Star. — London, England, 1807-01-27 00:00:00

'. life and in (lore, with which a Barrack Mailer is charged in the b-oks of the office. We were furprifed to learn, that there was nn general regulation in this refpeil. Sr'metimes fpecial orders are given for that purpofe to the Affillant Barrack Maass General of the Diltri9, on the death or removal of a Barrack Mailer, or when a fulpicion has been entertained of miler - matt& ; but otherwife no examination is ever made. A Barrack Maaer, on his firfl coming to a Barrack, it mull be loppaed, will, for his own fecu rity, take fuel► an acccunt, becaufe he will be other wife charged with the whole with which his predecellrr flood charged ; and the Barrack Mailer of Croydon Hates to us, that he has himfelf taken fuch an account every half year, and has at the fame time examined into the condition of the articles in (lore. The reafon given for this omiffion, which we think a defed in the fyflem, is the trouble and great length of time which the taking of inch an examination and account, it is fuppnled, would require; but this reafon feems not to be well founded. If the A(lillant Barrack Mailer General of the Diflriel, or other perfon appointed by the Barrack Office,was furnifhA with the Barrack Mailer's Store Account, and the ankles not in ufe were regularly parcelled and arranged in the (lore zooms, we do int fee but that fuck an account and ex minatiou might he very ex- peditiontly taken, efpecially as the articles in ufe are afcertained precifely by the number of rooms, and number of men in each barrack. This taking of flock (which fhould be periodical, becaufe being forefeen it might be concluded with greater cafe) would form a more regular fecurity for the integrity of the Barrack Matters than any that is at prefent in sire. and might fon - rein:es prevent further decay in articles u hen in a perilliing (late, or by producing in earlier Pale, obtain a better price for them. There ought to be no extra expence incurred for this examination, for it fhnuld be part of the ordinary bofinefs of the Affiflant Barrack Mailers General of Diflrifts, and part of the duty for which they receive their pay. The PROVIDING of BARRACK SUPPLIES, from the time Lieutenant General HEWETT has leen Bar rack Mailer General. _ _ _ We now come to that period when the adminiftra tion of the barrack concerns was transferred from Lie utenant General 1)e Lancey to Lieutenant General Hewett. On this occafi...n the procuring of all kinds of barrack (ores was removed from the Barrack De partment to the Commiffary General. This change, with many others that took place at the fame time, made it neceffary to iffue a new Warrant for the Re. gulation of Barracks, dated on the 7th February, xBos, but until the Warrant received his Majetly's fignature, the Barrack Mailer General atted under a minute of the Treafury, which was the foundation of thy regulations afterwards contained in the War rant. By the loth and r tth articles of that treafury mi nute, dated the 6th November tBO4, it was di;thed that barrack fupplies of every defcription, as well furniture as awes, than be provided by the Com• rniffary General on the requilition of the Barrack Mafia: General, tut that the Barrack Mailers who received them fhould account for their application and expenditure, according to the regulations and forms eaablifhed by the Barrack Mailer General. The Articles in the King's Warrant, applicable to the prefent fubjeCt, are the Bth, 9th, loth, It th, and ath. By the Bth the Barrack Mailer General was direeted to tranfmit to the Treafury a lilt of fuck ar ticles as had ufually, and mutt neceirarily be provid ed in the metropolis, with a fchedule of the quantities wanted for the fervice of the current year ; and frmi• tar tequifitions were to be made at the commence ment of each enfuing year ; on the receipt of which it was Rated, that the Commifrary General would be diretled to advertife for tenders for fupplying by contra& the articles to be provided in the metropolis, and alfo for fupplying the fuel, light, and firaw, walnut at each refpeCtive Barrack. And the Barrack Mallet General was informed that there would be a covenant in the contraet to oblige the -ContraCtor to fubmit the articles provided in the metropolis to the examination of an Infpeator of barrack Mores, who was to rejeCt all loch as were not conformable to patterns furnithed by the Barrack Mailer General ; and that there would be an' ther covenant inferted in tke contra&, binding the Con• traelor to keep the articles in (tore for a per lad not exceeding one year from the examination, at his own expence and rilk, and to deliver them according to the orders of the Barrack Matter General. By the 9.h Article it was further direfted that an Intpator Ihould be appointed, who was to take cog tizance of all conirafts for the fupply of articles pro vided in the metropolis, to infpiet them, and to at tend to the delivery of them, and to keep an account of all Flores furnifhed, and of their application, for which he was to he refponfible to the Barrack Mailer General, and the Barrack Mailer General was to give him Inch further inaruCtions as he might think ne- ctifary. By the loth Article it was ditefted that all other barrack tlores, ntenfils, and, necefrariss, which had been before purchafed in the neighbourhood of the refpeftive barracks under the direfli , ,n of the Bartack Mailer General, were to be procured as before. By the t tth Article it was direfted, that the Bar rack Mailer Ihould be intlruaed to infpeft and exa mine the articles fent from the metropolis, as to their quality and quantity, and to fend duplicates of their receipts to the Barrack Office, and to account fur the expenditure according to the regulations. And by the t 2tll Article it was, latily, direfted, that when any limes, furniture, See. were reported by the Barrack Mailers to be unfit for fervice, the Bar tack Mailer General fhonld apply to the Officer com manding the troops on the (pot, to dire& a furvey of them, and for that purpofc to appoint an Officer, not below the rank of a Field Officer, and filch other as )re fhould think fir, who with another perfon, to be maimed by the Comrniffary General, were to examine the articles. If on loch examination the articles were condemned, it was dirseed that they fhculd he fold by the Commifi:try General, and that the price of them thould he by him carried to the credit of the public. We learn that, in einfequence of there new regu lations, Barrack Mailer General now makes a re quilition to the ne.ifury for the amount of the ilores arid fuppliec which he calculates may he wanted in the tour fe of the year ; that the Coramilfary General, on receiving direatuni Inm the proceeds in making the neceffary eontraels for pro ding loch artichs as are tifoally procured in the metropolis, as well as for provioing feel, light, and (haw ; and that an Infpeltor has been appointed to examine in the Con manes warehoule the articles provided in London. Thefe tall articles are not paid for by the Commit= fary General till alter they have been infpeeted by the proper Officer, and a certificate comes to him from the Barrack Office that they are conformable to pattern. The articles of fuel, tight and thaw for palliaffes, which are generally provided in the neighbourhood of the different barracks, are paid for quarterly, by bills at thirty days light, drawn on the Commiffary General by the Barrack Mailers, in favour of the Contraelors. To thee hills are annexed the Contraetor's own account, with a certificate of the Barrack Mailer, who draws the bill, that the quantities charged in the account have been received by him, and that the ar ticles are conformable to the contracts. Thefe are the vouchers on which the payment is made. For the information of the Barrack Mailers, copies of the contrads are fent to every Barrack Matter, and fuch parts of them as relate to the quality of the arti cles are printed and iluck up in every barrack. We have given in the appendix two of the forms of theft contraCts, becaufe we think them well contidered, and containing very proper provilions. It may be expected that in carrying into execution fo important a change in the fyltem of fupplying bar rack times and furniture, fome embarralfments and difappointment may at furl occur, and that a very accurate comparifon of the merits of the former and of the prefent fyilems cannot yet be made. It is intended, by the examination of the articles provided in the metropolis, that the Barrack Mailer General firould know what quantity of articles is in (tore ready for ufe, and to afcertain whether the quality of them is conformable to the Barrack Office pattern. And In far the examination and reports of the Infpeetor, fent to the Barrack Office, may anfwer the put pole of his apviatment : But there is no fe curity except the bond of the Contractor, that the quantity intpeeted fhall he forthcoming, when wanted, and that after the intpeeticn the artic,es than not be changed. The proper fecurity again t fuch inconveniences, would, no doubt, be the taking the articles into the immediate cullody of the Barrack Office ; but to this the great additional e %pence of warehoufes, and of the neceffary Officers, teems to be A fufficient objeelion. The Infpeetor endeavours to guard against a change of fome of the articles which he has examined,lbed. ding for intlance, by !tamping (lime mark on them ; but he thinks it would be of little ufe to mark the articles made of wood and iron, from the cafe with which any mark on fuch articles could be imitated. It is a further fecurity againtt a change of the arti cles of bedding, that prefently after the examination the Infpeelor fen is them off to the packer to be packed. And with regard to the other articles provided in town, if the Infpeetor is attentive in putting his fe.tl on fome one of each kind fent to the dif ferent Barracks, and the Barrack Mailers are arid in comparing the others of the kind with fuch Pealed pattern (which are timed to be parts of the fyflem) it will afford a reafonable fatisfaetion, that articles of inferior quality at Iva have not been tub• filmed for thofe which were examined and approv ed by the Infpeetor ; and it is more probable, that the articles at prefent ofcd in the Barrack's will be all of fimilar quality, than they were when Mr Davifon fupplied them on commiffion, at which time there was very feldom any previous infpeerion of the arti cles in tows, as it was left to the judgment of the refpeEtive Barrack Mailers to report their fitnefs for the fervice. In refpeet of receiving at the Barracks the Rores provided in town, andoi charging the Barrack Ma flers with them, it appears that no Ilores, &c. are lent from town, but by the orders of the Barrack Office, and that on receiving them the Barrack Mailers ac. knowledge their receipt to the Contraftor and to the Barrack Office; it may be prelumed, therefore, that filch Mores are not fent to the different Barracks till it ia judged by the Office that they are wanted, and that the Barrack Malterb are charged with them in due time. But in the fupply of Fuel, Light, and Straw, for Palliaifes,we learn that thereareno fpecial requilitions mole to the Commilfary General from the Barrack Office, in confequence of applications from the Barrack Mattersof their wat trig fuc'i articles,but thole are pro cured from the Contra&ors by the different Barrack Matters at their own difercion, regulated indeed in refpeet to Coals and Candles by thenotice given them from the Barrack Office of the quantities allotted to their Barracks for the year, and by their being in. ilrufted to have 6 months confumption of Coals on hand on the tft November in each year. It is Bated, that the Barrack Mailers fhould, im. mediately on receiving thefe hit articles, make their report to the Barrack Office of the quality and quan tity, in the fame manner as they do of th fent from London, but that no regifler is kept of filch returns in the Office, and it is thought fuch a regiller would be of no tile. It appears to us however, that thofe returns would be fully fufficient in charge the Barrack Mailers with the quantities fpecified in them, although they may not afcertain the quantities aClually delivered at the Barracks by the Contractors. There, no doubt, would be heft afcertained by the Certificates and Accounts annexed to the Bills drawn by the Barrack Mailers on the Commiffary General, which we have before noti , ...ed, but tt.ofe mull remain with the Commiffary General, as vouchers for his payments. It was intended, we learn, from the examinations of the late Commiffary General, and of his chief managing Clerk for the fupply of Barracks, Mr. Ed ward Saunders, that accounts of thefe papers fhould be fent to the Barrack Office as foon after every quar ter as the bills drawn in the quarter had come in— bot at the latter end of the Taft year, when Mr. Saun ders was examined, no filch account had been fent to the Barrack Office, and we find, from an infpec tion of the accounts, that none were fent till the 14th February left. Others have been line received, ttat. ing the payments made for Coals and Candles be. twcen rit January 1806, and a4th March IEIO6, and fry Straw between the ift January and 3otli April left—bet thole are for deliveries of articles made in the lilt year, lonic of which were as far back as April aBoj. Till thefe aeenuals, therefore, were feat, the Bar rack Officer had no other means of afccrtaining the quantities of Fuel, Light, and Straw, received by the Barrack Mailers in the tall year, than their re turns, which it was thought ufelefs to regider. To obviate this difficulty in checking the ?attack Mailer's Store Account, a circular letter was fent to them from the Barrack Office, on the 13th of June 1806, directing them to call upon the Cuntraaors on the 24th June and 24th December in each year, , for a Ratement, ligned by them, of the grofs quan tity of Coals, Candles, acd Straw, delivered in the preceding half year to the refpeelive Barracks, with a Certificate annexed, that it is the whole quantity delivered within the half year which the Contraaors mean to demand payment for, and the Barrack Ma ilers are required to withhold payment till fuck a ter• tified Ratement is given to them. There will pro`iably be fume difficulty it enforcing, a aria adherence to thefe direaions, for they im pofe on the Contratior a condition not contained in the contraas made with them, and it may be alto ob. ferved, that the Barrack Office will have no previous notice of the wants of the Barrack Matters, and that till thefe half yearly ftatements of the Contraltors come in, it will not have the means which are thought fufficient to charge the Barrack Mailers with the quantities received. The objet may be better ob i tained perhaps if the courfe was neatly the fame as is followed in the fupply of articles fent from the me tropolis ; we would recommend, therefore, that the Barrack Matters be diretled to apply to the Office, when they want any ofthe articles of Fuel or Light, aad notice being then given to the CommilTary Ge neral of the quantity which it is thought fit should be fupplied to the refpalive Barracks, that orders to the Contraaors Ihould are from the Commitfary Gene ral, to furnith the fupply required—and further that the Barrack Mallets be enjoined to fend to the Bar rack Office a receipt in duplicate, as fuon as the ar ticles have been received, and have been examined by them—the other receipt being fent to the Com many General, would be the voucher on which he I might with fafety make his payments to the Con. traaors. We have fpecified in this recommendation the ar tides of Fue! and Light only, becaufe it would be in. convcnient, we underhand, from the want of proper places for depofiting Straw in many of the Barracks, and from the injury which it might receive, that a (tore of this article fhould be provided—in refpect to the fuppiy of this article, therefore, we recom mend that it be ordered from the Contradors by the Barrack Makers as it has hitherto been, but that the Contradors fhould make out two half yearly =or- nts figned by thcmfelves, to be delivered to the Barrack Mailers, one of which, certified by the Barrack Ma iler, thluld be annexed to the bill drawn on the Com miffary General, and the other, certified, in the fame manner, lhould be fent to the Barrack Office. Should this plan, or Tome other fimilar to it. be adopted, it will be neceifart to make a fmall altera tion in the Contrails for Fuel and Light, by leaving out the words by which the Contraaors engage to deliver thole articles on notice from the Barrack Ma llers—and in the Contrail for Straw, by reigniting two accounts from the Contradors, and in covenant ing for half yearly intlead of quarterly payments. The lanes to the troops in Barracks are under the fame regulations now as they were under the late Barrack Mailer General, and the mode of checking thofe Mies is the fame ; bur, as a further check, the prefent Barrack Matter General, in July 1805, di rated that the Barrack Matters and others having accounts with the office, thould, at the foot of their half yearly accounts, annex an affidavit made before a Magiflrate, declaring that the parties have not received any advantage whatever from the purchafe or due of any articles, and that the feveral turns of money charged in the account have been aatially paid, without any &dation, to the perfons dated to have received the fame. We have been particular in our enquiries whether under the prcfent fyllim the public is benefited either direelly in the price of the articles fupplied, or indi rally by the diminution of the expence of the ma nagement of this hr auch of the Barrack expenditure. But, owing to the recentnefs of the adoption of the fyflem, we have not been able to coiled evidence fuf ficient, on which to give a decided opinion. Li ap pears that fome inconvenience was (attained in the lall year, owing to articles being wanted in the inter val between Mr. Davrfon's ceafing to fupply them and the time when the contraelors made their firft deli- very, and alto to one of the contraftors failing in his engagement. The Barrack Mafler of Croydon has told us, that articles from London appear to be of equal quality with thofe fupplied under the old fyflem ; and Lieu tenant Colonel Frederick Pays, that in general he be lieves the prices paid by the Commiffary General are lower than thofe ufed to be paid by the Barrack office. Looking no further therefore into the circumflances of the prefent fyflem, than into that of the (applies provided in the metropolis, it might be fairly con cluded, that the change will be advantageous to the public. But there are other very material conlidera tions to be attended to, betides thole of the quality of the articles, and of the price paid for them ; contingent expences, including the ellablifbment and expence of management, the requifite attention to the whole concern, and the different opportunities for fraud and impofition in both fyffems, fhould be confi. dered before a comparative opinion on their refpec tive merits can be formed. The contingent expences of the former fyflem, in cluding the management, make i tems i n Mr.Daviem's bills. They comprize his per centagc of two and a half per cent. amounting on an average to 0 o per Ann Warehoufe, Infuranee, Clerks, Porters, Stamps, making a charge per annum of above rto o o Both together being upwards of per ann. a„sto o o The contingent expence of the prefent fyflem, including the eilablithment, are, An larpeetor at tss per diem £ 273 15 0 Oac Clerk in Comminry General's Office at IC'. per diem az to o And two others at ss. each as to o Makirg the whole menet& 638 15 o per ikon. A ftving therefore atifes to the public, on this head alone of about 1,5001. per annum; and the calcula- tion of the prefent expense includes the fvpply of coals, which the other does not. But the advantages would probably appear of much greater moment, ;r ire take.into the account the np. portunities offered for fraud and impofiti tn, and the labour and attention necelTary to guard the public intereft when articles are ptocured by agency, an d the Prices are to be afcertained by certificates. In this cafe, the enquiries ought to be wh e th er the Perfons certifying are refpedable in their lines of life, and tare acquainted with the fubje° matter of the certificate ; whether the article therein defcribed correfponds exattly with the article fuonifhed (fa ro in the large . purchafes of the Barrack Office, ev en a (*mall variation in the quality would have produced a confiderable over payment) ; and, laftly, whatever might be the price certified of an article on a patti. cular day, the enquiry (hould be, whether it may not have been canted by peculiar circumftances, fuch as the contrivance of the agent himfcif, who, if his deal. inge were extenfive, might often have it in his pow er to regulate the price on particular days. Thefe enquirie euld, no doubt, call far much attention, and we certainly not made under the for. mer fyftem : on the contrary, when articles are fup plied under a smell conlidered contra°, the price be. ing fixed, the only neceffary enquiry Is to afcettaitt that the articles fupplied a: e contormable to patterns, It was to he prelumed that this change in the fyf. tem of providing fupplies would 'Live much dimi nilhed the labours of the Barrack Office, and that confequently fame diminution was to be hoped for in its eftablifhment ; but Lieutenant Colonel Fre. derick tells us, in his examination, that inliis branch of the Office, which relates to the management of the fupplies and limes, the Wind's is increafed in confequence of the altezatian. Ile aduaits, however, that this was chiefly owing to the inconvenience of the interval and failure before defcribed. Yet he thinks even if fuel' an ire •nvenience (hould not again occur, that all the perfons in his department will be ftill fully occupied ; and Mr. Stanbank, the late ac countant of the Barrack Office, in whole department a diminution of labour from the change was chiefly to be expeEted, did not find that it was diminifhed during his time ; and he does not think even when the fyfiem (hall be eftablifhed, that any diminution in that department will take place but in a (mall de gree. On the whole, our prefent view of this fyflem of providing Barrack Stores, inclines us to think that it ought to be continued. It holds out, among other advantages, the means of checking the original or ders for providing the flues, of obtaining them on the moll economical terms, and of the management of the fupply being carried on at a lets expenfe than it ufed to be ; and it relieves the Barrack Mailer General of much labour and refponfibility ; a mat ter of no fmall importance, where the remaining duties of his office are fo various and extenfive. It still be requifite, however, that the checks en the Contra&ors, and on the Barrack Mailers, which are at prefent in ufe, or which we have recommend. ed, fhould be aridly and vigilantly enforced. We think, moreover, that it fhould be conlidered whether the appointment of a perfon folely for the purpofe of infpeeing the Stores is neceiTary, as it Teems that this duty might be excuted by Come one of the ordinary Officers of the Efiablifhment, with little or no additional expence. And, lafily, we recommend that Patterns of all the Articles furnifbed, Pealed by the Barrack Matter General, be depollted in all the Barracks, for the ef pecial ufe of the Officers who (hall from time to time command in eachsßarrack. This would enable them to compare the articles in ufe with the patterns, and operate as a check on the Ear rack Matters, that the articles iffued by them are equal in quality at leaft to thole which ought to have been received by them. (Signed) • H. OAKES. (Ls.) J. DR INKWATER. s.) SAM. C. COX. 5) Office of Military Enquiry, GILES TEMPLEMAN. (L. s ) No. 17, Buckingham-Esser., HENRY PETERS. (c. 6.) Adelphi. CHA. BOSANIVET. s) 24th July tBO6. B. C. STEPHENSON . s.) The Ticket No. 19,65 c, drawn "ye(lerday a Prim of 1,c;)ol. was fold by SWIFT and Co. No. /T, Paul. try, and No. rz, Charing Crofs, by whom alfo No. 21,295, dawn the Fira Day a Prize of ro,oool. was fold in a wholelricket to a gentleman who afterwards divided it into Shares. The Ticket No. 23,815, as Firft Drawn yefterday, entitled to Ten Thoufand Pounds, was fold at Meffrs. HAZARD,BURNII s and Co.'s Office, Royal Exchange, in one Fourth, one Eighth, and ten Sixteenth Shares. f r o• 2 4,49 0, the Firit Drawn Ticket in the prefent Lottery, entitled to 20,0201. and No. 846, drawn on the 22d infant a Prize of 5,0001. were alto fold in Shares at the above Office. Tickets and Shares con tinue on tale, warranted 'indrawn. The Firer! Drawn on Wednefday, 4th Febi nary, will be entided to 30,0001. IN profeifing myfelf a regulArly educated MEM. ber of the ROYAL COLLEGE of SURGEONS in LON- DON, I think it incumbent on me to fignify, that my Diplotm from the College of Surgeons, as well as Certificates from the Holpitals, and, various Profeffors under whom 1 Rudiod Phyfir, Surgery, and Midwifery, have been for years placed in one of my Parlours, open to the infpedtion of any one who happens to be there, or is deftrous of filch examination. THlRTtarr YZARS I have refigned all other Pra&lce. for the Study and Treatment of Vexr<&lAL Cora rt..tt es and Deal car —but it was not till I had experience as an Army Surgeon and Ge• neral Practitioner, that I thought myfelf juftified in the ScPdiaa of this peculiar branch. The concentrated force of the human irtelled, when diredcd to a particular point, mull acquire lupe riority within the circle of its own adion,and a long continued fur. cell', is a decided proof, that my efforts have not been leis beae• ficial to others than advantageous to myfelf. The diftrefs and the mifery which arifc from a certain deftrue• tive habit, fo pernicious to fchoolboys, have been frequently pour trayed by the moralifts of the age. But it Is the duty of everl Practitioner, when called upon, to relieve fuck fufferiag• by Medi. cal Aififtance ; and it is the acquirement of my exclufive cape. rience in this line to offer in every fuch cafe a fak and certain re , eltabliihment. In flight cafes of deficiency produced by free living, refidence iA warm Climates. or toe much indulgence of feduetive Paißoos, sad in all recent Venereal Complaints, early application infares i:s im mediate cure. But in the moit complicated Cafesof Dill' LITT accompanied by fever or Diforders of the fyllem ariflng f ro m ne• gleeted infeEtion; Come perfeverance is Indifpenfably requilite for the rc-animation of the Conititution and reftorction to health and vigour. —In all cake with either fez, the molt inviolable fecrecy oblerved, and the terms of remuneration are plainly Rated on the firtt interview. MARTIN BREE, Membsr of tite Royal College of Surgeons in T.oodoes No. 'ay, Arendsl-ftreet, Strand, near Temple Bar. Tbere is an additional entrance in Water-ftreet adjoining.--M 1 letters from town or country. arc expected to contain a batik Deo' LONDON : Printed and publithed by LEVPL d KiNT, (of Co. terbury Place, latettletA),at the STAR OTRICR, Na r, Coq' Publiihot alio a the Brim Ovens, Templailk