delay.

COMPTROLLER GENERAL.
Examiner of Incidents.

necessary absence of the secretary, to act in | mended in this office and in the other offices at that capacity, we are disposed to think that a Edinburgh, as well as at the out-ports, without higher rate of remuneration to this officer may be desirable. We therefore suggest, that in the final arrangement of these establishments, an addition of 1007. per annum be made to the salary of the chief clerk in the secretary's office in Ireland, and a reduction of 50%. per annum In the same office in Scotland, thus making the one 5501., and the other 5007.

The establishment of these offices are at present as follows; viz.

Comptroller

First clerk
Second clerk.....

Third ditto

Clerk...

We have recommended that the postage of letters should be paid by the third clerk in their secretary's office in Dublin, and controlled by the second clerk; and we are of opinion that the same course should be pursued in Scotland, with a view as well to preserve an uniformity in Examiner of Incidents the business of the two offices, as from a conviction that the payment of the postage on letters out of the public revenue has been in many instances a source of considerable abuse, and that therefore it is desirable its supervision should attach to the secretary's office, and be under his immediate direction.

These alterations, and some others of minor importance, which require no particular observation, will make the future establishment we propose as follows:

Secretary

First clerk

Second ditto..

As clerk to first commissioner

Third ditto........

For checking and examining postage accounts

Fourth ditto

For keeping postage accounts, it being understood that this clerk is to be individually responsible to the board if any letters are paid for without proper authority........

Fifth ditto

Sixth ditto

Seventh ditto

Eighth ditto..........

£300

80

280

£800

500

380

300

£500

200

133

90

£923

250 120

£370

In the suggestions that have been made to us for the future arrangement of the departments, it has been proposed that both these offices should be discontinued.

We have recommended that in Ireland an officer, to be called "Comptroller and Accountant "General," should remain on the establishment of the customs, and that he should "be "entrusted with the examination and control "of the accounts for every expenditure incur. "red under the direction of the board, as well "in Dublin as in the out-ports, and that every "order to tradesmen and others, and the au"thority for every incidental payment, should, “previously to the issue of the amount, be re"corded in his office, where, not only the "clerical accuracy of the bills, but also the pro"priety of the several charges, should be care"fully ascertained and certified, excepting only "those bills which come under the direct cog"nizance of the surveyor of revenue buildings, "and are paid on his responsibility." And it appears to us highly desirable that a similar establishment should remain in Scotland to per form duties so essential to the due control over the receipt and expenditure of the public money. We think, also, that the efficiency of this officer would be materially increased, if in both countries he were required to act directly under the orders of the central board in London, to whom £2,810 he should be responsible, and not to the local board, whose proceedings and expenditure it will be his duty to control.

30

260

200

160

120
90

In our report on the establishment at Dublin, we have suggested, that the period for making the ultimate reduction of which it appeared to us susceptible should be guided in a great degree by the progress made in the introduction of the English system. This system has, however, under the active superintendence of Mr. Earl, late Chairman of the Board, been already so completely introduced in Scotland, that very little remains to be done; and we do not therefore see any thing to prevent your Lordships from carrying into effect the reductions recom

With a view to the check which he ought to maintain over the accounts of the collectors and comptrollers at the out-ports, and to enable him to ascertain accurately and with compara. tive facility whether the whole monies received at each port are from time to time duly remitted, it appears to us that the "Quarter Book," in which the receipts of each port are entered, should be cast in separate columns daily; and the payment made by each collector should also be cast in like manner, so that the balance in

shewn.

hand on the close of each day may be distinctly sponsibility which will result to the department, from the recent transfer of the duties of the excise, we are disposed so far to concur in his opinion, as to recommend to your Lordships, to give a general authority to the board of customs to allow to each of the three senior surveyors general, who may be employed on the public service, and with whose conduct they are altogether satisfied, an addition to their present salary, not exceeding 1507. per annum : it is essential, how

In our Seventh Report it is proposed that the general accounts of the customs revenue for Ireland and Scotland should be consolidated with those of England, and be subjected to the same final audit. Should your Lordships adopt this suggestion, without which it appears to us that the consolidation of the boards will not be attended with all the good effects to be anticipated from it, the duty of arranging these ac-ever, that this allowance should be considered as counts in Scotland should also be allotted to the comptroller and accountant-general. In the evidence of Mr. Reid, your Lordships will find a statement of the examination which the accounts of the revenue of customs in Scotland at present undergo in the Exchequer, under the provisions of the 6 Anne, c. 26. It is this examination that we propose altogether to supersede by the audit in England; it will be de sirable, however, in giving effect to this arrangement, to grant a reasonable compensation to the officers of the Exchequer, in lieu of the fees now payable to them for this duty. A detailed account of these fees will be found in the evidence of Mr. Earl.

The establishment we propose for this office is as follows:

Comptroller and Accountant General ... £500

the reward of special zeal and diligence, and not as a permanent addition to the income of the officer; and on every occasion in which it is granted, the grounds of the grant should be explained to your Lordships, in the half-yearly report now directed to be made to you by the commissioners of the customs.

JERQUERS' OFFICE,
Examiners' Office.

The establishment of these offices are as follows; viz.

Two Jerquers, at £350 each
First clerk........

Second ditto

£700

120

80

£900

The business performed in the first of these offices, is to compare the report of the cargo made by the master with the entry and discharge of each ship, in order to ascertain that the quantities are accurately taken. And in the second, to examine and check the books of the surveyors and landing waiters, in order to ascertain that there are no errors in the duties charged to the merchant. The first officer, in fact, checking the quantities, and the second the duties paid.

In our Seventh Report, we have proposed an establishment of these officers for the United Kingdom, and stated the number that appeared to us necessary for all the duties to be performed. We have stated in our Seventh Report, that We have recently reviewed our recommendation, as these checks require to a considerable degree and we are satisfied that the number proposed the inspection of the same documents, their will be amply sufficient. With regard, how-consolidation appeared to us desirable, and we ever, to the salaries of the first class, we cannot recommend a similar course in Scotland, with omit to call your Lordships' attention to the evi- the following establishment; viz. dence of Mr. Dean, the Chairman of the Central Board, who has stated very strongly his opinion, that the salary of 800l. per annum is insufficient. Practically acquainted as Mr. Dean is with the business of the customs, and with the various duties to be performed by the surveyors general, and adverting also to the increased re

Examiner

First clerk.......
Second ditto

Third ditto

.£400

200

150

90

£840

In the arrangement for the offices in Dublin, we have recommended that the duty of registering seizures should be consolidated with that of accountant of petty receipts; the latter office becoming more necessary in Ireland and Scotland, on the abolition in those countries of the office of receiver general. The amount of business after this consolidation will not be so great as to prevent the performance of the duty of inspecting officers' securities which we think may very properly be added to it. The duty of registering the shipping we recommend to be transferred to the office established for that purpose in London, in like manner as it is our intention to propose the transfer of the duties of the inspector general of imports and exports. The duties of the accountant of petty receipts, having reference to the receipt or expenditure of money, will of course be subject to the supervision of the comptroller and accountant general; these duties, as well as those connected with registering seizures, and inspecting officers' securities, will, in our opinion, be amply remunerated by a salary of 2501. per annum; and we recommend that sum therefore to be in future fixed as the salary of the office.

Storekeeper and Clerk of Postages. The present salary . ........£200

During our stay in Scotland, we entered into various inquiries as to the manner in which stationery was supplied by Sir David Hunter Blair and Mr. Bruce, under the patent granted to them by the crown, a subject which appears to us of sufficient importance to require that it should be brought under your Lordships' notice in a distinct report; in the mean time, we see no objection to the continuance of the office of storekeeper, with the salary now annexed to that office. The duty of clerk of the postages has been already provided for.

Inspector General of Imports and Exports.
The present establishment is as follows; viz.
Inspector General of Imports and Exports £500
First clerk
Second ditto

Third ditto

200
130

90

£920

In our Report upon the Receiver General's Office for Ireland, we have proposed that such of its duties as might remain on the consolidation of the boards, should be transferred to the collector of the port of Dublin, and the office abolished. An arrangement of a similar nature appears to us desirable in Scotland; and we therefore recommend, that on the removal of the local board from Edinburgh to Leith, the performance of the remaining duties of the receiver general should be transferred to the collector at the port of Leith, whose accounts should be checked by the comptroller of the customs there; those officers being responsible for the receipts and payments, in the same manner as they are at present responsible for the money received on account of the ordinary du ties of the port.

Connected with this office is the manner in which the interest heretofore received on the outstanding balances of public money in the hands of the collectors and other officers of the customs has been brought to account in the receiver general's office. No specific head hav ing been opened for this purpose, it has long been the practice of the board to direct the collector at Leith to make what is called "a feigned entry;" and to carry the interest forward as if received on account of consolidated customs: although we are not aware that this proceeding has led to any fraud, or other injury to the revenue, yet we cannot but think that a practice which is founded on a fiction, and obviously so irregular, should be immediately discontinued. There is no reason whatever why the interest of the money necessarily retained in the hands of the collector during the progress of collection, or any other receipt, should not be brought to the account of the public under a special head, annexing, if necessary, a note of explanation: the plan followed, besides increaES➡ ing nominally the amount of the consolidated customs, and thus misleading all those unacquainted with the nature of this entry, has also an injurious tendency, because it accustoms officers of the crown to make out accounts

On fully considering the subject, therefore, we recommend, that as bills of costs have been discontinued in the customs in England, a similar system should be adopted in Scotland; in lieu, however, of the allowance to which we have referred, we think it more desirable that a general authority should be given to the central board to make an extra allowance to the solicitor of the customs in Scotland, provided It is no doubt desirable, with a view to insure they shall be entirely satisfied with his attendthe due conduct of the responsible and fre-ance, and with his constant attention to the

important business of his office, during the year. The fixed salary we propose to attach to the office is 10000. per annum, and we think the extra allowance should be limited to 2501., and we think it also highly desirable, that on every occasion where the latter is granted, the grounds of it should be explicitly stated in the halfyearly report, now made by the central board of customs to your Lordships.

we stated that we delayed to enter on the office of solicitor of the customs there, until some further inquiries then in progress were completed. We have recently received a valuable report from Mr. Clancy, one of the taxing officers for the four law courts in Ireland, a gentleman who at our suggestion undertook to tax the soli| citor's bills, and also one from Mr. Bullock, a clerk sent from the solicitor's office in England to bring the various charges contained in those bills officially under Mr. Clancy's observation. To these documents we refer your Lordships, as affording a very full and complete exposition of the manner in which this part of the business of the department has been conducted in Ireland. Our examinations led us to doubt whether the official duties of the present solicitor had been so executed as to warrant the extensive confidence necessary to be placed in an individual holding that important situation. This impression having been in some degree confirmed from the report of Messrs. Whitmore and Morris, the officers we employed in Ireland to investigate the details of the several departments, we proposed the more extended investigation, the result of which is now before us. On considering these papers, however, and adverting to the deliberate opinion of Mr. Clancy, that "the abuses of this depart"ment appear to have originated principally from "the want of sufficient check on the solicitor's

With regard to the distinct office of the solicitor for Scotch law, we have examined several individuals conversant with this branch of the business. The general administration of the revenue laws is conducted upon the same principles in Scotland and England, and the cases in which a knowledge of the peculiarities of the Scotch law is required are not very frequent; there is no doubt, however, that such cases do arise, and we consider it essential that the general legal adviser of the department should be possessed of that knowledge in a degree sufficient for the ordinary duties of his office. We apprehend there would be no difficulty in the speedy acquisition of this extent of knowledge, by that class of professional men from whom the selection of solicitor to the boards has latterly been made, and as there can be no doubt that the existence of a distinct office for this branch of law must rather operate to prevent that acquisition, we cannot hesitate to recommend the abolition of the office, and that" charges," an opinion which Mr. Clancy's official the principal solicitor should be equally responsible for all matters of business in which points of Scotch law are involved as for the ordinary duties of his department.

In offering these observations, we are aware that there are occasions on which the agency of a practitioner in the court of session or other courts of peculiar jurisdiction must be required, if the solicitor of the board be not a member of those courts; these cases will of course be provided for by the solicitor under the direction of the board, according to the practice at present pursued both in England and Scotland, in proceedings requiring the intervention of a special agent or attorney.

With these alterations, the establishment of the solicitor's office in Scotland may be taken as follows:

situation and high character entitle to great weight, we are disposed to think that not more than the blame of irregularity and want of attention to the charges which were made by his clerks can fairly be ascribed to Mr. Waller: we are not, therefore, prepared to recommend any further specific proceeding than the settlement of the different bills, and any since accruing due, on the basis of Mr. Clancy's taxation.

There are several points of importance in these reports which, we doubt not, will receive the attention of your Lordships, and of the central board of customs. We refer particularly to the want of attention that has prevailed in reference to the collection of the costs accruing in certain cases to the crown; to the practice of requiring the crown to pay all the expenses of leases, whether standing in the situation of lessor or lessee, as well as of all contracts, and bonds given under the customs laws, and even of beneficial appointments under the board itself. We should enter more at length into these and other points arising out of this part of our inquiry, were it not that a review of this subject leads us to recommend, as the most effectual remedy for many of the existing evils, that the solicitor of customs in Ireland should be placed on a fixed salary, on the plan we have proposed for Scotland.

It appears, from Mr. Clancy's reports, that the emoluments of the office have been for five years as follow; viz.