provision was made for the appointment of a Vice-President. 6 § 6. management of public works, in the hands of a single Responsible minister, the President of the Board of Land and Works.1 But this part of the plan seems to have fallen through very quickly. The Surveyor-General reappeared as the Commissioner of Crown Lands and Survey in December 1858, simultaneously with the reappearance of the Commissioner of Public Works.2 The office of President of the Board of Land and Works was undertaken by the Commissioner of Crown Lands and Survey, a practice which has since been usually followed. In the year 3 1862, after the creation of the new office of Commissioner of Railways and Roads, the Governor in Council was empowered to appoint one or two Responsible Ministers to be vice-presidents of the Board, and the practice was for some time to confer the vice-presidencies on the Commissioner of Public Works and the Minister of Railways. But latterly they have been held as unsalaried offices by members of the Cabinet holding no other posts. Meanwhile, the policy with respect to the alienation of Crown lands had been embodied in a statute of the year 1860, which has been completely remodelled on three later occasions. The Act of 1860, after providing for special reserves of lands for public purposes, and also of water frontage and mineral lands, divides the saleable Crown lands of the colony into two great classes of "country" and "special" lands. The former are thrown open to sale by selection, after Government survey, in "allotments" of from 80 to 640 acres, each being divided into two equal " subdivisions." For these subdivisions private applications may be received, accompanied by a deposit. of £1 an acre, and if before a fixed day there is only one applicant for an allotment, he is to be deemed the purchaser of it in fee-simple at his deposit price of £1 an acre. If there are more applicants than one, the subdivision is put up to auction, but only the applicants are allowed to bid. The successful bidder is to be allowed to purchase the other subdivision of his allotment at the same price as he pays for the first, or to rent it, at his option, at the rate of one shilling an acre, for a term specified in the proclamation throwing the land open for selection. for selection. A lessee is to have no compensation 1 This was the practice adopted in the Haines Ministry of 1857-8. 2 G. G., 21st Dec. 1858. 325 Vic. No. 62, § 5, continued by 29 Vic. No. 289, § 6. |