Page:The constitution of Japan - with the laws pertaining thereto, and the imperial oath and speech. Promulgated at the Imperial palace, February 11th, 1889 (IA cu31924023459880).pdf/47

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—Taxes and other revenues shall be raised in accordance with provisions of laws and ordinances.

Taxes and other revenues shall not be levied except by officials qualified therefor by law or ordinance.

—The amount appropriated for the expenses of the Government for each financial year, shall be defrayed out of the revenues of the same financial year.

—The Ministers of State shall not apply the appropriations for any object other than that prescribed in the budget; nor are they permitted to interchange the amounts of appropriation in each Paragraph one for the other.

The Ministers of State shall hand over to the Treasury all receipts under their control, and shall not make use of them directly.

—The Ministers of State shall draw order of payment upon the Treasury, in order to defray the expenses appertaining to their respective administrations.

The power to issue order of payment, however, may be delegated to other functionaries in accordance with rules specially provided for.

—The Treasury shall not make payment on such orders as are contrary to the provisions of laws and ordinances.

—The Minister of State shall not issue order of payment, except in favour of a legitimate creditor of the Government or his agent.

For the expenses enumerated here below, the Ministers of State may, however, issue order of advance payment to competent officials or to banks specially assigned by the Government.

"1. Payment on the principal and interest of national debts.

2. Expenses of troops and fleets, and Government vessels.

3. Expenses of Government Offices abroad.

4. All expenses to be paid in foreign countries, besides those mentioned in the preceding clause.

5. Expenses to be paid in those districts in the interior, where the means of transportation and communication are incomplete.

6. Those miscellaneous ordinary expenses in the different Government Offices, of which the whole annual amount is below five hundred yen.

7. Expenses of Offices, the situation of which cannot be settled in one place.

8. Expenses of works carried out under direct supervision of the different Government Offices, provided such expenses do not exceed three thousand yen for each superintending official."