The Sun.
London, England, 1807-05-27 00:00:00

; Notv.-i:hstandinz these reprcsentatiblii, it does it it
appcar that. Sir JOHV HONEYwOoti was cilled on
: .•,
to. settle- the matter in • dispute With the coin.
fflOners, or to make good his,' title io rccetve
rent for the occUpation. of • the land ;' on the eon-
,'3.celearn.that the rent of 751. pet: annum, for
abOnt'eleven acres of con:it-11,n; was regtilarly paid
,to hiM to the time of hi.; death, in Match last; and
that the'claims of the- commoners still remain un-
Atisfied::. ibut ‘consevaence of our inquiries;
,N;hich
,Were not 'made till after Sir' JOHN FloNEv-
V-oon's 'death,' we 'Ondersiand it has been recom-
mended to the Barrack Office that .the above rent
should' no longer he paid, -as no legal right to the
posession of the land was •gii7en bY the agreement
• with Sir. 'JOHN FIONEY\.VOOD—; and the parties
te're.sted in the'COmmtin have:been hiformed, that
the Barrack Office would give such compensation as
• should be awarded by a' Jury a&ing tinder the au-
thority of the 'Defence Act. 'The rabbits on this
.Common, for which 5751. were paid to Sir 'JOHN
FraNi:ywoon, were not:- taken.and sold" for.the he-
nefit'of Government, 'the-pressure of the service (it
is said) admitting of nd delay, but were destroyed
:by thevorkmen etnployed abOut the barracks.' "''
Such is the tranSaelion with 'resped to the land at
Braybourne Leaze; and, irk the Course of the exa-
mination of the many'papers we haVe had before us,
.respeCting the purchase of land fbr the barrack ser-
vice, we' have in several other instances obserVed
the prices paid by .GoVernment.to be. so large' as to'
affigo 'clear proof (independently of the general
statement made by General tD I_,N6:Y to that ef.:
feEt) that advant4had been taken of the exigency
'of 'the occasion.,{-Amongst others', v.-e noticed par-
ticularly; that a small piece 'of land, which was
w,,anted for squaring the Barracks at Perth, in •addi-
tiOn to the laud granted by the. Corporation, was
pat .or at `the rate of 500 gu'ufea4 ler Scotch
acre. The vicinity to the town of Perth probably
:raised the value of this land very Considerably ; and
we are aware that a similar cireitustance,' muss in
,very'many- leases have been -the Cause' of the high
prices paid by Government for land wanted' for
public purposes ; btiriirrhlS-aca-se-,' the additional
piece of land does not seem to ha' e-been ab*;olutely
necessary for the occupation of the barracks, and
to= have been required more forthe sake'of•Unifor-
mity of appearance,-than for any purpose. of actual
utility. .

The unwillingness of Gentlemen to have a bar-
rack in their neighbourhood, has: been also found. to
• be the cause of exorbitant demands;_ and, in' order
to remove these impediments in ;the way of Govern-
ment, it was provided by the Ad of the 43d of the
pregent Reign, usually called the. Defence ACI, -that
it shall be lawful for His Majesty to authorize any
General Officer, &c. to choose the ground ; and
if the owner reuse the price offered; to 'summon a
Jury to assess the value, and oblige the 'party to
accept the 'nice so ascertained; "provided 'the neces-
sity of occupying such ground !be certified by the
Lord Lieutenant, or two Deputy•Lieutensints of the
County, in which the said land is situate ; or, in the
I case of a&ual invasion- of .the- Vnited Kingdom.—
: Under this Aa,
,the scites or positions of Barracks
have of late been determined upon ; but the Report
I admits that the Defence At does not prevent the
I public.from still paying very largely, the scites se-
leeted for Barracks having frequently, from their
proximity to towns, and other circumstances, been
, considered of such great value as to justify. Juries
lin awarding very high prices to the owners, as in
the cases of the Dunbar, Haddington, and Musl.
burgh Barracks, for the scites of which a large coins
pensation was Awarded to the Owners, particularly
in the case of Dunbar, and -a piece of ground,
near Bellhaven, to the Earl :of LAUDERDALE.-....
Previous also to the passing of the Defence Ad,
when the titles could only be procured in the usual.
manner, by voluntary • contracts with the respective
owners, the Report states the public interests were
not sufficiently proteaed,-as evidence of which, it
staes the Barracks of Sunderland, which were built
in 1795, under a lease from the .Grassmen of the
Corporation of that town, to Mr. WrsonA;sl then
Secretary at War, for 21 years, but without any
covenant for renewal of the term ; and'the case of
the new Barracks at Lewes, built on land the proper-
ty of the Duke of Dorset, the right to the possession
of which by Government would have . expired on
the 29th Sept. 1805. But to remedy the inconve-
nience attending this invalid. mode- of conveyance,
an Act was passed on the 25th June, • 18.05, vest-
ing all such buildings in the Barrack-Master-General
for the time being; by the operation of which, as
by. the Defence Act,. he is enabled to acquire such
fUrther estate as he may think necessary, in any
land occupied 'for the barrack service ; the public
Will only pay such.price for the extension of their
interest in the land, as it is really worth, in the judg-
ment of a jury, independent. of the buildings, Ste.
The Report having detailed all the information"
which the Committee could . coiled with respect
to the plans and specifications 'of the: buildings,
and- the, nature and mode of the agreement or
contra& for the same, with the -checks and con-
trouls, to prevent fraudulent charges, proceeds to
the head of ", Hired Buildings." The annual 'sum
paid for this sortsof buildings,sit states, on the
authority of a return, corrected to July, 1806, at
31,7021. Og. 9d: and in its observations'on this head,-
it states, '' that no blame can lie attached to the Bar-
rack Office, for the very high rents paid in the first
instance, for the hired buildings in the Isle of Wight ;
but that,an earlier. reduction of them Might have
been effeaed." Among those of. this kind; which
it Says appeared
.to have brought a great and im-
proper expence upon 'the
,Public, 'it notices some
premises near Chelmsford, belonging to Sir HENRY
MILIIMAY, in right of his wife, held at' a rent of
6001. 'a *year, Which it recohnnends to be given up
at the expiration of the present lease ; and also the
- hired barrack 'in Thomas-street, Winchester, which,
with all others of that class, it recommends shOlild
be, given up on the first opportunity; and to reduce,
by every_ possible means, the rents of those which
it may be neces:sary to retain.
Having gone through. the several heads of inquiry,
, ,
the
Report
- states, that the existence at -all, or so'
long, of 'many of the' ablises and irregularities in
this department, is owing to the neglect of a proper
attention to the late Barrack-Master-General's ac-
counts ; that, it the annual snaking-up and pro, U-
Lion of these ',accounts had been peremptorily re.

ItytaAp,D fra R s , of No. 4, Mart;ett:court, How-sticet
:CE -NO. 1 1"2., btrand'; . where [.eltipeithements, Orders ti

quire& the reprehensible appropriation of the pub-
lie, money, mentioned in the, first Report, the tin-
! autholii,ca,augmentation of P`ziY and allowance, to
several Offic,:rs„ and the,. extravagance in price of
stores,. and hire of buildint,S would have been
•
checked, or totally prevented.
Had,the accounts .beeu examined, no authority.
could have been produced for the payment of up-
‘vardsot Nonni.. to the Principal ,t‘ssrstant_Barracki-
Master-General, for the • inspection of Bat Tacks, -
w,hich rims: refore have .been diSalloWed, or re- .
ferred Attu Treasury for approbatitin.. The allow-,
ances :paid in lieu of half-pay,, amounting latterly to
30001. per annum, must, betbre they I.vereadmitted,
have been ,biought again under the consideration of .!
Government.. The allowance...of -a per centaie:.to •
the, Architets would not have been passed by .the
Auditors, unless distinally sanai6ned by the Lords
of the Treasury; who would. probably have ci:nsi,
dered.the emolument so disproportionahle tc;"their,
• services, as to have suggested .some, other etude of
remuneration. Orian; examination of • theie ac-
Counts, it would have appeared , too; that the Lst
addition of per annum to the,Accountants had
been granted without authority,. Another conse-
quence' of the delay in c:,:amining these acconnts,-
haS. been the appointment of another or Seetand.
Accountant to the Office;-andthe allowance to him,
of-course, of the like salary of 8001. pet-aunt-inn
‘‘Much important matter," it says, « which the
Coen-mince should 'probably have proposed as
check on the expenditure has: been'anticipated by
the 'Regulations Aireff:ted by his Majesty's warrant,
soon :tiler the appointment of.the present Barrack='
Master-General. These provide-for the security of
the money issued on a:,.?courit of the Barrack-Master-
' General, by direiiting it to be: kept ,at the' Bank ;
and-against 'an -unnecessary 'issue to him, by re-
quiring monthly 'estimateg.of- the 'sums 'wanted fur
the several services in each ensiling month, to be de-
livered to the Treasury, together with a statement of
the balanee'in hand, and oftheout-standingdehiands
on it ; and by requiring the quarterly books of all' sa-
:laries, and of the Contingencies of the BarroCk Depart-
-111ent, also to be sent to the TreaStlrf.betbre pay
ment." TheSe, affil the uther nes,'y reiu)atiori4 i.mder
,
his Majety's Warrant, it says, appear well calculated
to prevent such mischief as occurred ..undei the
stiperintendatice of the late Barraeli.-Masiik-Ge-
' neral ; but it observes; that the preYent Btirrack-
Master-Genend has felt a difficulty, float' want of
definite instruCtiom, respeaing 'the 'expendiz:lre 'of
money for other heads of servic.c thdu buildings
repairs under the amount of bool. and suggests
th'at he should have a discretionary power to
,the
same amount, which be may specify under every'
other head. Censidcting, a...J0, the system adopt-
;
ed in these re2ulations for checking the expen-'
dittire in thin Depart:nem, the Report concludes,
with s6nesting, 'as improvements, the appoint-
ment of three Commissioners in the place of the
Barrack-i\lastet-General, the Deputy Barrack-Mas-
ter-General, and the three pric.:tpal Assistant Bar-
' raCk-nisters-General',"to'conkhata 'she business crf
that Department ;'•one of them to be notniaated
Chairman, with a salary of 1,.:20u1. a year, and
the other two 10001. each. A Secretary and 'Ac-
countant to the Office, at a salary of 8001. a year.
A Chief Clerk- in each of the branches of ac-
counts, stores, and buildings, at 4001. a year ;'
'Which, with a proportionate number of inferior
Clerks, will 'be a less expence, by -.:20001. a year,
than dna of the present establishment, ,It then
states, thfit the , expellee of a house ibr the
Barrack-Master-General ought to be saved,, upoh
the ground, that ofticial houses, where constant 'at-
tendance. is not necessary, are liable to .abuse;'
that all allowances be abolished,, and. fixed
. •
Salaries substituted, The prudence of this- Sug,
gestion• it illustrates by• the case of the-architects;
who, exclusive of their official salaries and allow-
ances; hate received, on the account of .9.4 per
centage upon' the antotlut of the huildihgmtpc,-
penditure,' nearly • 40;0001. It therefore recom-
mends, that they, also, like all other officers and
clerks',.. shall i.have fixed salaries, in lieu of all emo-
luments whatsoever, the first architedt, 8001. a
year, -and the second, Goal, a year, with their rea-
sonable expellees when ordered upon detached
The Report then concludes with pointing
out the iinty of the Assistant Barrack-Masters-Ge-
nerai;: whonl it recoMmends to resume their ori-
ginal -name of Inspettor4 of Distriels; and that they
should' receive 'a fixed salary, not' exceeding" 4001.
a year, in lien charges, travelling expellees.;
&-c. WhatsoeV-er ; and that in all' the oil-ices of the
Barrack Department, connected with troops, Offi-
cers who have been in the regular"army should
be- appointed, as likely to be the fittest • persons,
and also as their half-pay' will 'be saved AO' the
Public purse. The Report finally- concludes
a compliment to 'Lieutenant-General klEwirr, for
the 'regular 'delivery of his accounts, though none
of theni have been yet andited, since his appoint-
ment to the office 'of Barrack-MaSter-General.

'About ten ,days since_as.a.labourer, in the employ
of JOHN. JULIUS. ANoriasTLtN, Esq. was digging up
soiree: earth in the orchard at the Woodlands at
)31ackheath, he tOund. an earthen pot, which, on in-
spection, ,was found .fo contain 253 pieces of silver
coin; most of diem. bearing • the head of Queen
Elizabeth. They are in high preservation, and in
size-about that of a dollar, but much thinner. Mr.
AN.GERSTEIN presented time finder
,with a Si. note.

Yesterday. afternoon the premises of Mr. Crocket,
-bedstead .inantifaaurer, iu Chapel-street, Curtain-
road, Shureditch, were burnt to the ground, together
with the stock in trade, -By the arrival of the en-
: ginesthellarnes, were prevented froMoomainnicating
to the adjoining houses. • -
• _

FATAL Duni—A few days ago a meeting took
place near Limerick, hemeen H. G. BAILEY, Esq.
and an Officer of the Navy,- in which the latter was
'shot on the 'spot through the heart, and instantly
died.

1 k iCt 01' STOCKS
• - YISTErtt)AY. •
8:111k;StOCk, 231 ii, 1 otna Stock, 1371 1871
Navy i p.er Cent 99 98i • India Ss. 4s. pr.
5 per Cent. 179,, New Anil.
Itn,ll ; per Cent. l'f.:tefiequer Bills, par, 2s. pr.
4 Pry Cent. k Otnnium,
per Cent. Red. 634} I Ifishditto,
per C'unt Con 63 1 mperial 3 per Cent.
ltaak 1.. flan. 17i 15-16t11S Ditto Arlp. 7 9,6ths • ;
Ditto Short Ann. • Cons. tOr Opening, 6433• 1.

" rid published by WILLIAM A RMIGER SCRIPS,OOIItiI Mot!
g the Paper, I ellers for rbe Eclilur, Vic. (post-poi:1), in

ton- itreet, C rciivencir—sq uare.
addressed: