The Sun.
London, England, 1861-08-23 00:00:00

PUBLIC ACCOUNTS.

The following, being the fourth report of the
select committee on public accounts, was issued
yesterday :
The vote for civil contingencies provides a sum
entrusted to the Government to meet unexpected
demands, and to make advances for services to be
afterwards voted by Parliament. The account,
therefore, includes one of the final payments
charged on the fund, and an account of advances.
The control of the civil contingencies fund rests
with the Treasury, but the final payments are
mainly for expenses incurred under the Colonial,
Foreign, and Home Departments. In such cases
the Treasury, on the application of the Secretary
of State, directs the payment by an order to the
Paymaster-General in England, or the proper
officer in Scotland or Ireland. The details of the
expenditure are examined in the office of the Secre-
tary of State, and are not audited either at the Trea-
sury or Audit-office. The order on the Paymaster-
General is his authority for the payment, and is
audited with his accounts by the Audit Board. In
cases where the expenditure is under the Treasury,
the detailed examination is made there, but no
audit takes place at Somerset House; and as in
payments made for other departments, the vouchers
of the detailed expenditure never come before the
Audit Board. They have only the orders on the
Paymaster to make a payment, unless the detailed
accounts are specially referred to them by the

Treasury.
The civil contingency vote has diminished in
later years. Many of the charges have been re-
moved to the estimates, and this course has been, to
a certain extent, followed in the estimate for the
current year. Mr. Anderson, the financial clerk of
the Treasury, has stated that in his opinion the
greater part of the final payments might be re-
moved from civil contingencies, and voted on esti-
mate, as other services. There would remain some
unexpected charges, which could not be included
in any prospective estimate. The advances are
divided in the account under four heads :-
1. £8,271 9s. sd. Advances for Services charged
on the Consolidated Fund.
Only one sum remains outstanding under this
head, which should be removed either by repay-
ment from the Consolidated Fund, or such other
mode as may appear consistent with the acts of Par-

liament.
2. £67,510 7s. 41—Advances for ordinary ger.
vices.
There is no power of applying the surplus on one
civil service vote to the deficiency on another ; in
case, therefore, of an unexpected deficiency of the
vote, the sum required is advanced from civil con-
tingencies, and is repaid from the vote of the next
year. No arrears will remain under this head when
the civil services of the current year have all been
voted.
3. £33,569 4s. 10d.—Advances for new services
Where an unexpected expenditure becomes ne-
cessary, and no money has been voted applicable to
the service, and the sum required is advanced from
the civil contingencies, and a vote is submitted to
Parliament, from which the advance is repaid.
Under this head there will be no arrears when the
civil service votes shall have passed.
4. £53,025 173. 101—Advances to be repaid from
other sources.
Some of these advances require attention. In
March, 1857, Government purchased a chapel at
Paris for £10,905. Parliament refused to sanction
the vote for the payment of this money. The chapel
was, therefore, resold in April, 1859, for £9,000,
payable by instalments. Of this sum, there re-
mained tai flit Otoc i[oul, a. otw_, .110,000
outstanding, which your committee were informed
would be paid in a short time. But the difference
between the sum paid and the sum received for the
chapel .;7, 01,905, will be a charge on the public,
although it appears on the account as an advance
to be repaid. This sum ought have appeared as a
final payment, and been brought to the knowledge
of Parliament.
There is a sum of £1,858, being half of the cost
of maintaining Commissioner Yeh during his deten-
tion by the allied forces. The advance was made
between 1858 and 1860, and is due by the French
Government. We mention this item merely for the
purpose of pointing out the expediency of settling
such advances without delay.
Third, a sum of £37,395 advanced to the Govern-
ment of Monte Video in the years 1845 and 1848,
inclusive.
This case, in the opinion of your committee,
proves the necessity of some change in the mode of
dealing with the civil contingency account. The
sum is considerable. The expenditure was incurred
without the knowledge of Parliament. The ad-
vance was made from civil contingencies, a fund to
which it hardly belonged, and not from the Trea-
sury chest, which would have brought it before
Parliament; and from the years 1845 to 1848, down
to this time, it has been dealt with and treated as
an advance.
Your committee proceed to suggest such arrange-
ments as they think may place the fund on a satis-
factury footing..
The fund which is now the Treasury Chest and
the contingency fund wore at one time similar in
character. From both were made advances and final
payments, and both were recruited from time to
time by Parliamentary votes, and often upon inade.
quate information. A great and beneficial altera-
tion has been made with respect to the Treasury
chest fund ; it has become one of deposit, and
no final payments should be charged on it. The
amount of the fund is fixed, any deficiency is re-
placed by Parliament, and any surplus beyond such
amount is paid over to the Exchequer.
Your committee propose to apply the same prin-
ciple to the civil contingency fund.
To effect this object two preliminary steps will
be necessary :-
1. That all final payments capable of estimate
should be removed from civil contingencies, and be
submitted in the annual estimates as other estimates.
2. That any hopeless advance, such as the Monte
Video Loan, should likewise be removed from the
account. There will be no serious difficulty in
effecting these changes. Your committee would
then recommend :-
3. That the civil contingency fund should be fixed
at £120,000.
4. That the Treasury should continue to make
advances to meet deficiences on the ordinary .votes
or for new services, and that such advances be in-
cluded in the estimates for the succeeding year, as
at present, and be repaid to the contingency fund.
5. That the estimates should in each case state
the sum to be repaid to the contingency fund.
6. That no final payment should be charged on
the fund; but that in case Government, for the
public service, feel it necessary on their responsi-
bility to incur any civil service expenses, the defi-
ciency occasioned by such expenditure shall be con-
sidered as an advance, and be submitted to Parlia-
ment as a vote in the succeeding year.
7: That accounts of the civil contingency fund,
similarTre
asu rt tyoo,
at
nh de Parliament,
ba cyc account
so
hbf
oe
ut
forwarded
ode r Treasurywbaerde d preparedchest
w i
t with the
tb hye pre-
sented
the
ne-
cessary vouchers to the Audit Office, and that the
auditors should present such accounts annually to
Parliament, together with such observations as they
By firtr.angement, your committee believe that
maththinisk
arrangement,
sufficient power will be left to the Government to
meet any unexpected necessity, while the greater
part of the expenses now charged on the contin-
gency fund will be voted by Parliament on estimate
--the sums advanced to meet emergencies will be
ultimately brought before Parliament in the shape
of a vote, and every advance will appear in the
annual account.

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