The Short Title of this Act shall be “The Public Revenues Act 1869” and the Act shall be read and construed as part of “The Public Revenues Act 1867” hereinafter referred to as “the said Act.”

For the purposes of the eighteenth section of the said Act the period during which any moneys payable under the said Act into the Public Trust Fund shall have remained unclaimed in the Colonial Treasury before the coming into operation of the said Act shall be counted as if such Public Trust Fund had existed during such period and such moneys had during such period been paid into such Fund and had remained there unclaimed.

It shall be the duty of the Colonial Treasurer and also of the Controller to lay a copy of every Order in Council under the authority of which any Deficiency Bill or Bills shall under the provisions contained in the said Act have been signed or countersigned by such Treasurer or Controller as the case may be during any financial year or period before each House of the General Assembly within ten days after the commencement of the Session thereof next ensuing such signature or countersignature and it shall also be the duty of the Colonial Treasurer to lay a copy of every such Supplementary Requisition and Order in Council as is referred to in the twenty-ninth section of the said Act before each House of the General Assembly within ten days after the commencement of the Session thereof next ensuing the transmission thereof to the Controller.

Whenever it shall appear to the Colonial Treasurer expedient that the whole or any part of the securities in which moneys forming part of the Public Trust Fund have been invested should be realized it shall be lawful for the Colonial Treasurer from time to time to direct the Controller to realize and convert into money such or so much of the said investments as the Colonial Treasurer may think ought to be realized and upon receiving such direction certified under the hand of the Colonial Treasurer the Controller shall realize and convert into money so much of the said securities as he shall be directed and shall forthwith thereafter pay the proceeds into the Public Account and such proceeds shall then be placed to the credit of the Public Trust Fund Provided that so much of such proceeds as shall be received as interest on any investment of any moneys not being an investment of moneys paid in under “The Post Office Savings Banks Act 1867” or “The Government Annuities Act 1869” shall be placed to the credit of the Consolidated Fund.

So much of the forty-second section of the said Act as provides that if any engagements for the payment of money shall have been entered into under the authority of any Appropriation Act which shall not have been completed within the year or other period for which such appropriations shall have been made the outstanding liabilities thereon shall be included in the estimated expenditure for the following year under the head of “Outstanding Liabilities” and shall be charged against and paid out of the Public Account for such following year is hereby repealed and the said Act generally and more particularly the forty-second and the forty-ninth sections of the said Act shall be read and construed subject to the provisions contained in the following sections of this Act.

The Colonial Treasurer may from time to time bring to account any moneys issued as imprests to any Paymaster or Sub-Paymaster within the Colony or to any Agent or Agents beyond the Colony for the purpose of making any payments authorized by law and if at the expiration of any financial year or other period any Paymaster or Sub-Paymaster shall have failed to pay into the Public Account any balances of such imprests then in his hands or if any of such balances shall not at the expiration of such period have been accounted for as expended the Colonial Treasurer is hereby required to bring to account such balances as if expended on the services for which such imprests were issued to such Paymaster or Sub-Paymaster.

At the end of every financial year or period the Colonial Treasurer shall from returns to be forwarded to him from the several Departments of the Public Service estimate the outstanding liabilities on account of any services rendered or work performed during such year or period and shall carry to the credit of an account to be kept in the Treasury as a Reserve Account for such year so much of the Revenue authorized by law to be applied to such services and then unapplied as shall be sufficient to discharge such liabilities and shall place to the debit of such account the outstanding liabilities so estimated as aforesaid and in such account the sums applicable to each of the several liabilities shall be shown and kept in such account separately from each other and the Colonial Treasurer shall within ten days after the commencement of the Session of the General Assembly next ensuing the end of the financial year for which such Reserve Account shall be made lay a full statement of such Reserve Account before each House of the General Assembly showing the several amounts placed to the credit of such Account and each item of the liabilities placed to the debit of such account with such explanations as the circumstances of each case may seem to require.

Out of the moneys at the credit of the Reserve Account there may be issued and paid at any time after but not before such statement as aforesaid shall have been laid before each House of the General Assembly the several amounts therein contained for the several services mentioned therein but as to such or so much of such of the said outstanding liabilities as shall not be provided for in such Reserve Account it shall not be lawful to satisfy such liabilities out of any fresh appropriations unless such appropriations are specifically made for the discharge of such liabilities and are stated in the Act making such appropriations to be for past services.

So much of the several sums at the credit of such Reserve Account as ceases to be required for the payment of the past liabilities for which such sums are respectively applicable and so much of the said several sums as shall not be issued and applied during the year following the year for which such Reserve Account was created shall be returned to revenue and shall not be issued or applied without further appropriation by Parliament and every year a statement showing all payments from such Reserve Account during the previous year by the Colonial Treasurer shall be laid before each House of the General Assembly within thirty days of the expiration of the financial year or if the General Assembly be not then in session within ten days after the next Session thereof.