By Qutubuddin Aziz The Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, who assumed the reins of office as the first Governor General of Pakistan, on August 14, 1947, exercised the utmost economy in authorising government spending on his high office as Governor General and his own person. He kept a strict watch on the official expenditure on the Governor General's House in Karachi and his person. Having refused to accept the high salary to which he was entitled as the Governor General, the Quaid-i-Azam shunned the huge expenditure in vogue in India and other Commonwealth countries on the gubernatorial establishment and personally examined every month the items of expenditure on the staff, services and utilities of the Governor General's House in Karachi. He instructed the staff to show care and economy in the consumption of electricity and piped water in the household. The Governor General was fully aware of the financial constraints the fledgling State of Pakistan was at that time suffering