The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1807-01-26 00:00:00

s.at *rides supplied by him (Mr. Davison) were not
cnncors..Ahle to p Arhi, h Mt. Davison says
he ! ad fe• m the Pal, iek Office, or that they •• er
net p'neur-d a' fair ,wholesale price. Two or
thee, t deed ef the dealers, of who'll Mr. Davison
pirre..as.d supplies, have stated to us, that in con-
sectience of his r• gular and early payments, they
chaiged him less item they charged. at the same
period. mere.ants who to ik A longer cre sit " And
we are ready ta admit, that at times, perhaps. when
the demands if th • Barrack OIE •• for .t .TeS were
large and urgent, a person in Air Day son's situation.
and with his conneetions. mi ,ht ogee provided the
ariieles wanted, when they could not have been
otherwise easily obtained "
Page 14.—We do not learn that complaints were
often made of any defeeiveness armlity of
the articles sent by Mr. Davison. " and when any
complaints were made, it appears that immediate
attention was given to them ;" the articles were
then examined by the diretlion of the t•ffice, and,
if found to be unfit. they w-re exchanged for oilier.
of better quAl.ty, at the expence of Nlr. Davison,
agreeably t • what was pi ()posed in his letter ot the
loth January, 1795
referring to the subjea of coals supplied by
bit Davison for the Barracks, and to the circuit.
si :ice of coals being sometimes furnished in th-
ss er months ; the Beer' states,
Page 16. —The loss to the public, owing to the
usual advance in price, in the winter months, must
hay- hee.• rnu,iderahle, ever frnin this circumstance;
hi. wr•ther the train to Mr. Davison was, in ad
roses. sat ur,tp r' 41 to tt, cannot now be ascertained
Vs ....one had m 'e ag eeesents at a favourable time
et the year, with shippers. or with the Seeley., where
tray '•at talCk.,enVere situated. to deliver coals at the
barracks, at a siipulaied price, .f tee deliv-ri-s were
Fut4porte dto 111, winter 17100011, certifie I prices
w•ncia Mr Denson was always paid by the Barrack
Office. would be higher at such times, than they
earned have been in the summer season.; and Mr.
Drvison's gains on his put C'l3S s, At such stipulate-1
price. wiethi he pmportionahly greater. Bu if his
purchases were no' ma ie under such an egreensent,
it i • to be prebum•d, Cie prices he paid would -.aye
%relied pr inoreetenly with the c o.ttied.
" a .41 no benefit ovoid have been °burned el' h.Ol,
by pos. octovig the deliveries at the &snacks."
And speaking ot t e tourease,ol the gime ity deli-
vered, e. watt d with true immiceb; the Cosmic.
loners state, .
Page 17.—!'he incises, appears, therefore, to be
very considerable, amounting, an an ge of the
Ohre ca' glees. .0 u.:ivards ot twee bushels per chid
deem. Our first imps scion was, that this increase
must have aese . from some freed or negligence in
the pets its r iceiviere the goals a' 111111 barracks. or
front ...me tinsel:in ;nit in Mr. Davison". agent, in
the isiands. But from the evi fence of •Ir
a very eonsidera ale shipper AA dealer in coals, we
learn. that en increase fit this kind may arise from
the mode in which ine eptantity put on board is cal-
culated at the Net them ports; Coals are there cen-
vey d from the shore to the ships in keels, which
contain in general eig Newcastle chaldrons, and
the purchaser pays for that quantity. But as, for
t!.e conveniency of aseettaining the dues to us pal t.
it is calculated, that the ke 1 then contains mg it
ciraldtans, when it mkt to a certain depth, masked
oii the head and stern, it may hAopen, that in wet
weather, when the coals are heavier, the k el will
not hay • ?ids' etialdrons on 'maid, and its dry wea-
ther, that it will have more than ti at quantity.
If the coals, therefore, had been put on board the
who,c bills of lading we have stated
in a dry cnnJiti,u., the quantity measured at the
Barra: Its wouid appear teemed the quantity stated
in th..• hills of Lading.
Mi. Daniel Wilkinson, Mr. Davison's late clerk
in his coal concerns, thinks, that even the great in-
ere use of eight hundred hisshels. on seven thousand
two hundred cad seventy-two, the invoiced cargo of
the ship (,scion, may be accounted from this mode
of what he calls shipping by we.ght, and delivering
by busk.
Page 18.—We have remarked before, that, on an
iuspeelion of Mr. Davisots's half-yearly accounts. it
appeared the exact number of bushels received at
the Dat racks, were always charred for by him. and
that te. allowance or deduaion was any where made
on account of the quantity of coals tupplied ; eels :r
what is called ingrain, or some allowance similar to
it,re supposed had been always given to iedividuals,
putchasers of large quantities of coals, and tlsere-
fore we expeded to find that the public would have
had the same advantages in its dealings with Mt.
Davison, especially as be had undertaken to supply
coals. ax the rate of the market rice, at which the
whole dealers are paid by the inhabitants of the
places where the Barracks are situated. But Mr.
Davison tells us, that " he never agreed for, nor
ever heard of, any allowance or deduelion to lie
made for ingrain, and he knows nothing about
He adds: neither would he have allowed it ; and
that he has charged and been paid, he believe.,
toe every bushel delivered, without any deduenon."
In which -he is confirmed by his late clerk, Mr. Da-
niel ‘Vilkinsce : and from Mr. Stanbank's examina-
tion, it appeals, that Mr. Davison was never re-
seined to make any allowance, on account of the
quantity delivered, and that his accounts were never
checked on any principle of this kind.
Page 19.—" And Mr. Henley b ins asked. in
the words of Mr. Davison's undertaking, contained
in his letter of Idth April, 1795, " If an agree-
ment was to supply, as a whole dealer, a large
quantity of coals, to be paid for by the number of
bushels delivered, according to the rate of the mar-
ket price, at the time of delivery, whether he would
allate ingrain, in places where ingrain was usually
allowed E" Ile answered, " That he certainly
would not."

Page Cl.—But in justice to Mr. Davison, we
Ought to say, as we have already said, on the sub-
ject of his supply of Barrack articles, on commis-
sion, that we do not fiud hut that at all times the
Barrack•hlasters were satisfied wi:h the coals,
which were delivered to them, or that the Barracks
were ever in want of coals, although at time great
bodies of troops were unespeaedly sent to them,
and especially in the fall of the year 1799, when a
very large force at Russian troops was amide:lly
ordered is Guernsey, And the Adjacent islands.
The Repnrt then alludes to some papers sent to
them ft..ni the I reasury, and proceeds as follows :
From tbess we heath, that on the Stab June, in that

Tear, a person of the name of Robert Edington, ad- I
dressed A letter to the lair Is of the I trawl, which
piotesa•or In charge peculation., and frauds, in the
supply oif cods, to a great extent, in the islands of
Guern ay, Jersey, and Al•lerney ; and the Eastern
district if England Ile accu'es, he says, " Alex-
ander Davis in, Esq. and one Walker. and their de-
pendant confederates i t the frauds, a .d General De
Lancey also of conniving at, and Attempting ro sup-
press inquiry into the fraud., and he has no doubt
but that tne-e peculations will be found to have ex-
isted up to the clear amount of one hundred and
fifty thou-and pounds."
Page 25. • Me. h of nor examination of Messrs.
Davison and Wilkinson, it will be seen, refers to
matters connetred with tile charges mentirmed in
Robert Edington's letter; and we particularly • xa-
mined all the accounts end vouchers, relating to
the period to which he alludes, and many of our ob.
servationc are founded fto the informatian welch we
thus collected "We might have had Robert
Ellington bef re us, hut we found his Allega:ions
'hewed rich a want of knowledge of the real state
of the transaetions of the period ; and he had so
unr: uly represented many matters. that we thought,
urder the ci. cumstances in which he stood, vi•
might welt pistil the omitting to examine him, for
he was himself a party in the forgery, of which
George Richard Walker was eouvidted, having been
admitted an evidence for the Crown."

And the Commissioners, afterwards referring to
some overtures wnieh had been made by the said
Ricnatil Gorge Walker, who was then under
sentence of death, for the forgery above alluded to,
say.
appeared to us, therefore, on evi
whole, tnat this was the effirt of a man endeavour*
ii.g to war • if his fate ; tar if any applica ion on
the part ,Afs the pu.iltc wts male in 'OM f infor-
ottuo he hlyed, perh .p., that whether he gave
a 17 or n..r, t e tiumanit) nt those wao applied would
intoifeie in his behalf. We in consequence declined
to have rty nonpuitilicatiou with him. Sat having
fear .t, al* n s ye-trio% that a book of his was
in th • pos•eisio3 of bus mother. in which he had
slid 'would louud .tue pryof of the master al.
Weil in his paper. we procured a ...iglu of it; it is
lautl d, " A Waste l ,ok." but is in truth a ledgers
eontainiog t delti.r and creditor accounts with va-
rious persons. and aftiongu others with Mr. Da-
vison "We cowl find us. bins of the kind which
Walker bad • 41d was in it "

" But we can...it dismiss the Billie& without
noticing. that a Genil-InAn. of the protessio tit the
law, less It Walledeg piper. aria had com•
municated with him on the matters cont .ined in it,
un ler a wish to nerve 'tins, if ae could have na de
any disc aef• ies OS to Lie public, told us, that tie
vie men he paper in t..e same light .hat wed d. and
that le saw no easel to suppose WAlker's .t4teineitt
could be supporte.i."
rhe above er rads are taken I' orn the Nod), of
the Report. The 141orring are es•rAls from toe
Appendix :
F om r re Exa:ninAtion of Mr. Lodge, Packer to
the airra..k-Olfice.
/...12e 44 —r.. yno motile ! any ccon,lairit having hen
maths ni t rvia At of 'sodding, or or any other article, !-.•
None e, cep. in one petrels:at caw a complaint was made oy
a c4pt.titt Lea :1, 144traek-si.ster at Butle, three or In tars
•go, o' 6)0 allank..ts, sent to him from London. The: we...,
in eolvieguNtcd of that tmenplaiot, ordered beck to the iterac,•
Uthre, and wen tumefied by three G ntlomen (lona the
Otter, of whom Colonel Frederick was one. Their report was,
that the complaint Will fri•uklUs ; they were ordeted to be re
picked., and that Captain Lewis should reimberre not all my
events's; and I was reimbursed through the bands u( Mr
&Lyman.

Q Were you ever required to fix an abatement of price, in
Censer:re:lce of inferiority of quality ; ter do you know of any
such allowanee having beers made, end when a. At the
ul the year 1603, or the begin ..,..g of the year 11104, I re-
ceived 161,000 bia.,ketr, from va.i.rus manufaeturers, on ac-
count of Mr. Davison, beateen 70 arid 80,000 comedies,
101,003 pairs of sheets. A small pa rt of the blariketa, I he.
heir. not mare thin 3'3 ',air, were objected to by me; ■n
statement was proposed by me of Is. per pair, as a /lie allow
mice (rum the manutacturrr to Mr. Marton ; but whether the
ai.ermoice t ,olt place or not, I cannot say. This is the
only mate ice, hi My haul/ledge, of an *stamen% being
made.

Nite 4i.—Q Do you consider the present mode of sup-
plying the Banacks with bedding, as preferable to that for-
Merl! hi We? A. I cannot at present form an accurate ju4.•
nient on the subjest ; the new system has nut vet got into full
and efficient cmeratien; and, owing to the deficiency of the
Contractor for sheets, the Barad( Service has rot hitherto
eap-risnced, under ale new node, the facilities afforded under
the rild.

llatrafls from the examination of Mr. Heery
Cutler, a wholesale ironmonger, who supplied the
13_ it Departnwnt:.

PAR, hat rreMt Ail •ou allow Mr Davis We
snit d half yearly, Which is tantamount to three months
credo!.

Q I this the credit you rituals, allowed to your . they cus-
tomer, during the lams period '—A. In very few instances are
paid so early
Q What is the credit row usually allow to the trade!—A.
In all articles of east iron, it is a quarterly account. and we get
usir money as soon as we can In manufactured articles we
lace a ruriniog account, which generally .ettle.l crime a year.
Q. la thus d,J r net of payment consulerel in the prices
dialed tor tint Strack ankles ?—A Not in the prices; but
we consplet slut we ought to hive some .11,1st.eu.il corepen.a_
lion Lir the captures we are put to with re.pett M asurack
articles.

Q Drier' w what this esttaordinary expence and trouble
we.e, which attendal the supply of Barrack articles The
smith! of pack. ig wss never charged. Ws were required by
Mr. Davison to Active, sate and perfect, to the 'knock Mas-
ter% the articles sent ; they were ..•ry frequently damaged,
and ..einetsines lost, which we were ',sored to, make good
U. In whet manner was you paid !—A. SotST, liars in rash,
and surnetinies in bills at two and threw months, as we asked
fir. them.

Q. wo eon ever pall in alwanee Yes; the principal
',hones lira.: test thousand pounds in cash, at the latter Cud of
the year 100..1
Q. Ud you allow discount on these sdranees?—s. No.
Wou'al your Home have furnished the arto.,:es
ta ti, Itairaeit.t./Sce 0.1 the same terms it h,s (urwshe.l th-ni
t. Mr. Davison b. 1 think it would, had we beu asnhen of
the ..me prinmuslity in the payme t
Extra& tram the Eumination of Mr. Stanbank,
of the Barrag k4)fice.
Page 61 —Q It appears in the abstract of Mr. Dmison's
serousits, from 1600 to 11th.3, that there were large balances
1•:t 111 his hind.; why we. this allowed it. The balances
from 9-eemner 1300,11 Decenibm 1601, areas frem the sup-
;,:y of stnreo not c iming up le the sums noised to him, and
which (a. tar as ,I.tirs to myself', 1 minceitre would he done
away in subsequent half years; and tie reason why se large a
balance remained 1,1 hi. henna an lime. late, was owing to
monies having heel' ,sued to him 111 the latter end of 1001,
for the general supply of stows for the following year, but
which, in consequence of the peace having taken place, ware
found not to be wanted.
Q. Was the fats Karrack Master General acquainted, at
other times, wkh the circunistance of a n.ilance limns in Mr.
1/asis•oi's basis's— lie was not, Is the best of inylrecoCec-
tura, awe dad ;hint Is rgeemagy.

Extra& from the Examination of John Maitland,
Esq. who supplied the I.larraf.ks with blankets, &c.
r4ge 63—Q. Is the credit allowed to ;vio. Davison the seine
you usually allow to your otter cest.iine.s, during the same
period'—A. The credit allowed to Mr. l!avißen upon blankets,
is le..> than that allowc.l general merchants Our ten-cal
credit is twelve months; with him, as 1 have befor" stated, we
were generally in cash within four and 6ve mouths ; 1 nwaii
anterior to 1797.
Q. Is this difference of wedit con,ielerel in the pries charg-t1
for the Barrack articles'—A. A:o.t c-rtautly.
Q. Are Your accounts for the articles you furnished, settled
soli Mr. Davison'—A. They are.
rage 63 -aWould soar lieu,' have foriii.'ned the articles
to the BArrack,nfice on the same terms nn which it ha, tor.
iii.hod thins to Me. atvis.lit, and wouul von as readily 11.111,
green credit to the Barrack-Office a. to Nlr Davison ?--A
Ce tautly nut, unless I could have depended open e4ual punc-
tuality and acconimad-iti“ii.

Extract from the Evidence of Mr. Edmund Derby.

rage 65—f1 What agreement did toss make with Mr. Da-
sl/011, r.dative to the price of the emelt s, and to the time and
mud.) of pa) inent!—A Mr. pavilion told me tltat ,ar>,e
articles were +uppfid tor another department of isluterinneht,
and un'ees I winild supply them at a lower rate, he would not
vinyl /we I then, made out my price, and my nrst hill of
parade was appeared, and paid by Mr. Davison, and L continued
to do the business.

Q. Is the c tdrt al.—wed to Mr. Davison the same yell
usually aliowed your outer customers during th,, 'fame peri 4
—A It ts shorter ; we allow to merchants fourteen and fifteen
months credit. . . .

Q. Is this difference of credit considered in the prices charged
fur the 114rreek articks ).-A. Yes.

Q. Are your accuunu for these articles settled with M. Da.
vi.ou ?—A Yes.
Pate At how much per cent less Visa to merchants
in genioral you charge the •iticl i supplied for the u,e
Barracks, to Mr. Davison ?--A. Full ten per ant.
Q What oe,asioned this abatement?—A. From the very
large orders, and the certainty of payment.

Extra& from the Examination of Mr. Daniel
Wilkinson, who chiefly transacted Mr. Davison's
coal concerns.
r.,Ke 77„—Q When Mr. Davison puschased te'role caree"'
of coals, w7.icli were atierreards cniisigoed to, and delivered t,
particular BinaAvki, we.e you used to cnni.fai.:
containing thequAotity put on board, with the'lSaricck aster,
receipts of the quantities delivered at the Barrack,
Certainly.
Q. Did they usual ,y agree'—A. Almost never
Q. Ut.l vuu notice at times, a very great increase in the
quantity stated to be received At the barracks, above that which
had been puton board'.—A. 1 bellevel have.
Q. Wid Mr. altiloll acquainted with this circumstance
A. I do not moaned that le was

Q. elow do you account for this great d.fierenct ?—A. From
the coals ..t Newt=le being shtNeri .1)1, a diffetellt M•34tllle
font that which the cargo It gib. ha gad by the coals at..
sly .iced .t Nomadic by wmght, and deriver,d by bulk 1 con-
sequently tne • .ria:toil between the shipping and .1-liveitrig
tneavurea, wII vary acco ding to the ape..ifie we ,t of different
veils, and itt: •Cioltilleli Cr 31111111daitcr of is {mg measure car
the other.

W 'light this pro lice a dif re e, to the amount of 900
bustle's in 7.27 e I tr.i.uve it isi 6y, 6114 think It Actually 0161.
Q. 1 , you yinion, hrn, might ta..t• tp• such a ',eat
cri•A 4e, vi•toous env siqiiroce Of he I in %Ir
Ageiste, et in the ii,rsons belonging to the &tracks, at *lnce
three,'" vs ,t • •ec t—A. Y

Pagok.i y.ro have satt, rn adi,nent oaiotheeanswer,
that se wore i ounces the ce•.theit 'owe a. Ire!-ow the price
charged to Mr I)., son; stite whether this was ever tlve ease
wh-ri thee NI. •••re furnished oe so ist dotaliir nn she, , and spe.
tory toe tioocs, Amt eartoeu!ar iorsi oii:e ! It has occurred
whew the cowls have heels to:hist-ma ors, sr: lets onshore, rood this.
I believe, was the c ore at !laver I cannot, item memory, ,tt..te
further particuhk,..
Q. Can von War us in any penal, at which the prices pad
by Nil, Davison, lac w re gr ot r tow. tire certodsri once. ?
as.k I e o ono., tram memory, state at prtscnt, out will at a ru-
tile, tootle

1 Haw find noon th.. • luny 1 have .na..e, that in the year
174 .rre Ile d .f Uirernmy, Mr Davoso•l 41.pesis to have
gained mosso reout s •ven • swore of c sail delivered, and to have
lost upon alio at line, under ors cont act with G. R. Walker;
and that in March 1110 u, be lost by one cargo inr.sirted by
n. ..11•1 ase ~,, one defiler, in May 1400, and lir two or
three in %moat 11100, furr.shed by W..ker ; and I also fi,rd„
slut in the year 1799, he lost on three ur four cargoes delivered
at Chatham, but wnetirer imported by himself, car bought at
tote place, 1 cannot reiallect ; he also Else-ars to have lost by
four 4/liveries at Driver, in tile year 1799 ; and to have had
neither loss nor gain on all the whys delivered there in that
y-sr
Extras frets the further examination of Mr.
Stanb.lok.
Page 81. Q ity the undertaking under winch Mr. Davison
furnished Crabs to the d.fferent lg rratorr, he was to procure
certificates drum two respectarde persons resident in the
of the prices at the Coals delivered ; were Inquiries made by the
office, as to the characters add means of koow mg the prices of
the persons who signed their names to thee: ee.ti.icstes ?—A.
There was a general inquiry made to that effect wane years
pat, but the particular year 1 cannot state.
Q. When at apireared that Mr. Davison had delivered at one
time five chaldrons or upwards, did you require him to make
any allowance in the nature of ingrain, or did you check his
account en any principle of the kind'—A 1 did not require
him to nsakeany allowance, nor did 1 check his account upon
any principle of that kind.
Q. Did you mean to be rigri:ated, in checking Mr. Da-
•iron's bills, bs the undertaking contained in his letter of 13th
April, 1791? A. 1 certainly dari.
Q. Was thee any agreement between the Barrack-Master-
General and Mr Daviaen, that all credit were to be paid for in
advance? A. None that I know of; nor do 1 cniisider that
coals have been paid for in advance.
Dui the usual certificates, of the prices of coals, accem
pear these half yearly accounts? A. Always, to the best of
my knowledge.

Extraft from the Examination of Mr. Henley.
stated by the Commissioners to be a very large dealer
in coals :
Tage 116—Q. If an agreement was, to supply, as a whole
dealer, a large quantity of moll, to be paid fur by the nu,..ber
of twilit& &girded, according to the rate of the market price
at the time of delivery would you, where ingrain war
trmally allowed, allow at in Our ease A. Nu; certainly
not.

Q. Is an agreement for a considerable quantity of coals, to
be delivered by the bushel, to be considered as a more edvan.
tagequs roode of supplying coals co the purchaser, than by
the clial,:ron or 'there*, ! A. certainly not for the put.
chaser, because he thereby loses his right to the Ingram.

I am perfealy aware, that it may be alleyed against
me, that 1 have confined my attention to the selec-
tion of such passages as bear testimony to the zeal
which Alr. Davison has shewn its the public ser-
vice, and the rectitude of his conduit in particular
instances, relating to his transafti..ns Kith the Bar-
rack Department. If I were to admit this, I might
with truth reply. that I have done no more ;or Mr.
Davison, than his adversary has attempted to do
against him. I feel a plesnotre in acknowledging
myself this Gentleman's friend at the same time
I hope I may be permitted to add, that I wish also
to be considered a friend to truth and justice, and
an enemy to calumny and slander. The motives,
therefore, which have induced me to trouble you
at this length, will, I trust, plead my apology for
the trouble I have occasioned you. Ido not wish
to be c( nsislervd by any means the advocate of Mr.
Davison; he is perfeßly capable, I am sure, of ex-
plaining his own conduCt ; much less would 1 presume
to offer a single remark upon the Report of the Com-
missioners. In offering these remarks. I have dis-
charged, I conceive, the duty I owe to friendship

and to We- tb ; but T beg distinftly to be understood,
upon the honour of a Gentleman. that 1 Lave had
rn communication with Mr. Davison upon the sub.
jeCt of the charges preferred by this writer against
him, nor has Le any knowledge, cl:reMy or in !i.
of my i•; entios of addressing Int:, or of the
ire anionof this letter. Yours, A All f !DAL

•