The Sun.
London, England, 1854-07-10 00:00:00

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VS! IrN .1-7-'74111-K
the universe ! Be it remembered, the while, thatis
broken in health and heart. He stoops as if burndened.----7 -
with years • he trembles with weakness because he`c,Aik
not take sufficient food. The eagle glance has be ome ' ';‘.l'77:7A ffk
wolfish. The proud calm of his fine face has given ay
to an expression of anxiety and trouble. Let him be piC.tied am
then, and with kindness. He is perhaps the greatisckiv "
sufferer in Europe, and let him be regarded accordingly,
But, as we need not say, he is totally unfit fox...the
management of human destinies. We have nothing to
do with the relations between himself and his subjects ;
but we must see that he never again lays the weight of
even his little finger on the destinies of any people be-
yond his own proper bounds. We have done him some
harm, in the course of years, by our supineness and cre-
dulity ; and we must regard ourselves, therefore, as not
unconcerned in his present abasement. We must sin no
more in the same way. Having thus resolved—having
made up our minds that this common foe shall do no
more hurt to anybody but his own subjects—we are at
liberty to compassionate, freely and kindly, the wretched
man who has declined into every other abyss before be
reaches that of the grave —Daily Paper.

THE LATE REGISTRAR OF THE lIIGII
COURT OF ADMIRALTY.

The particulars of a gigantic robbery of public monies
are fully exposed in a Parliamentary paper issued on Sa-
turday—the " Report of a Committee for inquiry into
the misappropriation of monies entrusted to Mr. Swabey
late Registrar of the High Court of Admiralty." We
learn from this report that the salary of the Registrar
in question was 1,4001. a year, and that from 1844 he
received, in addition, fees averaging 3001. per annum
for attending appeals as her Majesty's Registrar in Ec-
clesiastical and Maritime causes. We see very clearly
here, that the bread of the civil servants of the Govern-
ment is particularly well buttered. The report tells us
that the Registrar had to receive monies in relation to
three separate funds.
1; Crown: Fund.—Sums paid under warrants of the
Lords of the Treasury, being the proceeds of slave ves-
sels captured and condemned.

2. Suitors' Fund.—The proceeds of sales of ships un-
der decree of the High Court of Admiralty, and monies
paid in by suitors in salvage cases and others pending
litigation.
3. Fee Fund.—Fees payable to the judge registrar,
&c., according to the course of office. The monies pro-
ceeding from the two first of these Sources were of a
very large amount--those paid in on account of the Fee
Fund were apparently small. It adds greatly to our
reverence of the wisdom of the administration of the
civil service to learn that Mr. Swabey gave no security,
nor was he ever called upon to render any account in re-
spect of the two first funds, but that these two condi-
tions were rigidly exercised in the comparatively unim-
portant case of the Fee Fund. -

Mr. Swabey's employers acted here scrupulously upon
the maxim of "taking care of the pence, and letting the
pounds take care of themselves." The pounds, however,
did not take care of themselves, but it is certain that
some one relieved them of the trouble. The monies re-
ceived on account of the Crown Fund were not subject
to the orders of the Court of Admiralty, or brought
before that court at all. If anything could tempt the
person who had charge of them to malversation, it would
surely be an arrangement of this nature. The com-
mittee report that in the latter part of 1851 the cash-
book and bank pass-book were, for some unexplained
reason, withdrawn by Mr. Swabey from the use of the
office. The ledger, therefore, being the only book on
which the committee could rely was examined, and from
this it appeared that a balance was due to Mr. Swabey•of
1,1321. 9s. 11d. There was, however, a large amount
of Exchequer bills unaccounted for, and the committee
on investigating this omission report that Mr. Swabey
is inbebted in the value of 25,0001. of such bills on one
account, and 1,7001. on another. They conclude their
researches into the state of the Crown Fund with the
following words :
" The iron box at the Bank of England appropriated
for the safe keeping of these bills was, when opened by
Mr. Rothery, the present registrar, on the 11th of No-
vember, 1853, in the presence of two of the Bank clerks,
and of Mr. Swabey's solicitor (Mr. Stevenson), found to
be empty." A fine specimen this of a " Civil Service"
strong box.
The negligence visible in the want of due superinten-
dence of the Crown Fund is seen also in the administra-
tion of the Suitors' Fund. In respect of this Mr.
Swabey is indebted according to the committee in the
sum of 29,5161. 13s. Other items having relation to
this fund add something more than 4,0001. to these lia-
bilities. The Fee Fund (the only one for which secu-
rity was taken) shows a deficiency of 3221. 18e. 2d. No
account of monies received with respect to this fund was
kept or even opened at the Bank of England. The oeah
was kept by the registrar at a private banker's. As a
specimen of the free and easy manner in which the civil
service is conducted, the way in which the Commis-
sioners assert that this deficiency arose is very
instructive.

In December, 1843 (they say), Mr. Swabey borrowed
from Mr. Wilkinson (the third class clerk in the office)
1,5001, Early in 1844, and at a variety of times during
that year and 1845, Mr. Wilkinson retained for his own
use by way of part payment of principal and interest on
the above sum, certain monies paid into the registry by
the proctors on account of fees, in the expectation as he
states that Mr. Swabey would account to the fee fund for
the amount so retained.

Sometimes the whole amount paid in by a proctor was
retained ' • at other times a portion only; but in both caws
the proctor remained a debtor, according to the ledger, for
the amount of the sum retained.

"On the whole, the sums retained amounted to MI.
12s.

"About the end of 1845 Mr. Swabey, who is stated to
have had his attention drawn by Mr. Wilkinson to the
practice, and who is stated not only to have disapproved
of it, but to have enjoined its discontinuance, withdrew
the cash-book from Mr. Wilkinson's keeping, who there-
upon ceased to receive the fees.
" From time to time afterwards down to 1852 Mr. Wil-
kinson, finding the money was not being replaced by Mr.
Swabey, made some small payments into the Fee Fund,
amounting in all to 711. 13s. 10d., leaving a net deficiency
of 3221. 18s. 2d."

The committee report that the total amount of the
deficiency in Mr. Swabey's accounts appears to be :
In Money £35,328 16 6
Exchequer Bills
Stock, Three per Cent. Consols 1,576 1 3
Stock, Three-and-a-Half per Cents
Reduced 2,842 8 9
and the amount of dividends on such stock from July,
1543, and interest upon Exchequer Bills for varying
periods, amounting to a considerable sum.
In the course of the report the committee state that
as to the liabilities of their lordships of the Treasury to
make good (out of the taxes) to different parties the
amounts of the defalcation on the Crown fund and
Suitors' fund, it is impracticable to form any precise
judgment. On the best information that they were able
to obtain, they think it unlikely that their lordships will
be called upon for any payment of importance beyond
the 19,000/. already paid.
With a Civil Service so admirably managed as ours,
from the above specimen, appears to be, one wonders
that we have not a double income tax long ago, without
the assistance of the Russians. The picture that we get
in the above details of one only of the Government offices
shows a laxity of superintendence that would scarcely be
credited in a Government whose Ministers are respon-
sible to Parliament. But the House of Commons hav-
ing got the particulars of this huge robbery—the tax-
payers of England should insist upon an answerto
theto
question—" What steps are the Government about _
Daily
on the subject ?" Is " Mr." Swabey in custody T—
ly Nw