§ MR. SEARSTo ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer what duties in the Manchester stamp office call for the services of an accountant at £550 which the chief Inland Revenue officer in the same building, at £800, is incapable of performing as part of his work; will he state what check the accountant applies to the stamp start' in Manchester which is not applied in other similar offices without 395 the presence of such official; and will he state whether the chief accountant at Somerset House, who is controller of accounts for the Inland Revenue, and, as such, is or should be independent of the charging staff, is at Manchester placed in the position of controlling his own official, and thereby doing away apparently with an independent check.
(Answered by Mr. Asquith.) I have already explained, in an Answer given to my hon. friend on the 2nd November, ߤ that the necessity for the accountant at Manchester arises from the fact that, owing to the large scale on which stamping takes place in that centre, it has not been found economical to employ "recording" presses, as at all other provincial centres. The duty is in all cases received by the collector. Where "open" presses, driven by power machinery, are employed, an independent officer is required to raise a charge against the collector for stamps impressed; where "recording" presses are used, the charge is raised by the record of the machine itself. The officer upon whom the Accountant and Comptroller General at Somerset House requires to have a check is the collector who receives the duty. In Manchester this check is exercised through the accountant, who is merely a unit of his staff stationed where the work arises.