ufage has annexed terms to the grant, which limit the right of the executive power to refume or take it away, the reafon feems to be the expedience of leaving the officer in the exercife of the duties of his of fice, independent of the influence of that power, which might otherwife, at pleasure, remove him: but when it is no longer for public convenience that fuch duties fhould be exercifed, or when the excrcife of them becomes an unneceffary expence to the public, it would be an inverfion of the principle that governs fuch establishments, to fuffer that private emolument, which was no motive for the inflitution, to prevent or retard the abolition of them. It matters not what the duration or condition of the intereft may be, whether for life or years, during good behaviour or pleafure; all are equally fubject to that governing principle for the fake of which it was created-the good of the public hence, in every propofed official regulation, the advantage or disadvantage of the of ficer can never be properly a fubject of difcuffion; the only queftion is, whether the neceflity or good of the state actually requires it? This decides the propriety of the regulation; and the determination of it belongs only to the fupreme power that watches over the public good, for its improvement as well as protection. The regulation we have here fuggefted affects the auditors of the impreft, by a diminution of their bufinefs, and confequently of their profits: it is neceffary therefore to examine particularly, whether it interferes with any right vested in that officer by virtue of his office. We have procured, and inferted in the appendix, a copy of the laft patent for the grant of this office, omitting

6

the recital of the then fubfifting pa. tents: this patent defcribes his office, with its objects and emoluments. The power of auditing the bank and South Sea house accounts, feems to be derived from the general words of "auditing and determining all accounts of all per. fons whatfoever, being accountable for any fums received by the name of impreft." The iffue, therefore, by way of impreft, is the circumftance that gives the auditor the power to examine the expenditure. Whether a fum fhall be iffued by way of imprest, or not, depends upon the authority that directs the iffue; which is either the royal figu manual, or an act of parliament; and, confequently, the exercife of this power of auditing must depend upon the will and pleafure either of the crown, or the legiflature.

The office of the auditors of the impreft exifled before the mode of borrowing upon funds was first adopted. Upon the creation of annuities, the legitlature thought proper to direct that the money to be iffued for the payment of them fhould be accounted for according to the due courfe of the exchequer; and thereby gave the auditors a new object. Should the legiflature fee good reafon for altering the mode of iffue; fhould they find by experience that the examination of the accounts by the auditors of the impreft is unnecessary; or the advantage of it in no degree adequate to the expence; can there be a doubt of their having a right, without injuftice, to take from them again that object, and to di rect the iffue for the future to be without account?

There is another limitation also, upon the power of the auditor, inferted in his patent; that is, the

confent

confent of the treafury: he is "to audit and determine, by and with the advice, authority, and confent of the high treafurer of Great Britain, or the commiflioners of the treasury, chancellor, and undertreasurer of the exchequer for the time being." This neceffarily implies a power in the treafury, if they fee reafon, to with-hold their affent; and, confequently, renders the exercife of the power of the auditor dependent upon their difcretion. If this mode of reafoning be folid and conclufive; if the propriety of continuing an office, or particular branches of the bufinefs of an office, be tried by the advantage it produces to the community; if the officer can have no right in his office, independent of the public good; we fuggeft the infringement of no private right, when we deliver it as our opinion, that the money for the annuities payable at the bank of England and South Sea houfe, ought for the future to be iffued without account from the exchequer and we have not violated any private right, by fuggefting the neceffity of an immediate abolition of ufelefs and expenfive offices, and reduction of unneceffary and redundant expences; convinced as we are, by the irrefiflible evidence of the state of the national debt exhibited to us, of the abfolute and indifpenfible neceffity of an immediate attention to every practicable retrenchment.

This account of the public debt being tranfmitted to us from the exchequer in the ufual official form, required fome explanation; with which we were fupplied by the examination of Mr. John Hugh fon, clerk of the debentures in the office of the auditor of the receipt of his majesty's exchequer.

The fums inferted in the column

under the head of principal debt, oppofite to the firft, fecond, third, and fifth articles of annuities payable at the exchequer, are the purchafe money originally paid for them into the exchequer. This purchafe money does not feem to us to conftitute a part of the public debt; the public are in no event bound to pay it: they are bound to pay the annuities purchafed with thefe fums for the duration of the terms, and the existence of the lives for which they were granted; but upon the expiration of the annuities, either by effluction of time, or death, the debt is at an end; an event that has happened, as to the fecond article, of annuities for lives with the benefit of furvivorship, fince the fince the 5th of july laft, the date of the account. This annuity is now expired, by the death of the laft nominee; and therefore we have omitted this article, as well as thofe other principal fums, in our state of the public debt.

The first article of 131,2031. 125. Sd. annuities for long terms, being complicated, we obtained an account of the annuities that compofe it. This fum confifts of annuities for years, granted for different terms, at feven different periods, between the years 1692 and 1703; and they will all expire between the years 1790 and 1807. The annuities in the third article, for two and three lives amounting to 8,2071. 128. were finally granted in the year 1703, by the act of the 2d and 3d of queen Anne, chap. 3. the lives were all named by the 1ft of May 1704. The original fum of thefe annuities was 37,0131. 1s. 7d.: the number of orders was 1701; of which 440 are now continued upon the books at the exchequer, as containing lives in being; notwithstanding most of these (K 3)

may

may be, and probably are, expired. The act directs, that the contributor, or his reprefentatives fhall, within one month after the death of the nominee, certify it to the auditor of the receipt of the exchequer; and, within three months after notice of the determination of the annuity, deliver up his tally and order into the exchequer; and until this is done the life is continued upon the books as exifting,, Many of the contributors, and perfons named in thefe orders, were foreigners, and might be ignorant of, or inattentive to, the directions of the act. Every nomince now living must be at least feventy-nine years and an half old: that 440, out of 5103 perfons, fuppofing originally three lives in each order, fhould attain that age, is not probable upon any calculation.

In order to obtain the payment of this annuity, a formal certifi cate must be produced of the life of the nominee: the last life that was certified was upon the 1ft of January 1781, But notwithstand ing the probability that the greatest part of thefe annuities are expired, they cannot, upon that ground only, be omitted: they must be continued as part of the public debt, until the auditor of the exchequer has an authority for leaving them

out.

The fourth article of 2200l. exchequer bills, made out, for intereft of old bills, has been inferted among the public debts ever fince the year 1727: the old bills were then cancelled; and this intereft upon them was fuppofed to be due in the year 1719: it no where appears that any fuch bills were ever made out, or to whom this intereft belongs: no demand has been made for them at the exchequer; and therefore we think this fum may

fafely be crafed from among the debts of the public, and have omit ted it accordingly. The million raifed in the year 1726, not having been paid into the exchequer, but applied in cancelling exchequer bills iffued for the difcharge of the civil lift debts, has never been inferted among the debts of the public, ftanding out at the exchequer ; but it seems to us as if the pub.ic have made themfelves liable to the payment of this debt. By the act of the 7th of George I. chap. 27. 500,000l. was raifed by annuities to difcharge the debts of the civil list: they were made a charge upon the hereditary revenues, and to be redeemed by the crown. To enable the crown to reimburse itself the fums to be paid for thefe annuities, and for their redemption, the x-penny duty was granted, and appropriated.

By the 11th of George I. chap. 17. a million was raifed by exchequer bills, for the fame purpofe; and 500,000l. of it applied in the redemption of thefe annuities: the bills were charged upon the hereditary revenues; the fix-penny duty was continued; and the furplus exprefsly appropriated for the cancelling them. The next year, by the 12th of George I. chap. 2. a million was raifed by a lottery, and converted into annuities, at 31. per cent. and applied in cancelling 990,cool. of the exchequer bills. The king was empowered to continue the fix-penny duty; and out of it 30,0col. a year was made a fpecific fund for the payment of the annuity; the king was empowered alfo to redeem them, but out of what fund is not mentioned: the whole produce of the duty was ap propriated towards paying and dif charging the faid annuities; and, fhould it produce a furplus, it was

amounts to the annual fum of 1,309,5321. 85. 3d.; which, unless purchafed in, muft continue for the periods for which the feveral parts of it were granted. The charges of managing this debt amount to 134,2911. 135. id.

From the materials thus collected, we are enabled to state, at one view, with precifion, the total fum paid by the public in confequence of their debts in this, and to be paid in every fucceeding year, until a reduction fhall take place. The fum paid in annuities on the capital, and for lives and years, is 7,951,930l. 1s; the charges of management are 134,2911. 135. 1d.: the fees to the auditors of the impreft, on the bank and South Sea houfe accounts, 19,8741. 28. 8d.: the fees at the other offices, taken at the fame rate as ftated in the bank and South Sea houfe memorials above alluded to, 6961. 12s. 4d.; forming together, as flowing from and incidental to the debt they have contracted, the annual fum of 8,106,7921. gs. id.

We have omitted to add to this account, as unneceffary, we hope, for the future, the expence incurred in the year of a loan by annuities and a lottery, and allowed to the bank for receiving, paying, and accounting for the contributions this article, in the year 1781, as ftated in the bank memo. rial, amounted to 10,6691. 10s.; and, in the year 1782, as ftated in account tranfmitted to us from the auditors of the impreft, to 12,702l. 11s. 3d.

This is the state of the funded debt; that is, certain funds have been created, and appropriated by the legiflature, as a provifion for the payment of all the annuities therein enumerated: but this is not the whole debt; a heavy lift of ar

rears remains behind; debts for which no provifion has as yet been made by government.

We required, from the lords commiffioners of his majesty's treafury, an account of the unfunded debt, as it stood upon the 1st of October laft; diftinguishing those debts, that carry intereft, from thofe which carry no intereft, with the intereft due on each fpecies, computed to the 1st of October last. Four accounts were tranfmitted to us, purfuant to this requifition; the first contains the debt due at the navy and victualling offices; the fecond, at the office of ordnance; the third, at the exchequer; the fourth, for the extraordinaries of the army.

As fome of the bills in the navy account, and a fum in the exchequer account, have been paid fince the 1st of October laft, we have collected the fubfifting ar ticles, and difpofed them in fuch order as to frew, at one view, the prefent ftate of this unfunded debt; and from thence it appears, that the principal of this debt amounts to 18,856,5411. 115. 44d. of which the fum of 15,694,1121. 1S. 11d. carries intereft; and the interest due upon it the 1ft of October laft, was 517,5791. 4s. 3d.: the amount of the annual intereft is 612,7421. omitting fractions. The remainder of this principal, being 3,162,4291. 98. 5d. carries no intereft. The principal of this debt, being added to 211,363,2541. 158. 4d. the capital of the funded debt, makes the prefent capital debt of this nation 230,219,7961. 6s. 91d. and the annual intereft of this debt, being added to 7,951,930l. 18. the fum of annuities flated in the account of the funded debt, increases the fum to be paid every year, for annuities and intereft to 8,564,6721.