are therein stated to have been received from the paymatter-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 paymafter-general, the produce of one year is generally exhausted 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 ariling from this allowance, though not fpecifically applied for by the paymaster-general of the forces, are yet received by him from the exchequer, un er 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. 78. 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 payinafter-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 pentions, an account of his receipts and payments for this fervice every year for ten years, ending the 25th of December laft, 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 ferces and marines together, for the ten years contained in the account, was 240,0791. 4s. d. the receipts by the deputy paymafter of the widows penfions, during the ten years of his account, amounted to 149,53-1. 119. 8d. and his payments (exclufive of the fum of 20,7691. 12s. 6d. herein after mentioned not paid to widows) to 137,7481. 98. Ed. and it is obfervable, that the balance in the hands of the deputy paymafter increafed gradually from 34,8171. 15. 5d. in the year :77, to 65,0 11. 25. 2d. in the year 1779; and that from the fmalinefs 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, 751. 148. rid. As it was obvious fuch a decrease in the balance could not arife from a fudden increafe in the penfions to widows, we inquired into the caufe; and found that out of the fum of 34,631. 118. inferted in the column of payments, for the year 1781, 20,7691. 12s. 6d. was paid back by the deputy paymaster of the widows penfions to the paymaf ter-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

ftating, examining, and paffing the accounts this fum, in the account before us, is 1651. of which, one third is 551. that is 271. 10s. a year, which makes the profit to the deputy, 1271. 10s. a year. Thefe emoluments to the paymafter and his deputy, amounting to 8081. 10s. a year, are a charge upon the public.

The two clerks are paid in a different manner. The war-office clerk has a falary of 921. a year from the fecretary at war, befides which, he receives a moiety of two kinds of customary payments from the widows; each pays two guineas when she first receives her penfion; and at the rate of 6s. a year, that is, 2s. for each four months payment afterwards. These two fees are equally divided between the two clerks, and the moiety of them, together with the odd pence, forms the whole of the profit accruing to the pay-office clerk from this employment.

The office of paymaster of the widows penfions appears to us, from this defcription, to be an unneceffary office. The public derives from it no utility whatever; it is a perfect finecure; and the office of the deputy is not much more: he only ferves as a channel, and that not wanted, to convey the money for this fervice from the paymaflers of the forces and marines to the pay clerk, whofe attendance is three entire weeks, and one day in every other week in the year.

The payment of this bounty is an army fervice; it is made out of money voted for army fervices. and by a clerk in the pay-office. If the measure of voting upon eftimate a diftinct fund for this fervice fhould be adopted, the whole mut be iffued from the exchequer to the bank, and placed to the account 1785.

of the paymafter-general of the forces. What then forbids that the whole of this bufinefs fhould be tranfacted at the pay-office by a fingle clerk, to be appointed to that particular branch? Thefe penfions may all be paid, as many of them are now, and as the other army payments are required by act of parliament to be made, by drafts. upon the bank; and the accounts of the payments for this fervice may be incorporated and paffed with the other accounts of the paymafter-general of the forces.

The proper payment for this clerk is a falary only. The acceptance of any fee, gratuity, or other reward, ought to be ftrictly prohibited. It is not for the honour of government, that his majesty's bounty fhould be curtailed by gra tuities and fees of office: no part is to be intercepted; it fhould pafs to the object as liberally and as entire as it flows from the royal benefi

cence.

Since then these penfions may be paid without the intervention of fo many officers, and at a much lefs expence to the public, that principle of public oeconomy, point. ed out to us as the rule to direct our judgment, a principle this nation feels moft fenfibly the neceffity of attending to, leads us to be of opinion, that the office of paymaster of the widows penfions is a useless and unneceffary expence to the public, and ought, therefore, no longer to be fuffered to fubfift; and that all the business of this office fhould be transferred to the pay. office of the army.

The other officer, who accounts annually for the money iffued to him by the paymafter-general of the forces, is the agent for the outpenfioners of Chelfea hofpital.William Brummell, efq. who holds (H)

this

this office, and Charles Harris, efq. who acts for the deputy-treafurer of the hofpital, gave us an ac count in what manner this bulinefs is tranfacted.

The office of agent for the outpenfioners of Chelfea hofpital, was created by the act of the 28th of George II. chap. 1. for the purpose of receiving the money for this fervice from the treasurer of the hofpital (that is, from the paymaster-general of the forces), and of paying or remitting it to the out-penfioners. The fund is a fum voted annually by parliament upon estimate.

Twice in the year a requifition is fent by the fecretary and register of the hofpital to the treafurer, fating the number of out-penfioners, and the fums to be advanced them for the fucceeding half year. After the treafurer has received money from the exchequer, a warrant iffues from the board of commiffioners for the government of the hofpital, figned by three or more of them, to the treasurer, requiring him to iffue to the agent for the out-penfioners, fuch fums as fhall be due to them for the fix months enfuing. In confequence of this warrant, the treafurer iffues to his deputy fuch a fum as he thinks proper. A list of the outpenfioners is made out every half year by the fecretary and regifter, and tranfmitted to the agent: he copies it, and applies to the deputy treasurer, who iffues to him upon account fuch a fum as, in his judgment, will be fufficient to fatisfy the payment of that lit, retaining out of it 12d. in the pound, according to the directions of the act of parliament.

There are three forts of outpenfioners; the common men, who are paid 5d. a day; the nine-penny

men, who have 9d. and the letter men who have is. but from all thefe payments the 12d. in the pound is deducted: they are all paid half yearly, fix months in advance, and are difperfed over Great Britain and Ireland, and a few of them live in the islands of Guernfey and Jerfey; confequently it becomes neceffary for this officer to employ deputies and agents, in various parts, to affist him in tranfacting this bufinefs. His laft fettled account, tranfmitted to us by the auditor of the impreft, was declared before the chancellor of the exchequer upon the 28th of June 1781; it is for one year, ending the 24th of December 1775; and comprehends the payment of about 15,900 penfioners. The total charge upon him in that year, is 112,4401. 6s. 3d. his total difcharge is 105,4951. 6s. 2d. The accounts of the three fucceeding years are in the office of the auditor; and two years more will be ready to be delivered in about three months. The difficulty of procuring and adjusting the vouchers, retards the accounts from being made up in the office to a later period.

This officer is paid by a falary of 1000l. a year; which, by the payment of taxes, deputies, clerks, contingent expences and fees, is reduced to 38cl. a year.

As the fund for this fervice is a fpecific fum voted every year by parliament, which paffes from the exchequer through the hands of the treasurer to his deputy, and from him to the agent who diftributes it, we traced its progrefs through these feveral channels.

We extracted from the Votes of the Houfe of Commons the grants for the out-penfioners, from the year 1775 to the year 1782 inclufive; we procured from the pay