THE CONFUSION OF 1852, 1853, 1854 383 



ting his views to the Council, he determined to secure the best advice 

 obtainable on the position from specialists in finance. The state- 

 ments submitted by the Audit Office, though sufficiently startling, 

 were inconclusive and occasionally unintelligible. To evolve a 

 lucid balance-sheet out of the financial chaos, to detect suspected 

 malversation, and to devise measures for a more effectual control 

 of the public funds, Sir Charles appointed Mr. W. Hamilton Hart, 

 an ex-superintendent of the Bank of Australasia, Mr. D. C. 

 McArthur, the Melbourne manager of that bank, and Mr. Edward 

 Grimes, the Auditor-General, as a special Committee of Finance 

 and eagerly awaited their report. It was not only that the expen- 

 diture was extravagant ; a large portion of it was practically uncon- 

 trolled. A most injudicious system of advances to the various 

 departments, under the title of "imprests," introduced by Mr. 

 Childers while in charge of the Audit Office, left huge sums of 

 money at the disposal of officers for indefinite periods, on the 

 understanding that vouchers for its disbursement would be forth- 

 coming when the annual accounts were made up. 



But there was no strong hand at the Treasury to resist the clamor- 

 ous demands of departmental officials, and a dozen good reasons were 

 always forthcoming why accounts could not " just then " be closed 

 to a point. Hence fresh advances were made without insisting on 

 an adjustment of the last, and by the time the Committee of Finance 

 had got a grip of the situation they found that no less a sum than 

 1,680,000 of the public funds was represented by unadjusted 

 entries between the Treasury, the departments and the creditors of 

 the Government. Without waiting to complete their report the 

 Committee promptly denounced the "imprest" system, and urged 

 its immediate abolition. The value of the advice was demonstrated 

 by the fact that after the line was drawn, and liquidation commenced 

 in earnest, a sum exceeding 280,000 was found to have absolutely 

 disappeared, and the most prolonged efforts of the Audit Office and 

 special committees of the Legislature failed utterly to account for it. 



The determined attitude of Sir Chas. Hotham in his insistence 

 upon seemly order in dealing with the public funds, and his objection 

 to revenue being recklessly anticipated, roused a bitter feeling of 

 hostility towards him amongst that section of the official and trading 



