ABSTRACT of the feveral Articles of Public Receipt and Expenditure; from the Report of the Select Committee. RECEIPT. 1. Total net Payments into the Exchequer, from Mich. 1784 to Mich. 1785 From Mich. 1784 to Mich. 1785. From 5th Jan. 1786 to 5th Jan. 1786. £. 12,321,520 Deduc therefrom The refpited Duties paid by the Eaft India Company Excess beyond the future Amount of the Window Duties £. 401,118 46,189 447,307 1. Total net Payments into the Exchequer, from 5th Jan. 1785 to 5th Jan. 1786 £. 11,874,213 12,499,916 Deduc therefrom The refpited Duties paid by the Eaft India Company Excefs beyond the future Amount of the Window Duties £. 401,118 56,101 457,219 2. Further Produce of the Window Duty imposed by the 24th George III. £. 12,042,697 380,056 3. Further Produce of the Duty on Two Wheel and Four Wheel Carriages 4. To complete the former Duty on Male Servants 253,534 59,281 107,180 26,803 42,444 5. Further Produce of the Duties on Horfes, Waggons, and Carts 56,829 6. Further Produce of Taxes impofed in 1784 7. Further Produce of Taxes impofed in 1785, including the Improvement of the Medicine Duty 8. Paid at the Excife and Alienation Office, in Part of Civil List 9. Produce of the Land and Malt 73,610 22,000 242,000 14,000 EXPENDITURE. 10. Interest and Charges of the Public Debts £. 9,275,769 14. Navy 11. Exchequer Bills 12. Civil Lift 13. Charges on Aggregate Fund 14. Army 14. Ordnance 15. Militia 16. Mifcellaneous Services 17. Appropriated Duties 258,000 900,000 64,600 The Tenth Report of the Commiffioners appointed to examine, take, and fate, the Public Accounts of the Kingdom. See Public Papers, Vol. VI. p. (214). THE examination into the manner of paffing the accounts of the paymaster-general of his majesty's forces, in the office of the auditor of the impreft, led us, neceffarily, to enquire into the mode in ufe of paying the army, and of keeping the army-accounts in the pay-office. Several obfervations occurred to us in the progrefs of that inquiry, and many regulations, which, in our judgment, appeared fit and expedient to be eftablished: fome of them we have inferted in our last report, and fubmitted to the wisdom of the legislature: there are other fubjects connected with both these offices, as well as other matter of obfervation and regulation, that demand our attention. The paymaster-general iffues money to two perfous who are public annual accountants-the paymafter of the widows penfions, and the agent for the out-penfioners of Chelsea hofpital.-To the former in his official capacity of paymastergeneral of the forces, to the latter as treasurer of the hofpiral: he iflues likewife to regimental agents, and to various perfons employed in the army expenditures, fums for which they became accountable: all thefe furnished matter of inquiry. We applied ourselves first to the office of the paymaster of the widows penfions, and required from the auditors of the impreft. the laft declared account of the receiver and paymaster of his majesty's royal bounty, to the widows of officers who were killed or died in the fervice, with the materials from which that account was made out. We obtained, likewife, from the fecretary at war, a copy of his majesty's orders and inftructions to be obferv. ed in the payment of that bounty. The return to us from the audiditor's office, in confequence of this requifition, was the account of the honourable Henry Edward Fox, receiver and paymaster of the penfions to widows, for two years, ending the 24th of December 1779, and paffed the 29th of April 1782, with a book of account, and an eftablishment for each year, and with the certificates, affidavits, and receipts of the perfons receiving. The book of account confiits of all the receipts and payments of the year: the establishment contains the names of, and the fums payable to the objects of this bounty, with the king's warrant prefixed, directing the payment. The examination of John Powell, efq. late deputy paymaster of theie penfions; of John Lloyd, efq. late deputy auditor of the impreft, who paffed this account; and of Mr. John Davies, and Mr. Keen Stables, the clerks employed in the payments, fupplied us with knowledge of the manner in which the bulinefs of this office is conducted, and the accounts are paffed. The office of receiver and paymafter of the widows pentions, is held by letters patent for life, to be executed by himself or deputy. Upon infpection of thofe by which the office is now holden, we find it is granted to Henry Edward For for his life; and from and after the death, furrender, forfeiture, or other determination of that ellate, to John Powell, efq. his executors, adminiftrators, and affigns during the life of Charles James Fox." This office is executed entirely by the deputy and clerks; the principal never interfering in any part of the the bufinefs. The whole office is merely ministerial; paying certain fums to certain perfons, upon production of proper formal affidavits and certificates: it confifts of four perfons, the paymafter, the deputy, and two clerks; it is executed at the war office by the two clerks; one a clerk in the war office, ap. pointed by the secretary at war; the other a clerk in the pay office, appointed by the deputy paymafter of the penfions. The fund appropriated for this fervice, is compounded of fums taken from the pay of the feveral regiments and corps upon the eftablishment, and of the marines. The deputy paymaster of the penfions applies for money out of this fund from time to time, to the pay. master-general of the forces, and to the paymaster of the marines: he fupplies, occasionally, the clerk he employs to make the payments, with fuch portions of it as he thinks may be wanted. The payments are made every four months; and the pay clerk attends for an entire week at the beginning of a payment, and on every Wednesday afterwards, and pays the widows purfuant to the establishment. To intitle herself to receive, each widow muft, if she receives in perfon, produce an affidavit of her widowhood, and that she has not any other penfion or allowance from government; if the receives by attorney, he must produce the like affidavit, and a certificate of her being alive and a widow. Hence it appears that the manner of paffing this account, by the auditor of the impreft, is very fimple. The change in the official account confifts of the balance remaining on the last account, and the fums received from the paymaster-general of the forces, and from the paymaster of the marines, during the period of the account : thefe fums are verified by the certificate of the proper officer in each office. The difcharge contains the payments, for the allowance of which, the establishment, the affi davit, the certificate, and the acquittance of each perfon, or her affignee or attorney, are the vouchers. After the account is examined, and the balance agreed, the official book of account is figned, and the truth of the account attest. ed upon oath by the deputy paymaster of the penfions, before the deputy auditor of the impreft. All the fums being received, and the payments made by the deputy, the deputy, and not the principal, is the person who paffes and fwears to the account. That account, which is drawn up by the auditor, is neither figned nor fworn to by the accountant; nor is it declared, or paffed through any of the exchequer offices; one part of it is delivered to the accountant; and is declared, by his majesty's inftructions, to be, without any other formality, his final difcharge and quietus; the duplicate remains in the auditor's office. The number of widows upon the establishment of the year 1778, was 594, and upon that of the year 1779, 611. The charge for thefe two years, including the balance of 15,849l.os. 1d. remaining on the laft account, amounted to 53,9241. 25. 3d. the difcharge to 28,9671 os. 2d. including the fum of 1,7271. os. id. allowed for the expences attending the execution of the office, and paffing the accounts; which left in the hands of the accountant a balance of 24,9571. 35. id. The account before us is of the years 1778 and 1779; but the fums the accountant charges himself with, are are therein stated to have been received from the paymaster-general of the forces, not in the fame years, but in the years 1773 and 1774. The reafon is this a regular account is kept in the pay-office, of the iffues under this head of fervice; the entry of each iffue fpecifies out of what year's produce it is made; and during the time of the fame paymaster-general, the produce of one year is generally exhaufted upon the account before any part of the produce of the fucceeding year is iffued. In time of war this fund produces annually more than is fufficient for the fervice: in this laft the produce has fo far exceeded the expenditure, that the payments of the year 1779 were made out of the allowance to widows for the year 1774. As the fums arifing from this allowance, though not fpecifically applied for by the paymaster-general of the forces, are yet received by him from the exchequer, under fome head of regimental fervice, either before or at the time the clearings of the regiments are iffued to him, we enquired after the produce of the intermediate years and find, that in the year 1780, the favings which had arifen from this fund for the five preceding years, amounting to 113,9981. 7s. 4d. had been applied by parliament in aid of the extraordinaries incurred, but not provided for in the year 1779; and, confequently, this fum had been until that time, accumulating in the hands of the paymafter-general, and formed a part of his balance in that year. As the fums for this fervice are iffued on account, and there does not appear any check, either upon the application of the deputy paymafter, or upon the iffue of the paymaster-general, we obtained from the war-office, an account of the grofs produce of the allowance to widows every year for ten years, ending the 25th of December, 1781; and from the deputy paymaster of the widows penfions, an account of his receipts and payments for this fervice every year for ten years, ending the 25th of December last, with the balance remaining at the end of each year, and the balance remaining in his hands at the time he quitted the office: from hence, it appears, that the grofs produce of this fund, arifing from the pay of the land forces and marines together, for the ten years contained in the account, was 240,0791. 48. Ed. the receipts by the deputy paymafter of the widows penfions, during the ten years of his account, amounted to 149,53cl. 11s. 8d. and his payments (exclufive of the fum of 20,7691. 12s. 6d. herein after mentioned not paid to widows) to 137,7481. 19s. 6d. and it is obfervable, that the balance in the hands of the deputy paymafter increafed gradually from 34,8171. 15. 5d. in the year 1773, to 65,0911. 2s. 2d. in the year 1779; and that from the fallnefs of his receipts in the two fucceeding years, and the magnitude of his apparent payments in the year 1781, it fell, in that year, to 17,9751. 14s. 11d. As it was obvious fuch a decrease in the balance could not arife from a fudden increase in the penfions to widows, we inquired into the cause; and found that out of the fum of 34,0631. 118. inferted in the column of payments, for the year 1781, 20,7691. 12s. 6d. was paid back by the deputy paymafier of the widows penfions to the paymafter-general of the forces; which fum conftituted a part of the favings applied by parliament the preceding year in aid of the army extraordinaries. The more this fubject of balance is fifted the greater appears the neceffity for the regulations of fubflituting annually fpecific funds upon eftimate for thefe fervices, in the place of the compound funds in ufe, and of placing this, as well as all the other cafh for the army fervices, in the cuftody of the Bank, and of examining, once a year at leaft, into every expenditure. The prefent mode of conducting this fervice, has been the means of fwelling the balance in the hands of the paymaster-general of the forces, and of creating another ba lance in the hands of the officer intrusted with the execution. The average balance in the hands of Mr. Powell (for to no other perfon do the iffues of this fervice appear to have been made) for these last ten years has been 46,8481. 8s. 11d. and when he quitted the office in March last, the fum in his poffeffion was 21,3501, 25. of which he paid over to Mr. Moore, who was appointed to officiate as deputy paymafter in his room, upon the 21ft of March last, by the direction of the fecretary at war, 21,000l. As this fum far exceeds the expenditure of any of the former years, we inquired into the probable demands upon it; and learned from Mr. Moore, that the part of it remaining in his hands on the ft of May, was 19,9711 16s. 11d. that the next four months payment in the beginning of June will require between 4 and 5000l. and that the arrears are probably inconfiderable. A return from the war office Thews that the number of widows upon the establishment for the prefent year is 669, and the fum to be paid them, 15,9841. and that by inftallments every four months. We are therefore of opinion, that the deputy paymaster in office has in his hands a larger fum than the service requires; that he fhould retain as much as is fufficient for the next four months payment, and to fatisfy fuch arrears as may be unpaid, and that the refidue ought, without delay, to be paid by him into the Bank, and placed to the account of the paymafter general of the forces, and to be applied to the fervices of the army; and that fo long as this fervice fhall be carried on in its prefent mode, the paymafter-general of the forces fhall, fome fhort time before every payment, upon the requifition of the deputy paymaster of the penfions, ftating the fum then in his hands, and the fum wanted for the fucceeding payment, iffue to him, by his draft upon the Bank, the fum neceffary to complete fuch payment. The emoluments accruing to the officers in the office of the paymaster of the widows penfions, are thefe: the auditor of the impreft is directed, by his majefty's orders and instructions relative to this office, to allow the paymafter 12d. for every zos. received and paid by him, for his expence, care, and trouble in the fervice; not to be deducted out of the penfions, but to be allowed him in his discharge out of the money he receives for the fervice: this fum in the account before us is 1,3621. os. 18. that is, 6811. for each of these years. The deputy paymaster is allowed by the king's warrant 100l. a year, for his extraordinary trouble and care in paying the widows penfions, and in ftating and fettling the accounts; and he receives, by cuftom, from the auditor of the impreft, one third of the fum inferted and allowed in the discharge for the fees and disbursements for stating, |