§ Mr. THEOBALD (Essex, Romford)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether a system of warehouse accounts common to the Customs and Inland He venue Departments was adopted with the approval of the Treasury in 1885, and whether the Treasury then ordered that no change should take place in this system without the joint approval of the respective Revenue Boards; whether this system of book-keeping has worked satisfactorily in the Inland Revenue Department; and whether the proposed alterations, involving the abolition of warehouse ledgers and the reduction of the checks against fraud in the Customs Outdoor Department, have been submitted to the Inland Revenue Board for approval?
§ *SIR J. T. HIBBERTThe statement in the first paragraph is substantially correct, and the system of book-keeping has worked satisfactorily in the Inland Revenue Department. The changes in the Customs system were made with the full approval of the Treasury, and were notified to the Board of Inland Revenue. They were made on competent advice with the object not of reducing, but of strengthening the checks against fraud.