Star.
London, England, 1810-05-01 00:00:00

e-- eihi
1? Tale, lam e Nunn s Iril.iltCe knOwn
inquired into, which it now gliCettahled to have been,'
at the end of the year 1802, 4177,847.
" His actomits; Which had been pasieel with tcle.
rabic regularity and expedition in the rears 1794 arid
1795, MI into great arrear iii the subsequent tears,
both as to the time of delivei7 and the settlethent
of theth.

AN ACCOUNT,
SHEIVING THE DATES OP MR. VILLIERS'S ACCOUNTS, TEE
TIME WHEN THEY WERE RECEIVED A/1D PASSED, AND
THE BALANCE UPON HACH.
Dates of Ac.- When Ac- When Ac.: Balance due
counts. counts were counts were from Mr. Vil-
received. passed. lemasacknow-
ledged by hint.
£15,4511 IS

From Jan. 10
to Dec. 31 Sept. 20, 1793
1792
For '1793 Not known. Do. 59,317 15 9
1794 July 28, 1795 Dec.3l, 1795 33,540 11 6
1795 April 26, 1797 Dec. 9, 1802 26,142 154
1796 Not known. Nov. 4, 180.5 65,150 884
1797 July 7, 1805 July 6, 1206 74,124 18 44
1798 Not known. Dec. 6, 1806 111,66$ 2 3
1799 Dec. c 3, 1806 Apr 1120,11107 25,693 10 6t
1800 Aug. 22, 1807 Oct. 24, 1808 129,113 15 4
1801 Oct. 24, 1893 Aptil24,l BOP 166,298 11 7
1802 Feb. 21, 1809 July 21,1809 177,847 98t
1803 April 11, 1809 Do. 956,539 7 8
. 1804 Aug. 14, 1809 Oct. 6, 285,038 15 44
" Pram tre time that annual accounts ceased to
be delivered with punctuality, additional opportuni-
ties were afforded for an improper accumulation of
money in his handi," the increase of which became
almost continually progressive ; 'and the Commissio-
ners of the Navy, whose duty it was to call for and
enforce the regular produttion of those accounts, ne-
glected to dei so.
" It is, however, in evidence before your Commit-
tee, that the late Comptroller of the Navy frequently
represented to Mr. George Villiers, that his accounts
;ought to be more regularly delivered in, and received
.assurances from him that they should be so; at the
same time Mr. Villiers stated the necessity of having
the imprests made to him in full, when the pressure
of the public service, about the year l 798; made it
expedient to pay only in part ; and the Comptroller
was led to believe, from his conversations with Mr.
George 'Villiers, that there was no balance of public
money at that time in the Accountant's hands.
" It is to be remarked with great regret, that the
inefficient state of the Navy Office, for a period of
no less than eleven years, is given as an excuse or
palliation for this omission on the part of the Board ;
and some of the new regulations adopted under an
o;der in Council of Jur:, 8, 1708, at the iecommen-
dation of the Commissioners of Inquiry, are alledged
as a principal cause of the defective state of this
Office.

Dee. 31,17%

44 The strongest representations from the Navy
Office to the Admiralty were made ori this 'object,
at different times, from 1800 to 1807. One great
and obvious inconvenience was pointed out as arising
from making the Chief Clerk in the Office of Bills
and Accounts Secretary to the Committee of Ac-
counts, (which was recently formed of three Members
of the Board, agreeably to the directions of that Or-
der in Council) while the same person had the super-
intendence also of the Foreign Accounts ; this incon-
venience the Navy Board endeavoured to remedy by
some official arrangements, which diminished, but
did not remove the evil ; and it continued to be felt
until the duties of these separate departments were
allotted to three distinct officers.

" The hardships suffered by the Clerks in general
from the low state of their salaries and the abolition
of fees, the consequent inactivity and languor which
prevailed in the different departments, and the diffi-
culty of carrying on the business, are enumerated in
this correspondence : but the actual evils from the
accounts not being passed are not, perhaps, set forth
with sufficient force, or with those details which were
calculated to impress the Admiralty with a due sense
of them. Your Committee, however, cannot but re-
mark the neglect with which these representations
were treated No answer whatever appears to have
been made to them before June 1806, and no remedy
was applied by the Admiralty until November 1807,
tb a case which involved the efficiency of this great
and most important office of account.
" The balance exhibited in Mr. G. Villiers' monthly
account immediately subsequent to 31st December,
1802, when the balance was 4177,847, amounts to
no more than £2255 ; and after the 31st of Decem
ber, 1803, when the balance upon the settlement of
the general account of that year proved to be
£256,539, the balance to which his name was sub-
scribed amounted only to £12,055.
IS
I Your Committee, notwithstanding some pains
taken to discover the method by which these monthly
balances were made to exhibit so fallacious a view of
the whole sum actually in the Accountant's hands at
any given thne,.have not been able to satisfy them-
selves as to the particular mode by which the real
balance was kept out of sight. It was suggested by
one of the late marine clerks, that such parts of the
irnprestS as were not received within the current
month, wer4 never subsequently brought to account ;
, but, with the exception of RlOOO (drawn out on 10th
July, 1799) there is certainly no foundation for this
suspicion ; and it seems probable, that the generality
of the statements of expenditure in the monthly at-
counts, accompanied as they necessarily were by any
' vouchers, may have served as a cover for large sums
of money, which in fact never may have been applied
ito the public service.
1 " Nut deeming it essential to pursue this part of
the subject -further, your Committee applied them.
selves to ascertain what steps had been taken upon
the discovery of these deficiencies, to secure the public
' from loss ; and they find that extents were issued to
the *hole amount of the Accountant's property ;
which , however falls far short of the amount for
which" Mr. G. Villiers appears to be responsible to
the. public, tittles: there should be articles of discharge
tliiinOtfli to your CoMmittee or to the Navy Office,
itittifpreserit Unsettled state of his accounts.
debt for which the extent was issued is
R 264,307. Its. ; the value of the landed property
is " estifhated at ,593,507. 2s. Bd. There is also
£21,619. 10s. 10d. three per cents consols, and the se-
curity given on his first taking of the office, which was
Jor £lO,OOO. The bond executed in 1792 is how-
' ever not forthcoming ; and there is reason to think
that no bond, was exetuted'on Ins subsequent re-ap-
pointment in 1803, although it was made a condition
of his holding the office, that he shotfldsive security
in the sum of £lO,OOO vrithourrefetin& to the -secu-
rity taken in 1792.