Page:The European Concert in the Eastern Question.djvu/164

 the revenues specially devoted to the payment of the debt, are revenues to be in future charged to pay them into the Central Treasury or to keep them at the disposal of the Intendants of Public Expenditure ('Ordonnateurs des Depenses de l'État'). The Intendants of Public Expenditure are, by virtue of the present Decree, bound to pay these revenues on account of the State Treasury into the Special Treasury of the Public Debt, which will be considered in this respect as a special Treasury. These officials, treasuries, and administrations can only procure a valid discharge by means of the vouchers which will be delivered to them by the said 'Caisse' of the Public Debt. Any other order or voucher will not be valid. The same officials, treasuries, or administrations will every month send to the Minister of Finance a statement of the receipts or collections made by themselves directly or paid in by the receivers of the revenues specially assigned to the debt and the payments made into the Special Treasury of the Public Debt. The Minister of Finance will communicate these statements to the Administration of the Caisse of the Public Debt.

The Caisse of the Public Debt shall receive from the Daïra Sanieh the entire sum necessary for the interest and redemption of the amount of its unified Debt. It shall likewise receive the funds for the yearly payment due to the English Government, and representing the interest on the Suez Canal shares.

III. If the payments of the revenue assigned to the debt be insufficient to meet the half-yearly charges, the special Public Debt Department will demand from the Treasury, through the intermediary of the Minister of Finance, the sum required to complete the half-yearly payments ; the Treasury will have to deliver this sum a fortnight before the payments are due. If the funds in hand constitute a surplus over the amount necessary for the payment of the interest and the sinking fund, the special Treasury of the Public Debt will pay this surplus at the end of each year to the general Treasury of the Exchequer. The Treasury of the Public Debt will submit its accounts, which will be examined and reported upon according to law.