the several debts due to the crown, which have been returned nihil by the clerk of the nihils in the pipe office.

The process iffues of course after every iffuable term, against all persons returned nihil, and tranfmitted by the clerk of the nihils in the pipe office, to the lord treasurer's remembrancer in a schedule, which remains as a record in the office, and warrants the procefs; it likewife iffues, by order of the court of exchequer, upon fpecial application made to them for that purpose.

T. Anguish,

Samuel Beachcroft,
George Drummond.

JOHN PERROTT.

No. XL.

The EXAMINATION of Mr. PETER SYKES, Deputy to the First Secondary in the Pipe Office; taken upon Oath, the 3d, 4th, and 10th of December, 1782.

THIS examinant faith, that all the declared accounts of the public account. ants, which pafs through the lord treasurer's remembrancer's office, are fent from thence to the pipe office, where they finally remain.

In this office an abstract is made of each account, which is called the record of that account, and makes part of the roll of foreign accounts, which is the general title of the roll, and which roll contains all fuch accounts; the great roll, containing only the fheriff's accounts, the accounts of the Savoy hofpital, and the account of the coroner of the king's bench: of this abstract a duplicate is made, which is called the quietus; that is, where the accountant is even, or in furplufage, the words Quietus eft, if the account be in Latin, or "he is quit," if in English, are wrote at the bottom of the account, both upon the record and the duplicate; where the accountant is debtor, he is stated as indebted for the balance. It is figned by the clerk of the pipe or his deputy, and delivered to the In all the three cafes it is alike called a quietus, and is a discharge to the accountant for fo much as he has accounted for.

accountant.

No process whatever iffues from this office upon the roll of foreign accounts, or upon the accounts themselves lodged in the pipe office, either against the principal accountants, or thofe who are put infuper on their accounts; nor does any process whatever go through this office to compel an accountant to pay a specific fum ascertained as his balance; except that of late where the receiver general returns infupers on particular defaulters on the duties on houses, windows, and lights, a schedule of fuch-defaulters' names has been tranfinitted from the king's remembrancer's office to the pipe office, to be entered in the great roll of the pipe, and from thence fent out in the procefs called the fummons of the pipe, which iffues to the sheriff annually after Trinity term, and is the only process which iffues out of this office upon fuch accounts.

The declared accounts themselves, and the roll, remain in the office. He has always understood that the roll was a record to be referred to in cafe of need; and he has heard of two occafions upon which an officer has been defired to attend the

court

court of exchequer and dutchy court of Lancaster with it; fearches have been fometimes made into it by public accountants, and others, for information.

The accounts of all receivers of the public revenue are in this office examined and compared with the tallies, which are for that purpose brought to this office from the chamberlain's office, and remain there; the foil or counterpart remaining at the chamberlain's office, mistakes in the figures of the accounts have fometimes been discovered and rectified by the auditor.

This office inrols only the grofs fum, which is fet infuper; it does not inrol the names of the infupers, unless where there are a few only. He does not recollect that any other ufe is made either of the accounts or of the roll of foreig■ accounts, except as above mentioned.

A. Piggott,

Richard Neave,

Samuel Beachcroft,

George Drummond.

PETER SYKES.

No. XLI.

FEES paid and payable on paffing the Account of the Right Honourable GEORGE GRENVILLE, late Treasurer of the Navy, for a Year, to 31ft December, 1759,

The auditor's fee on 4,689,3541. 3s. id. at the

rate of 201. for every 100,000l.

Additional fee of 100l. per annum

s. d.

937 17 6

100 O O

Ordinary allowances to the accountant and lord chief baron

At the chancellor's of the exchequer on declaration

At the treasury

Lord chief baron's clerk

7

I

76674

Coach hire with the ledgers

King's remembrancers

Treafury remembrancers

9

No. XLII.

To the Commiffioners of the Public Accounts.

An ACCOUNT of the Total Sum iffued to the Treasurers of the Navy, from the 1st of January, 1762, to the prefent Time.

THE total fum iffued to the treasurers of the navy, from the 1ft of January, 1762, to the prefent time, amounts to the fum of feventy millions four hundred feventeen thousand two hundred and eighty pounds, four fhillings, and feven. pence oné farthing.

Exchequer, the 18th day of December, 1782.

JOHN HUGHSON.

Ν Ι Ν Τ Η

THE

REPORT

O F

THE

Commiffioners appointed to examine, take, and state, the PUBLIC ACCOUNTS of the Kingdom.

S foon as we had finished our examination into the manner of paffing the

of

impreft, we proceeded to those of the paymafter general of his majesty's forces; and required from the auditors of the impreft the laft declared account of a paymafter general of the forces, with the materials from whence that account was made up.

The paymafter general paffes every year two accounts in the office of the au ditor, the one, as paymafter general of the forces, the other, as treasurer and paymaster of Chelsea hospital; and therefore two accounts were returned to us, pursuant to this requifition: thefe were the final accounts of Lord North, and the late George Cooke, joint paymaster general of the forces, for one year, end, ing the 24th of December, 1767, and declared the 7th of September last.

The

The materials which accompanied the account of the paymafter general were, the pay-office book of account; the establishments; the regimental book of account; the poundage book; a lift of the deductions for the widows' penfions the impreft roll; the warrants, with fuch papers annexed to each as are referred to in that warrant; and the acquittances.

By infpecting thefe feveral books and papers, and from the examination of Jofeph Hughes, Efq. one of the deputy auditors in the office of Lord Sondes Charles Bembridge, Elq. the accountant in the office of the paymaster general of the forces; and Charles Harris, Efq. one of the deputy auditors in the office of Lord Mountftuart, we are made acquainted with the official forms, and with, the steps that were taken relative to these accounts in both offices, and which have been ufually taken relative to the ariny accounts, prior to the act of the last fes fion of parliament, for the better regulation of the office of the paymafter gence ral of his majesty's forces.

The materials from whence the account is compofed, are all fent from the pay office to the auditor; not at once, nor in any particular order, but from time to time, as is convenient to the pay office.

The pay-office book of account, when compleated, comprehends all the reg ceipts and payments of the paymafter general during the year, ranged under dif tinct heads of fervice; and at the end is added an abstract of the account, containing the heads, with the total of each head: and after the account is examined, and the balance struck, the paymaster general figns his name at the foot of this abstract, and fwears to the truth of the account before a baron of the ex◄ chequer.

--

The establishments in this year, 1767, were five : the guards, garrisons, and land forces in Great Britain the forces in the plantations the forces in Minorca and Gibraltar the Irifh regiments in the pay of Great Britain and the half-pay establishment: they contain the diftribution of the fums granted by parliament for defraying the charge of the land forces, among the general and ftaff officers, the regiments, troops, companies, and garrifons, afcertaining the divifions, and the number of officers and men in each rank and divifion, with the quantum of their full pay, by the day and the year, and with the regulation of their fubfistence, and of the fire and candle to be allowed to the guards and bar、 racks in the garrifons.

The regimental book of account contains the fums allotted for the full pay, according to the establishments of the feveral regiments, troops, companies, and garrifons, in the pay of Great Britain during that year. Each fum is, in general, divided in this book into fix parts, under the denomination of- the poundage the hofpital-the fubfiftence- the allowance to widows the off reckonings - and the clearings: after this book is examined, it is figned by the paymaster general, and he swears to the truth of the accounts it contains, before the deputy auditors of the impreft.

-

-

The poundage account is a lift of the feveral officers, regiments, troops, com panies, and fervices, liable to the deductions of the poundage and hospital; and oppofite to each article is entered, in three diftinct columns, the full yearly pay ment the poundage upon that fum and the hofpital: the articles are ranged under heads, denoting the fervices, of which an abstract is entered at the end, with the total of each deduction under cach head: this account is taken from the regimental book of account.

VOL. X.

Ddd

The

The lift of the deductions for the widows' penfions, is a collection of the feveral items composing the fum applicable to that service, extracted likewise from the regimental book of account.

The impreft roll comprises the total fum imprested to the paymaster general from the exchequer in that year.

The materials, which are usually fent the first from the pay office to the auditor, are, the book of account, with fome of the vouchers. Neither the book nor the vouchers are ever fent complete at first; frequent additions are made afterwards to both. The auditor proceeds to the examination of the entries in the account as foon as he receives it; and when he has nearly finished them, he applies to the pay office to complete the charge and discharge of the year.

-and

In a complete account, the charge confifts of the impreft from the exchequer fums received of various perfons-profit by exchange - deductions furcharges; and is checked in the following manner:

The impreft charge, is the fum iffued to the paymaster general in that year from the exchequer, and correfponds with the impreft roll. The receipts are from the treasury of Ireland; from preceding or fucceeding paymasters general; and balances from perfons whofe accounts are fettled. The fum received from the treafury of Ireland is checked by the certificate of the deputy vice treasurer there: the fums received from the paymaster general are checked by the king's warrants, directing them to make thofe payments, and by the accounts of the paymafters, in which they have credit for thofe fums: the balances appear upon the stated accounts themselves, either in the office of the auditor, when they are paffed by him, or annexed to the warrant which directs the payment, and is produced to him, when they are fettled elfewhere. The profit by exchange arifes from the difference between the value at which the dollar is eftimated by the contractor for remitting in England, and that at which it is iffued by the deputy paymafter at Minorca and Gibraltar; as the estimated value is less than the value at which it is iffued, a gain is produced, with which the paymafter general charges himself: the fum of this profit is taken from an account made out by the accountant of the pay office, and by him certified to the auditor.

the

The deductions are fums taken out of the pay of the forces: they are — poundage- the hospital - the allowance to widows — the duties of one fhilling and fix-pence in the pound and the ftoppages for provifions delivered to the troops. He inferts these deductions in his charge, because he has a double credit for them in his discharges: they are included, and he is allowed them, in the fum he claims for the full pay of a regiment; whereas in fettling the account of that regiment with the agent, he in fact does not pay them, but retains them in his hands he is allowed them again upon having actually either paid them to the refpective receivers or agents, or applied them to the fervices for which they were intended.

The poundage being in part, and the hofpital altogether, applicable to the fupport of Chelfea hospital, the auditor leaves them out of the paymafter-general's account, as paymafter general of the forces, but charges him with the whole of them in his account as treafurer of that hofpital.

The allowance to widows, being compofed of deductions out of various allotments stated in the establishments, and forming likewife one of the divifions of the full pay of a regiment, troop, or company in the regimental account book,