The Sun.
London, England, 1810-08-28 00:00:00

[PRICE SIXPI;NCE HALFPENNY.

The accountant, if aggrieved, would as at pre-
sent possess the means of obtaining redress, by legal
apneal•to tl e Exchequer, or by application to the
Lords of the Treasury.
The inconvenience to the public, of &laying the
recovery of halal-ices till the acconnt gets into the
Pipe-Office, and to the accountant also, in waiting
for his rpilecus till that process is compkte; are -
among the. many evils which result from the [rd.
sent Lunde of passing accounts through the Officers
of the Excheriner,, and constitute additional-reasons
for recommending the diicontiuu4nce of forms pro--
duas ive of Fletritifent and embarrassment.

With reference to the limited nature of the pow.
ers vested in the Commissioners' of Audit, your
Committee have recommended that the peculiar re,
s-triaions imposed upon them by the Legi la ure
should he remoire.d, and that they should be enabled

to 'exercise the same discretion in matters of ac-
count, as has been granted to, and is pbssesied br
all other great departments of accounts, •
Io considering the constitution, of the Audit-
Office, and the regulations by which it is governed,
it has appeared to your Committee that the excess
which, has bx-en noticed in the number of COmmis-
sionera ajdOtfidiers of a higher description, and the
deficiency of subordinate Clerks, was both a great
impediment in the way pf any speedy and praeti.
cable improvement of the Office, and one of the
principal reasons which prevent a greater progress
from being•made in the accounts. Your Commit-
tee therefore recommend a gradual reduClion in the
number of Commissioners and Inspeclors to be
made from.time to time, as opportunity may offer,
and as 'may be found consistent with the equitable
claims of individuals ; they think it necessary sr'
the same time to propo,e the allowance of a small.
increase, if required, of inferior Cletk%, persuaded
that such a modification of the establishment would
be calculated to intro-duce internal, discjpline, unt-
formity of prac,-.tice, arid disratch of business ; arl4
they would add the indispensable necessity of the
transfer of the second Subdiy'..inn Board to the head,
Office at Spitterset-pace. With regard to the ab-
sence of all control on the part of the General
Board, whiCh has been notice&as one of the chief
defeas in the constitotion.pf the Audit:Office,, it
has app ared to your Comrni:ee, that it was a
matter of extreme difficulty to suggest any effectual
remedy in this respe=t, such defect being inherent
in the constitution of the office. The want of an
efficient and superintending authority, in the Audit-
Office is. most obvious ; and your Committee
strongly recommend this subject to the ftnnre atten-
tion:either of the House itself, or to the considera-
t ion of any Committee on Public Expenditure 'here-
after to be 'appointed.

The test;niOny of Mr. Hartison, and the Papers
referred tO in his EVideriCe,. suftcientlY shew that
the Treasury does not, •in point of fact, enter Into
any
.exarpination of the statement of Accounts
transmitted by
,the 'Auditors ; nor could such exa-
mination rend in general to any useful purpose; but
as it appears that the practice of submitting state-.
roents of this description to the Lords of the Trea-
sury for their approbation, has for its objea to ena-
ble their Lordships to decide upon any -dubious
points", and to give the Accobt tints an opportunity
'of appealing against surcharges, your Committee are'
..of Opinion, that 'special 'representations to the, Tres-
sury in all cases of doubt', and an official not cc to
the Accountant of any eventual surcharge to enable
within a limited
,time, to make his appeal.
either to the Exchequer or.the 'Treasury-, would
answer all the purposes of stating Accounts to the
latter Office, and allow of this process being a!to-
gether 'dispensed with.

7 The pr9aice of issuing money without account,.
other than such as Shall be required by the Lords of
the TreasUry, and the examination of theseaceount
q
by Officers of the Treasury, your Committee cane
not but observe is open to very serious objections,
and from the 'list contained in the Appendix, ap-
pears to.have much increased in late years. The
dangerous tendency of such a proceeding, to the ex-
tent to which it has been earhed, is too obtic.us to
need being pointed out, and your Committee are
strongly of opinion .that such issues ought to be
strielly confined to those cases where seerccy is ab-
solutely necessary, or the disclosuTe attended with
palpable inconenience to the public service. From
an inspe&ion, however, of the list contained in the
Appendix, and those.which, have already been
before the house during the last Session of Parlia.
ment, it is sufficiently apparent that the issues are
not confined wtthin acy such rule, .but the power
being unqinited, is liable to- be exercised for poir.:
poses of private consideration and personal favour ;
and they are not ,aware of any reasons which sought
to have prevented the accounts of various_ indivi-
duals contained in that List, to whom monies are
annually intrusted, for public service, from beirg
Made subjeal to the examination of the Auditors of
public accounts.
In noticing the arrear which appears in the eK•
arninetion of these accounts, it is but jus. ice, to-
wards the Assistant, Sccretary, Mr. Harrison, and
thelenior Clerk, Mr. Cotton, to observe, that no
attention appears to.have been wanting on their part,
but that diligence and regularity in their proceed-
ings are very conspicuous and greatly to thel
credit. When your Committee, however, consider
the great variety and importance of the bu.,:neis
transacted by the Treasury, and the inexped.ency
'6f allowing to the office which re4ulates and c
trols the issue of public money, .the power al,O of
auditing the expenditure, they have no hesitation
in declaring that a regular and independent offige.
of accounts would, in every respect, be a mon:
proper department for the exercise of a vigilant and,
efficient coDtroul i and thersfore recommend, that

movie's issued by the Treasury for services, other
loan those before stated, should be accounted for, to
the Auditors of Public Acc.nsnts.
In the course of this Report, several remarks
have incidentally been made on the forms of ac-
counts and of er mattrrs of official piattice, as well
as on the mode cif keeping the different ledgers and
books, itud other subjects of internal reaulatioto—
These, your Committee apprehend, might be. in-,
treated to the Commissionerst hemselves to regulate;
and they recommend, therefor:is', that their sugges-
tions upon these points may be referred for consi-
deration and adoption to hie Auditors.
Your Committee also recommend, that, it be re•
ferret' to the Auditors in Ike manner to revise and
consolidate the several Aes which 'have been passed
relative to the examination and audit of the public
accounts, and to prepare and frame the draft of a
Bill, with such amendments as the suggestions con-
taitied in this. Report shall call for, and any other
th t Tay' appear to theM to be essential towards fa-
c litating aad expediting the examination and audit
of accoures: suds Bill to be submitted far adoption
or correetion to a Committee of the House in the
next, Session .ot Parliament.
Your Committee further propose, that a copy of
the annual report of the state of the public ac-
counts made by the auditors to the Lords of the
Treasury, on or betore the 3 ist of March in every
year, pursuant to the Treasury %%arrant of the or h
October, 1 sofi, shoifd be in future annually laid
before the House of Commons; and that such an=
. no-4 repent should contain short notices of any
feiire,entatinni on official abuses or irregularities
which the
.Board may have made (and ought -in' all
cases to make)` to the Treasury during the preced-
ing' veal, together with a statement of any mea-
sates whits may have been taken or proceedings
had in consequence of such representation.- For
the purpose of shewing the progress made in the
current :accounts, and the state of arrear accounts itt
the Audit Office, your Ganunittee recommend a
-re%;:Si n and alteration of the form in which the lists
of accounts accompanying the. annual reports of
the Board have been hitherto &awn up. These
lis,s,.. which appear to be framed confOrmably to
the Treasury instruJions, are much longer, • more
minute ai d detailed, than there appears to be any
occasion for, the satne iotorication, being contained
in the list of accounts annually laid before Parlia-
ment, u:.dar 42 Geo. 111. C. 70. and printed. in the
finance accornit's of every year. Your Co tirnioee
apprehend that another and a better mode of strew-
, log the adual. State: of the public accounts, might
without difficulty be devised, in which the progress
made in the current accounts, and the exact arrear
of such accounts, together with the causes of the
arrear, might be.ascertaineo by immediate inspec-
tion. Such a Stateineet ould contain real and
important information with regard to the state of
accounts in the Audit Office, and might with great
propriety be substituted for the form now iq use.
With this view, it would be -advi-able that the Com-
inissioners of Au lit should be itistruCtech to frame
such a form of return as: would in their judgrnet
convey to the House the best information of the
progress made in -the examination and audit of ac-
counts in the leait praCticable compass.
Your Committee are unwilling to conclude their
remarks upon the system of auditing and examin-
ing the Public Accounts, without adverting to
their visit at the Audit Office, a report of which is
subjoined in the Appendix, and the general tenor
of the various doeuments which have been received
from that Beard ; (tons the whole of which it ap-
pears, that notwithstanding the defeels which have
been noticed, in the original constitution of that de-
partment, and of the formation of the new esta
blishment in 1806, the present Commissioners are,
in many respeets; entitled to commendation. For
the reasons which have been stated, their investiga..-
Coto of Official 'abuses and irregularities has been
partial and limited, but several very useful -reports
hive been made by themunder -the Treasury .in•
structions, and considerable advantages derived
from some of their suggesth;ns. They also appear,
in various instances, to have' abridged, and other wise
•improved, the process of examination, and making
up accounts in their office.. The requisition and
delivery of accounts has become snore expeditious
and regular ; the proceedings tor the recovery_ of
balanCes have be-en pursued with effed ; and an
Ad, containing Several useful provisions,w as bi ought
in at the suggestion of the Commissioners. in the
year 1807, chiefly for the purpose of mote effec-
tually charging accountants with interest upon
balanees. The minute books and general pro-
deedings of the office likewise appeared to the
Gomtnittee to be kept in a satisfaCtory and regular
manner, very creditable to the officers at the head of

those depaitments. •
How far the number of accounts examined by
the present Auditors has increased in a due propor-
tion to the increase of establishment, is difficult to
ascertain ; but there is reason to believe that the
progress of the new Board in the examination of
Artear Ordinary AcCounts has been considerable.—
.I,t is, however, to be apprehended, that ais arrear
iii the examination 'of the Current Accounts has
been 'gradually accruing,- and an , alteration in the
trraligen:cnt of the business of the office has lately
been et-leered, with a view of rreventing such arrear
from increasing. Whtther thii arrangement will
prOve effectual ior the purpose, remains matter only
of conjecture. Your Committee are disposed to
entertaiti considerable doubts with respect to the
'Success of the plan, and recommend an inquiry into
the state of the arrear at an early period of the next
Se;sion of Parliament. A separation of the Cur-
rent from, the Arrear Accounts appears to have
been, one of the best features of the new constitu-
tion of the office in 1806 ; and your Committee,
with a view., effeaually to accomplish this object,
are induced to recommend, that when the second
Subd vision Board shall have been removed to So-
merset-place, ihe arrear ot Ordinary as well as Ex-
traordinary Accounts, should be allotted for exarni-
• nation to that 'Board, hick, it found necessary,.
might receive the assistance of a few additional' nu-
pernutneray clerks; and that special care be taken
to keep t e,taniislinient of the first Subdivision
and upon a to..mig, in point of 'efficiency,
,ade-
quate to all the pi,tposes of keepiil down arre.irs
the„.CIalllillat1011 and audit of the current Ac.

coubts, ordinary as well as extraordinary, of the
kingdom.
Your Committee have omitted to notice a cu.
cumsta ce arising out of the e, idence Of Mr. Har-
rison, which ought to have great weight whenever
the compensations to be granted to the Excheqvr
officers; in lieu of fees uponyassing accounts, shall
come to be considered. It appears from Mr. Har-
rison's statement, that the accounts examined and
settled by the Treasury, or by the Comptrollers of
Army accounts, are not passed through the Excite-
quer Offices, and therefore not made liable to any
other fees; than the fees upon the issue of the mo-
ney. iii-oar this circumstance, doubts .may not un-
reasonably be entertained with , regard to any pre-
scriptive or
,inherent right on the.part of the officers
of the Exchequer, through whose departments the
public accounts are. made to pass, to the fees claimed
by them., •
Your Committee are aware, that these fees are
claimed upon the accounts audited
they
the Commis-
sioners as imp:est monies ; but the right exercised,
by the Treasury of withdraWing, in certain caw§,.
the accounts of monies imprested for public services
from the interference of the Exchequer, by direa-
ing a particular mode of accounting for the expen-.
diture, sufficiently demonstrates the power vested in ,
that department over the emoluments of the officers
in question. i•
To skew more distinOly tlie nature of these fees,
and that they are levied by no -fixed and determined
rules, your Committee have annexed to this Report
an account of all Parliamentary grants issued for
building and completing the new v. ing of the British
Museum; from which account it appears, that the
fees taken by the Exchequer upon the first vote of
8,0001. amounted to 4101. 3s. 6d.; upon tte,second
sum of 8,0001. only to 2101. Bs. 6 t. ; upon the vote
of 7,5001. in the ensuing year, to 81. 13s. 6d.; .and
upon the last vote of .5,2701. the fees•were again
raised to 2.721." 15s. 6d. From the late period of
the sessions at which this document was received;
your Committee have not been able to inquire into
.the cause 'of this apparent irregularity; but it ap-
pears to them to afford a strong a.Jditional proof of
the capricious, and almost accidental manner, in
which fees'appear to be taken,\and charged to the
public.
As a further illustratism of, this part of the sub-
jedf, an important passige occurs in a letter from
the -Auditors to the Lords Commissioners of the
Treasury, to the following effect :—" That the pub-
lic has !•u:,taitted'a considerable loss by the_clause of
exemption (tom payment of fees, at toe Exchequer
arid Treasury; having been omitted in sonic of the
Aels, by which several of the sums issued to tire
Accountant were appropriated to the service before-
mentioned."

There are instances of the appropriation of seve-
ral large sums of . money in the annual Acts, and
pirieular:y in that of the last Session, 49 Geo. 111.
c. 12g, which are directed to be issued and paid
without any fee or other deduction whatsoever, viz.
400,0001. for subsidy to his Sicilian Maje,t) ;
300,0001. to the King of Sweden ; 600,0001. to the
Prince Regent.ot Portugal; 16,9751. for the Royal
Military College;. 23,3501. for the Royal Military
Asylum; 47,6501. and 13,2151. for paying off. cer-
tain 5 per cent. Annuities; 13,47 tl., for securing
docks, &c. at Portsmouth ; 10,0u01. tor' Roads and
Bridges in Scotland ; 50,0001. for making an In-
land Navigation ; 100,0001. issued to the GoVer-
nors of Queen Anne's Bounty ; 4,5001. to the Com-
missioners for the New 'Forest e 5,5691. for the
I\llilitary Itoadh in Scotland.
Where a discretionary power has been exercised
by the House in So many cases, for the sole purpose
of saving fees upon the issue of money, and by the
Commissioners of the Treasury 'leen auditing various
accounts of expenditure, there seems to be no rea-
son against giving such fnrther latitude to this prac7
tice‘ as a just attention to economy may warrant.
The legal claims of individuals who are Interested in
the continuance of fees, will undoubtedly deserve
consideratiou ; but it must be recollected, that all
official situations are liable to the 'regulations, fluc-
tuations, and changes, which are incidental to
office, and that no forms of issuing money, or of
auditing 'accounts, which ate become inconvenient
or burdensome to the public, ought to be kept up
for the mere purpose of private emolument.
The only 'remaining objeet 'which your Committee
have, as it occurs to them, omitted to notice in the
course of the Report, is the apparently useless ac-
cumulation of vouchers in the Office of the Avail-
tors of Public Accounts, particularly of Bank Di-
vidend Warrants, which it appears to be the prac-
tice of the Office never to destroy, and which have
of course increased to a degree extremely inconve-
nient to the Officers of that department. Your
Committee seeing no necessity or poetical utility of
keeping vouchers tor an unlimited series of years,
suggest to the House the propriety of allowing the
Auditors to destroy all vouchers 'upon declared ac-
counts of a date anterior to the,year 1795 ; and that
they be required for the future to keep such vouch-
ers for fifteen years only subsequent to the issue of
the quietus tolhe Accountant. With respect to the
delivery and acknowledgment of vouchers, consi-
derable difficulty at present prevails, and 'much en
necessary labour appears from the present mode of
transacting that business, to be given to the intetior
officers of the Auditors' department ; but as your
Committee understand that the subject of Vienna ing
and simplifying this proceeding is under the colis:-
deration of wine. part of the Executive Govern
in conjunaion with the Auditors, they 11,ive not
thought it necessary to investigate it further.

The 6th, 7th, Bth, and gth'Reports, of the Com-
mittee upon ihe Public. Expenditure of the flailed
Kingdom, have also been printed. They compete
the whole of the. Reports on this subjezt ordered to
be, printed in the last Session of Pdthdtllent.

Here follows a copy of the Return, With ob-
servations of the Committee upon it, in which the
tardy mode of delivering the assessments is as,igned
as a principal cause of the deficiency ; and the Corn!
mitree recommend that means may be taken for the
more speedy colledtion of the revenue in that, part of
the United Kingdom ; and that etfeetual means
ought to'be taken for ascertaining the true value of
its landed property.
TEM SEN7ENTII. REPORT
Relates to public buildings, civil and