The Sun. — London, England, 1806-05-22 00:00:00

been stfoniitted. to theM, Wetezat , made tno..vn to 'them at all. Those - Of the Hospital 'Department, Stores,.and Field Works, in particular, vcre neither ,submitted to the Comptrollers of the Artily for their, approbation, nor to the Auditors of Accounts for their examination. No less than 700,0001. had been issued annually for six years- to-one individual—Mr. Trotter, who stood in the various relations - of maim _ _ faaurer of articles- of public stores, of purveyor of these stores, of store-keeper, and of Comptroller and Auditor •of his-own Accounts. Standing in:all.theN • xclations, he had thought it,proper to malice . an addi tional charge 'of ,10 *per 'cent.* en all. the. articles he. furnished," in consideration of the ‘ extraordinary tronhle these variens 'occupations iinposed on hint .for the benefit ot the.public. It was not only this impOrtant branch of Military expenditure that had • not been Submitted to the Comptrollers Of theArMy Accounts ; but also the more important one of Bar s racks; the expenditure for which had heap the first obje& . of the attention of the Comenissiong tary Inquiry,' established .by - Parliament last year.,-- Abov,e . 9,000,0001. issued for Barracks in the last War had never been suhmitted to the _Comptrollers of Army Accounts. Thus,* while the expenditure on Hospitals 'and.Field Worlcs were never submit... ! ted to* the CoMptrollers.or Auditors; the Opendi ture in BariaCks at least may be said to' be brought to audit by the Commissioners of Military Inquiry ; but so clogged was that Commission with the mass .of business before it, that very Etas progress had yet been made by it in this part of its task. It was a matter of immediate importance to put A stop to-a* manner of issuing the Public Money so wholly in consistent ,with the, just .care and attention to the Security soa*rthicularly called for in the . present ere _veal conjuncture. The Commission of Public Ac 0c nts was defedivefrom the inability of the Cprnp trailers of the Armytagive any - attention to its duties, 244dthe inattention of these' Was, perhaps, one reason . wlhy theother CoMmissioners were less . atteniive.— Another evil arose from the internal ergareleatiOn of the office. All the accounts were referred to the in-. terior.officers,and the*ComMissioners saw nothing of them till they had undergone the,inspeOion of these 13plow thee. So'that the inestamportant, matters', su ch as required the most material care of the heads of the Commission, obtained no more tflan a_pecondary revision frOni Front the incrti . tled consulnp tion of stores - , and -the increased e_xenditure in every b!'andli of the military department, the .aCcurnalatien of the Public Accounts became so great in the. rast war, that some newN3earure was loudlyA . Called fir..' , Several attempts were made to increase the powers of the Commissioners, and the number of Clerks was increased at different times to ; but as 110 attention has been paid to the corre&ion of the defeetive principles of the,estabVshment, no effeCtual remedy was derived from this. Partial remedies were applied, ',in proportion to the accumulation, but without any considerable benefit. The Commission appointed in 101, tp inquire into the Expenditure In the West Indies; had brought to light . , a great deal of useful matter, but was unable to bring up the. accounts in such •a manner as to diminish the general press of business. From the impossi bility of- bringing up the accounts, so that . they *taDay , be audited, nothing. was done towards ..the correction or punishment of the abuses. Last year a new Commission had been appointed, which had in a great measure answered all the, purposes pro posed ; at the same time it could .not, from its con stitution, be so effedual as that which he now •was about to propose. The Commissioners were -already toaded with a weight of-accounts. -deeply in arrear. ' , e t „eel, t h e mass ot 014 accoulitS was left upon the Old Commissioners, they were as deeply involved as ever. The last Pay-office Account that had been au dited was of so old a date as 1781. Not - one had been auditedsince,•The. Navy Accounts also were in arrear: The Accounts of. Stores, which had been a large De partment ever since the American War, was equally backward so was the. Barrack Account;' the Ac counts of Foreign Subsidies, the Accounts of our Foreign Expeditions, the Ac'eounts:of the Expedition to Egypt and the Helder,: and all the Accounts of the present War, were all in the same state. One object of the Commission of 1785 was to call in the Accounts of all the insuper Accountants ; by insuper Accountants was meant, those employed when the Com Missioners themselves could not ad. But so clogged were the Com Missioners with the mass of business -before them, that it was not till 1795 that they Were able to attend either to these, Accounts ' or those of the Sub-Accountants of the Army; and even at this moment none of 'the Accounts of the in,s'uper Accomtants were examined. Even now, when this* matter was under the consideration of the. Treasury, and they were called upon merely to state the•number of Accountants', and the mere heads of the A.ccounts, three months !mkt elapsed without their compliance with the requisition. The state of . the Accounts was at present, 167,090,000 -of old Ac counts audited and ready-to be passed; 58,000,090, not. attended to.; twenty-one years Pay .ACcounts, amounting to 1.50,000,000, not 'yet delivered in ; 80,000,000 olNavy Accounts in thesamestate, mak ing a total 4450,000,000, ,a sum beyond the, whole amount of the 'National:Debt yet unaccounted for. He should have stated, that-the . 07 ) 000,000 under, examination, and the b 8,000,000 not-yet attended ea, were , taken from* the Account as it stood Ist Jan. 1805. A further accumulation must have taken place since, and this served to shew more strongly the ne cessity 6f taking wive and decidedmeasures to place this important busineSS on . a satisfaaory footinge-- , . The-House was not to be told ofthe dangers attend he, a delay of .(20 years in the examination of large Public Accounts, when .the failure on the death of ,the individual concerned may render. the Account .• inexplicable, and involve the Public in irretrieVable losses: It was not to the Government and the Coun* try alOne that an expeditious audit was important. It was often equally important to theindividual. For while the present, state of the Public Accounts was a veil and a shroud for the concealment of fraud and iniquity, -it also . hung-like a cloud over the fairlanie of the honest - and 'upright* Publib Accountant. He . -would Mention, for example, the case of a Nobleman of as high acknowledged re&itude as any who had ever been in a situation of public trust, the late Lord Ala&trtney, who,- when- GoVernor of Grenada, in: 1785, 'stood charged with 75,0001. This sum, the 'Noble LOrd, he stated ,himself tohave expended for the. Public Service 'during the American War; but' notwithstanding the advanced sage -to which he lived, be had- never_been able to get the account examined or" the traniadien pertealy clearccrup. This was a state in which it Wasetrtainly tot deinfal,le that any honest ''Servant of the- Public :E4l6 - 1 : 1C1 beeutrered . Other lsonest and upright Public Acceutitants were: prevented front alienating theit,estates, becanse.frtan notabeing.able to pats then , Accounts, the could not obtain that discharge which was necessary to enable them to make a conveyance. He came now to the, means by which it was proposed to remedy the evils helead•deseribed. And' first, it was proposed to repeal both the Ads relating to the.Commission .ers-of Public Accounts, and then to pass an Ad ap pointiog .ten .At ' present there were three Commissioners Under each of the ACts in force. It was proposed-to exclude the Comp trollers of the Army from the .Corrimission, with a view to restore them again .to-the.duties confided to them on the first institution of their ofliae by Lord Godolphin, 'domprehenditte - every . part of the milt tart' expenditure, barracks,) stores, hospitals, the . , Commissariat, Scc.:• They were further -to be the Confidential advisers of the Lords - of the Treasury bn every thing touching the Army. Their office was to be a place of military record for every thing . connected With the 'expenditure of the Army ; and the obligation,-to report all abuses- in the Military department to the Treasury was to be stricaly en forced. For. ,the more satisfaCtory performance of thin -duty he proposed that they should have the power : Of calling before them, and examining can oath, such .persons as they may think necessary. He should propose that the Commission for audittng the Public AccOunts, should consist of persons not Mem ersof Parliament. It was intended., for the per pose of meeting the different exigencies of the Pub lic ACCounts, to divide the ten CoMmissionera into three Boar& Four Commissioners, with eight In spedors attached-to them, were to..be charged with the examination of all ,Accouots accruing- since the 313 t of Dedeinber last ; another Board of three was to have the care of bringing up the 137,000,000 now Under consideration, and, a third was to investi gate all -.arrears yet unexamined: He hoped, that. by 'this disuinution, with a power of communicat in together, the different Boards may . be enabled, with greater ease, to get through the vast mass of .Acebunts committed to their investigation. It was further proposed, that every Acconut should be corn, mitted to one of the Commissioners, who should individually bei-esponsible for it. Thus the advan tage of individual responsibility would be combined with the 'facility of business' derived from a Board. In consequence of. the :suggestion of the -Commis .. ssioners of Military Inquiq, t. le Barrack. Accounts of Oeneral Delancey \CC TC to he brought up , by two persons specially employ . cd for that purpose, by which a great relief would be afforded to the Com miaaioners. While the.. Public was called upon to submit to an increase of an expensive establishment ' care should be taken not to let the burthen press longer than necessity. required. It was 'intended with this view' to introduce a provision into•the AEI: for the gradual reduction of the number of Commis sioners from ten to six, according as the business was done. According as the arrears were brought up,. the vacancies arising in the Cemmissien were to merge .; and to insure attention ,to this, the Go vernment was not- to be at liberty to fill up any vacancy , without comina . to Parliament, till the . number should be reduced to six. HewoUld now state the measures which were proposed for the more effectually following 'up the great and alarm ing abuses that had taken place in the West Indies. The late Commission was compelled to report to the Commissioners for auditing the Public AC counts. It was noW proposed, to give them much larger powers. They were to certify the Accounts to the Treasury when, they had passed, and the Accptints were then to be • transmitted by the Treasury, to the Auditors of the Public Accounts, to be by thean finally passed. There was no species of fraud that had not been committed in the \Vest- In dies; fraudulent contracts, fraudulent supplies,. and fraudulent Bills of eXchaoge.. The enormity of the amount may be inferred from this, that 80,0001. had, been given-in oneinstariee" and 30,0001. in another, to persons iii high stations as a consideration for the. , suppression-of frauds that had come to their know - ledge. The Acconnts were not yet brought up, and therefore the discovery of these frauds could not yet• be followed upwittn . the proper measures. He in e tended topropose a Bill to repeal the present Com .mission,and to substitute another with larger poweit This was all that he should call for this day. -He was aureinhisconseience.that he was right intbringin this 'whole businessimderthe 3:-iew of Parlianierff,whethee throe- remedy proposed this day Was adequate .or not. When the btistne - ss W!ss diStributed 'to - the three . Boards ; the :Board df Treasury would be enabled to judge Nal year toYear of tis.e progress ,each made, of, the state in '-which each branch of the Public Aca counts was, and if any deficiency was still 'found to come again to Parliament, till this great instru ment applying to the main principle ,of the public expenditure of the Country should be brought to all -the perfe&ionit was ael desirable to, give to it. It was proposed to compel every Publid .Accountant to give in to the Commissioners for auditing the P,ublic Ac counts, a statement of the Acceunt, se. far as it, couldbe-made'otit; whether he was abie, to bring in the whole or not ;. so that the Acconots of the Go- Vernmeet may always be. kept. in a cleat-view-, like those of any individual merchant.' The Auditora -would be compelled to give a final audit of every Acedunt within eighteen months,' so that not only the Public would have tatisfaCtion, but the individual would, have Justice rendered to-him 'mere speedily. He concluded with moving for leave to' bring in a Bill for the More effe6tually inquiring into abuses in the Millitary Eapenditisre.in the West Indies, and ebeckingfrauds thereon. . , • Mr. ROSE did not- mean to oppose . the Motion, tmthe thought it ..necessary to offer a few observa tions. in elucidation of sonic particular points. When te business of the publicanecounts was so much ac cumulated in the American War as to throw the au dit greatly in arrear,,Commiasioners were appointed to exatniue and report what tneasuresshould be taken to expedite the examluatiOn. That Commission was entrusted to men of great abilities, who exerted themselves with becoming diligence ; but. it,did not appear that any other alteration in' the mode ofaudit- Mg the e accounts was 'thought necessary,. till the. administration of his late Right - Hon. Friend (Mr. Pitt), to whom the credit. of that improvement- was wholly due. , As soon 'es the money was issued to the Public Accountants it was from that time set down against them. There was besides a' power:to call fur their accounts and voachers, and to examine both With, st 1.16 iron . Tlie fa L'. .#.a {1 NV stiffireci too ,plucii to devote t; pn tlic;.a.putii2s but that too was remedied by the Bill of hi; Right Hon. Vriend. The Comptrollers 'of the Army Ae - - cOnntS had been. alWays in the habit- of ex-amining all' the issues .to the Army ; it was therefore fit and proper . to make them parties to, a final. audit, with the Objeas of which they 'sere in many instance.s . so particularly conversant, It vas" not' the Noble! Lord Who had first discovered that the expenditure for hospital .stores was not sufficiently attended to. He hirusellhad.mentioued it long. since, and at the same time that there- was an expense of 11,000,0001. in the Secretary at War's Account nnexamined-and uniuquired into. Thus it was not-Mr. Trotter alone that was in the situation of being his own ler, but the Secretary at War. . He.was in the hear ing-of Gentlemen in w;hose' presence he had . men= tioned this to hislate Right Hon.F;riend ; _and trades of it would be found in the . Pay-office.• The Noble. Lord had stated that,therel.yere 5 0r , 600,000,0001. 1 of the Public Money not .perfetaly accounted-,f0r... He did not blame any individual, but the 'fa& was; that the delay of : the examination of the Regimental' Accounts by. the Secrotary at War was the cause of all this. arrear. With 40 Clerks in this department.- . of the War, Office,' he thought it strange that these Accounts were not made - up. He would not say what these Clerks we're attending to i hut he was. Sure they were not attending to . that. The Payinas ter was placed in a most unpleasant" situation by this deficiency, being called .upon- to, issue money when he was not sufficiently warranted, and whose loss' and- discredit might et en, fall on him. The; other part of the Lxpen;iii ores, such as the Navy, Ordnance, and VietuallinL; departments, did not be , .. to the - COmunislo ne..-s for Auditing. Tims them, the ostentatious statement of .5 or 600,000,000]. in. arrear was reduced very considerably. The Noble Lord *proposed an additijnal number of Conuksion-: ers. -He would be gthd to appoint six-and-twenty if that would ex'pedite the audit. • -It bad never been doubted that the Barrack .Accounts • were sobjeCt to the audit.. When Uen. bel t neey had asked him if they. were, he answered positively yes. Gen. Delancey pleaded. the King's Warrant ; he answered, that could - not supersede an Ad!Of Parliament. He had noubjeftion- to allow fUrthe'r pavers to the Audit Ors. It the Auditors permitted flits ,. ClerksitO make lees, it was a great:derehaiou of duty., Thaeotnipisision ofJnquiry into Abuse's in the West.. Indies had' been issued because it Was impossible these abuses, could be investigated elsewhere. The Conlmissidners had made their Report; and - it had been put into the hands of the then ;legal Advisers of the'CroWn.-- . Every thing that could have been done was done.- - Whatever merit belonged to.. the. newly-instituted • measures belono - edexchisively to his late Right Hon: Friend. Till the Accounts of the SaTeigty. at War were gone through the Paymazter could not posSibry bring up his. One halfof 'the arreararose from tht delay in the:War Office: The Auditors should have the same powers to call for - and examine these Ac counts that they had to call-for and examine ()the*. The responsibility of the Secretary at War extended to all the money issued for the service of. the Army and it is a-most awful .responsibility in the present state of the Accounts. Lord H. PETTY. observed, in ,exPlanation, that the measure he meant to propose went 'not merely to the addition. 'of three Corritnissioners, but. to an -alteration in the principl&of that department of the -public business. Mr. YORKE, in reply to one part of the observa- - tions of his Right Hon. Friend (Mr: , -Rose),'declared, that the delay he complained of 'in the War ()dice' arose not from,the negligence of the Clerks, but from their total inability to get through-the . .accumulated accounts which 'pressed upon them. ' • - I Mr. Secretary WiNnHAN confirmed the state r ment - of the Right Honourable Gentleman who O'er ceded. him. . Mr: BATHuisT also. bore.ttstimonyto the aCtivity of the Cleiits in the Oflice alluded to by thcr-Right Hon. Gaitletnan. Mr. ROSE, in explanation, declared that what he meant to say was merely-the fact, -that, the eNa ,nlination of ptiblic accounts in that. Office was in ar-: rears twenty. years.: Afr. I D UNDAS spoke, in terms of high praise of the Condti& of the Gentlemen in the 01 - Bee alluded to, Who,-lotwithstanding every:poSiible ,could not prevent the. public business from pitting upon ihmn. The SECRETARY at WAR likewise expressed his convi(lion of the diligence of the'. Gentlemen iii , lquestion, and observed, that there - was an absolute necessity to make some regulation which should' prevent this accumulatioft of the arrears of public business. . Lord C.',..4STLERE:IGH thought that the remarks of his Right Hon. Friend (Mr. Rose)`had been taken up in a - manner'which they .did not warrant; Mr. ROBSON gave his most hearty approbation to the Noble Lord, - w ho had in such a madly way w come don to the House to. expose the most atro-• pious of all corruptions. He trusted that some mea sure,vtrptild be a , ...lopted, in order'to prevent theihture from happening rr3airt. He tt - it- the like from, happening again. For his part, it' were:not - taken. up by an abrei: hand, he should ou some future day think it hi.; duty to move, that. there be laid. _on the . Table. oldie Hvu. 4 alist of those MinisterSl.Under. Whose inana6Tement these arrears had been suflered so enormously to accumulate. The question was then put, and Lord H. Petty obtained leave to bring in the Bill. • AI&MY ESTIMATES. The Order of the Day having been read for, the - House to resolve itself into a Committee of Supply— the Pe,ation from the Board of Agriculture, the Army. Estimates, - and the Accounts of Sums issued on votes of the House_ unprovided for by Parliament, were, on the Motion of the Sedretary at War, ordered to be referred to the Committee... • The House then resolved itself into the Conv tnittee,. Mr. ALEXANDER in the Chair. The SE . C,WARY at wdffobserved, that in the Estimates which he .shouhl have .the honour of movf ing, the . Committee .. would. perceive a considerable diminution in the . .expencei.or the current year from that of the year 1805 ; or rather perhaps from what those expenses would have been carried up , to the present period: While the AdMinistration felt it their duty to keep up, and even to augment the mi litary farce of the-Couutry,, 'They felt it their duty to provide for thatitorce . 6tr as economical principles as possible. On .thew principle. 'Were the Estlinatc3 N..l)lch. he h.tici hi his hand.— It was, scarcely nece,-,sary for him tri remark,. that a leading principle of -coenouv was to 'endeavour to -make the cliS . proportion between the number of men borne on the military estahlishmtmt, and the- effec- five f;orre of the' Arrnv, as small as possible. (The IlialA . Hon. ••SeCretary here- awnmenced a con-yin-a . • ti,v '7' e.yiew of the. milfia6-..systotpi ot:thelate and the ,present Administratiol - 1, involving a number of numerical statements 3 . but' which he uttered in so low' and inclistind, a manner, that with the most painful. attention , Ave could not do more, than catch a few scattered fragments ; nor were we. able with the utmost vigilance to iollow the Right. Hon. Secretary 'through his subs'equent observations, or even to communicate to the Public the important in,' formation of the Various items - .Of the Estimates - fOr Vvhich lie inovt!cl. It was intended to reduce.the Re- glments of Cavalry from looolo'kloo men each ; to decrease 'the expen::e of The Guards (by a reduaiori of 10 men in eacht'ompany) 18.,0001. and to reduce the 1.1.0yal Waggon Train, which Would be a saving of 90,0001. On these three heads. a. saving uvula accrue of 3 1 50,001. The whole decrease, however, would attiountte 934,1901 But it would be fair ta dednEt '47*00(11. on account of the redvaion in the Estimate of Volunteer Expenses; it would then be found, that intlie . pr'esent Estimates (compared with those for 'thelast year) the total reditelioli of ex pence would, be 4 0,1921. or near Italia million. TARLETOAT observed, that. the Right Hon; Secretary. had stited the' itero . ;on which the 'reduc tion of expellee to the amount of 360,0001. would. take place, but he wised le know how this reduc -don was to extend fo the Om or 9340 9 214 , The SECRETARY' at Willi Stated; that on the Ist of . january, t/306; :the' fetal forte ofthe.Country was 240,153 men ; that on the st.of .I'vLy it 50,194,, .so that there had been an increase in themilitiryforce of 10,041 wen t with a deereLt4 in - the expense of near half a The Riht - Hon'. Secretary proceeded to state his ESti 'mates for guards acid garrisons, and for the recruit nig on the. British and Irish establishments, in all which we could'pnlydistinJtl'.7 hear that a consider able reauAionin expellee was to take place. ' The - Staff of the Arniv was estimated at 54,5731. less than fOr'lBos ; bOt the arrears- would - reduCe die saving on this bead' to 20,g001. j Considerable reduaion would take place with regard to the Militia and Fencibles. As to the Volunteer Establishment, in— stead Of zaiyintentiOti ordisbaft,lingthein, which hid been.imputed to I:Us - Majesty's Ministers, an exPreSs, and large' provisi)ri Nvocdd be proposed for ; them. The only material change • would experience, would be in taking from their Othceis the pciiver commanding as Regular Fied•ollicers; a measurt which he was 'Sure must be generally Wisfatlyrf. '- The *dances' Co Volunteeiililad been ;1100,0001.; he.no;.,v meant to p.ropoe, fhat try -abolishing th June aildwiancei, that It'ShOeld be sreduCC.d to 1,0 2,0001. -and there wotild—tre - -thus ,. a s4viug - of 572,0001., By doing away the present mode - of spe6tion, .and confining the future to that Major 7 Generals, a saving of above 190,0001. would accrue. There would be ,a•saving of 230,0001. to the Clothing of time Volimteers, and another con-, siderable saving s.voUld accrue froni the redu&ion of the Drill Serjeants to two thirds of : their present allowance. By • the abolition of permanent duty 278,0001.. would be also saved, and theae SaV.: ings, together with Others, would make - the I.VliOle` decrease of expence in the Van/lieu Establish= - ment such: as he had before stated it... The...l.l.lght Hon. Secretary concluded by moving his first Reso lution—Mit it was expedient to grant'a t 'number , not exceeding t 50,559 effeclive men for he service . of His Majesty in Great Britain, from 25th of; June :to .25th of December next. General TARLETON commented upon several parts .of the statement of the Right. Hon. SeCretary.. It was intended, it seemed, very much to reduce th 6 cavalry. This measure he highly disapproV&l of; The late Government had added two troops to each regiment of cavalry, and in so doing he thought they had aided most wisely. British cavalry enjoyed a high and deserved reputatiOn. • They would be tounl most useful either ip defence of our own; country in case of invasion, or in any foreion expedition thaE inighE be determined upon; and he .therefore cha raEtertsed their reduaton as a very extract Binary pro ceeding. The mode by which the Right Hon. Svcre &try had calOula c te'd the eXpenee of the Airily, .if the .late Ministers , had continued, was unfair. With re, gard ti) the diininution of the waggon train, the pro priety ofthis was, under any circumstances, goes- tiodable ; and until the establishment of 'some large' central depot, he thought such a diminution highly' inexpedient. Above four months had elapsed since the' 21st of Jan. • when the Right Hon. Gentleman? opposite (Mr. 'Windham) had come down to the House, and declared, that such was the darigerous situation of the Country, that four days ought not to be allowed to pass without the interposition of some effeaive measure, tending to increase our military strength, and to putour'Regular Army on a better; footing. What had the present Ministers done after this declaration ? They' had lived • like drones, on the colleaed stores of • their oredecessot's. - To the able arrangements of the late Administration the Country . o wed every . advantage, that it. had derived ' 'since the . present Administration came into power. To tbat•A.dministration vas to be attributed•the gio-, rious ViEtory of St. 'ljoiningo-:-To that Admini stration was to be ettriblited the Capture of the -Cape, of Good Hope. And here he would ob serve, that notwithstanding the brave and suc cessful - exertions , of the - Oriicers who command ed in that Expedition, notwithstanding they had effeeted 'a landing in the face of a superior force, and had' beaten that force, yet the Thanks of the House had not been voted to them, sim ply, he Was convinced, becaose the plan on which they had aEled originated with the late Administra tion. The present Board of Admiralty bad not chosen to reward Sir H. Popham. for his services on that occasion, because' that gallant_Pdieer was not a favourite with certain persons out of the House.— . To the measures adopted by • the late Mininistra;- tiou *as likewise to be attributed the recent capes tare of the Marengo and the Belle Poole. fag, although he trusted that the Country yet derive some advantage lion) the exertions of his Majesty's pre,ent Government, nothing was more certain than that hitherto nOthing•had resulted from thorn. He .had been accused ot e;t er t a ink 4 onreasonkle expedationS. Those '-:X.pCCiatiollS weie grounded on the speeches of the itigot_ LL D . 'tart' for the War .I)epartmeot, whoa he v..as on 1.110 I I