deration. "his faithful commons towards attaining so lions; the amount of accounts under ex“important an object; and his majesty is amination was 169 millions; the amount of pleased to declare, that for this important army accounts not delivered in was 209 "and benevolent object he is disposed to millions; of navy accounts not delivered in grant such part of the proceeds of all pro- 100,820,000l. which added to 3 millions perty to be hereafter condemne las prize, of unaudited accounts in another departas to the wisdom of parliament shall scem ment, made a total of about 534 millions expedient, to be applied for the benefit of money. That enormous amount of un"of the royal hospital for seamen at Green- audited accounts, it was the object of the "wich, and to the funds of the chest at ' present administration, as far as in them lay, Greenwich, in such manner as shall be to endeavour to audit. He had before menprovided by act of parliament. G. R." tioned that a great step had before been Resolved, that this house will, to-morrow, taken for that purpose, to which an addition resolve itself into a committee of the whole had been made last year, which was infihouse, to take the said message into consi- nitely better calculated to answer the purpose in view, and which would form a considerable part of the institution that he was now about to submit to the house. He would now state the plan more distinctly. But first he ought to observe, that the two comptrollers of army accounts were to be separated from it entirely, a measure, the expediency of which had been already recognized. After this separation it was intended to consolidate the two existing boards, and to add four commissioners: one of these would be a chairman, with an increase of salary. It was intended that the application of these boards to any particular business relating to the accounts, as occasi on might require, should be left in the hands of the treasury, which must be best able to judge how the business ought to be apportioned. At present, however, it was proposed that out of the ten commissioners 4 should be entrusted with the auditing of the current accounts, and these would form the first board. The second board would consist of 3 commissioners, and these would have the charge of those accounts which were now under examination. The third board would also consist of 3 commissioners, whose business it would be to bring up those accounts which were entirely in arrear, and not entered on at all. This was what at present appeared to be the most useful arrangement. At the same time it would be cxpedient to leave the power with the treasury to alter it as they should see occasion, because the treasury would have the best opportunity of observing how the different boards wrought, and what might be the most effectual mode of carrying speedily forward the great work which must be pranaged in some manner or other. Whatever errors therefore might occur, the treasury would be enabled to rectify them and to make up in some measure for any defects which might escape the notice of parliament in pass [AUDITORS OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS, BILL.] Lord Henry Petty rose, in pursuance of the notice which he had formerly given, to submit to the house a plan for the more effectually Auditing of the public Accounts. The house would do him the justice to believe, that after the views which he had stated on a former occasion on this subject, and the sense which he entertained of the magnitude and pressing nature of the evil, no unnecessary delay had taken place in bringing forward this plan, but that every moment had been employed in the investigation of the subject, and providing means for obviating every possible objection. He was glad, however, that he was enabled, notwithstanding the difficulties that stood in the way, to move for this bill before the conclusion of the present session of parliament. Without going over the grounds over which he had formerly travelled, or entering upon statements which had then appeared to convince the house of the necessity of doing something for the purpose of having this mass of accounts audited, he would content himself with laying before the house the basis of the plan which he had in view, and mentioning the amount of the accounts which remained unaudited, with respect to which he had now more full and correct information than he had when he had before occasion to address the house on this point. When this was considered it would be a proof, not, certainly, of the efficacy of the measure which he was about to propose, but undoubtedly of the necessity of doing something. He would afterwards shew that this method was the only one which was likely to be attended with the desired success. The amount of accounts unaudited was greater than he had before stated. The amount și arrounts delivered in was above 52 mil which, as these were spread over the whole country, would be a very great convenience. Another part of the bill he considered as of great importance, and that was the provision by which all those public officers who authorised the expenditure of the public money, should be charged with that expenditure, and made accountable for it. He mentioned the instance of a general officer who in the West Indies during the last war, had authorised the expenditure of 200,0001. By mere accident he had not a commissary with him. If there had been a commissary, as the commissary would expend and the officer would have the controul over him, neither of them could be charged with it. As it happened, however, the officer was responsible, and when that account came to be examined it was disallowed. It was therefore provided, that all who authorised the expenditure of money should be responsible; but at the same time an appeal was allowed them to the exchequer in case they felt themselves aggriev→ ed. It was also provided that when ac ing the bill. As the establishment was by this plan undoubtedly considerably increased in the first instance, it was proposed to have the advantages of this increase with as little expence to the public, and with as little additional power to ministers as possible. With this view a provision would be introduced into the bill, by which in no instance in case of a vacancy by death could the loss be supplied till the number was reduced to five, without coming to parliament, and on such occasions the house would have an opportunity of dicussing the necessity for, or the expediency of, the several appointments, and of ascertaining how the work went on. This would afford employment to the ten commissioners till they were reduced to the permanent number, which was six. But in the event of the business getting on faster than was expected, a thing not very likely to occur, there was a provision by which the commons, by address to his majesty, might suppress any of the commissions. However, parliament would have the whole under its own eye. But the great provision respecting the current accountants paid in any part of the funds counts was, that there should be a compulsion extending to all accountants, by which they must send in their accounts from year to year. He had once some doubts whether this provision could be now introduced, but he had the satisfaction to find, upon examination, that it might be done, and accordingly this provision was introduced into the bill. It was proposed, that within the space of three months from the 31st of December in each year, every accomtant should send in an account of his receipts and expenditure for the year preceding, together with the vouchers connected with them; and it was moreover proposed that immediately upon these accounts being given in, an examination should forthwith be entered upon, and a comparison take place between the accounts and the vouchers, so that they should at least be so far examined at the time they were delivered. And also in those cases where officers must, from the necessity of circumstances, examine their accounts at different periods, it was proposed that the accounts should be given in there three months before that period, instead of the three months from the 31st of December, as in other instances. Another part of the bill, though a subordinate one certainly, was to enable the accountants to have their accounts attested wherever they should be, before any of the commissioners of the exchequer, which had been issued to them into the proper office, they should be considered as so far acquitted. There now remained only to state the authority which was to be committed to those commissioners. The nature of this authority was to remain as before, but to be extended over all persons who had the care of stores, &c. all which persons they should be empowered to call before thein. In addition to this, it was proposed that the comptrollers of the army should have the power of calling all persons before them who were concerned in the military expenditure of the country, and their powers were to be placed exactly on the same footing as they were when the commission was first created in the reign of queen Anne. These comptrollers were to be the advisers of the treasury in all matters connected with the military expenditure, and in case any persons for whom they called should refuse to appear, which he was told was sometimes the case, they should have the power of imposing a fine on all such persons. There was one thing more which it was incumbent on him to state, and that was, that where the stores were embezzled, a valuation was to be made, and the persons who had the care of those stores were to be charged with the amount according to the valuation. He had now stated the principal particulars of the plan which it was proposed to carry into execu This ion, for the auditing of the public ac- and told that the account of Valentine Jones counts. If any thing further could be had no more to do with the bank than it had suggested for this great object, it would be to do with the hackney-coach office, a comAs to the impor-parison which the right hon. gent.'s (Mr. thankfully attended to. tance of getting rid of this mass of accounts Rose) experience enabled him to make. it was too obvious to require any com- He would state the particulars of that transment. But as to the patronage that might action, and leave the matter to the judgment thus be conferred on the treasury, that was of the house. In the year 1797 several a point which he wished to be thoroughly bills had been drawn on the treasury, which investigated, as an opinion seemed to be applied to the bank to discharge these bills, entertained by some that there was a design and bills to the amount of 1,600,000l. were in this to augment the patronage of the discharged, and when the subsequent loan was made the bank detained the amount. treasury. All he could say at present was, that both his noble friend (Grenville), and They presented their accounts to the audihe himself, were extremely anxious to avoid tors, the latter refused to allow the sum any thing that could have the tendency of which had been drawn by Mr. Jones, which giving patronage to the treasury, and if there the bank had also withheld. In 1798 an could be any other mode by which the end ex post facto clause was introduced into the proposed could be effectually answered, loan bill, sauctioning this conduct of the that mode would be gladly adopted. But bank, empowering the auditors to admit what scheme could be proposed, that could the account, and making Mr. Valentine be equally well calculated to attain the de-Jones insuper on the bank account. sired object, and yet keep free of the alledged objections, he could not at present possibly conceive. In addition to that he could safely say, that the utmost attention had been paid to the means of limiting that patronage as much as it could be done in con- | sistency with the attainment of the object of the measure. He had stated how the commissioners were to be replaced till they were reduced to five in number; and as to inspectors, for some inspectors there must of necessity be, it was intended to select them entirely on account of their merits, and the selection would be made from the most meritorious commissaries on half-pay, by which means the whole amount of their half-pay would be saved to the public. The examiners would be taken from the clerks now belonging to the boards, and every thing would be done to render the measure as economical and efficacious as possible. With regard to a large class of accounts, he had been told that they were subject to no risk, and that they were only mentioned with a view to swell the list of the commissioners. That some of the accounts were of this description he was by no means dis posed to deny; but still the labours must be gone through, and these accounts must be examined. But as to the point of risk, it sometimes happened that there was some risk, where, at first view, there appeared to be none. There were instances of this even in the bank account. He mentioned one instance, in which 700,000l. had been issu ed from the bank to one individual in the West Indies. He had been on a former occasion accused of ignorance on this head, sum, therefore, had something more to do himself, however, in the ensuing session, to and unnecessary expence. Having conclusubmit to the house a more efficacious plan ded his observations upon the propositions for examining the accounts in the war of the noble lord, whose chief object seemed office, for in the war office, after all that to be the censure of a former administrahad been urged by the right hon. gent. he tion, and to create unnecessary patronage, was convinced that they must be examined. he would now beg leave to advert to some He certainly regretted that he could not allusions made personally to himself, on a bring this plan forward at the present mo- former night, by a noble lord opposite to ment, but he would not be deterred from him (lord Howick), and a right hon. and doing that which he could do, because he learned gent. (the attorney general), now in was unable to do that which he wished to his eve. do. Before he sat down he would mention vations from him, tending to condemn the It had been observed that obsera word or two on the expence of the pro- creation of sinecure places, came with a peposed measure, which had nearly escaped culiar ill grace; and allusions were made to him. By the arrangement now proposed, sinecure places and lucrative appointments the ultimate and permanent expence to the which he was supposed to possess. On this country would be 1000l. a year less than it was at present. The present annual expence house the fallacy of such allusions. For the point it was necessary to explain to the was 28,000l.; the future permanent annual expence, after the temporary expence place he held under the administration of had ceased, would be only 27,000l. The addi- his late right hon. friend, as secretary of the tional temporary annual treasury, he had resigned a certain, permaexpence would be 14,000l. making the whole of the pro-him 5,400l. a year, arising from fees, to nent, and lucrative employment producing posed immediate annual expence 42,000l. The noble lord concluded by moving income to 4,500l. a year; this income the take up a precarious one, which reduced his "That leave be given to bring in a bill for consolidating the Boards of Commissioners lords of the treasury were afterwards pleased for auditing the Public Accounts, and for to reduce by a new regulation to 30001, a providing more effectual means for examin-year, and upon the former resignation of ing and auditing the Public Accounts now in arrear." Mr. Rose called the attention of the house to a number of detailed calculations, and contended, that out of the 534 millions only 5 millions, or at most 8 millions, were to be accounted for. The rest were, to all intents and purposes, accounted for as satisfactorily as was possible, though, perhaps, the whole had not passed the commissioners of accounts; and of this 8 millions, the only part upon which investigation could attach, with any hope of recovering a shilling for the public, was about 99,000l. So that the construction of all that expensive system of machinery proposed by the noble lord, of increasing commissioners, accountants, and all the other train of subordinate officers, was, in fact, doing nothing for the public. With respect to the accounts in the West Indies, an act passed in the last year for appointing new commissioners to follow up the enquiry in that quarter, from which commissioners no report had yet been made. In his opinion, therefore, it would have been much more adviseable for the noble lord to have waited for the report of those commissioners, and taken more time to consider and mature his plan, instead of precipitating the country into so much useless his right hon. friend, he resigned this without any provision whatever. On the return of his right hon. friend again to office, he accepted of another office, which he again resigned without any provision; and as to the employment which he now heid, it was one which had been usually conferred in reversion for a series of five centuries, and was given to him on a similar footing, upon a reversion of two lives, one of which continued six years after he obtained the promise; and the other was, at the time, of his own age, and a life in every respect as good, and as likely to last as his own. This grant was the only favour he ever asked for himself or any of his family, close as were the friendship and intimacy which had for above 17 years subsisted between himself and his late right hon. friend now no more; and he believed that he, in this instance, stood the single exception to all men who had ever preceded him in office, uuder similar circumstances. The office of secretary of the treasury was after its first reduction, upon further consideration of the lords commissioners, raised to 4,000l. a year; and he was convinced that any man who considered the talents requisite to fill the situation, and the laborious extent of duties it involved, would not consider this salary at all inintoderate; but besides this, it placed the man who held it in such a situation, as that no gentleman filling the office, could save one shilling from the income. He had heard that rumours prevailed without doors respecting the immense emoluments amassed by him, but without deigning to take any notice of such assertions; when, however, such allusions were made within those walls, he felt it his duty to answer, and he trusted that he had now satisfactorily refuted them. When his right hon. friend had formerly retired from office, he believed it was fully in the recollection of the right hon. gent. now a noble lord (Sidmouth) who succeeded him, that he had been earnestly solicited to continue in office, but positively declined it; nor would he act under any other administration than that of his right hon. friend, while he lived; and he could now appeal to the noble lord at the head of the administration, whether he had not repeatedly pressed him to appoint a successor in the department he filled; so far was he from feeling any solicitude to continue in office. The part he had taken in this house since the change of administration, was one which he thought became him. He had vindicated the conduct of his late right hon. friend, and the administration in which he presided, from the censures so continually cast on them by the noble lord and his colleagues: and he could assure the noble lord, that, had it not been for those censures, he would have continued as silent a member since, as he had been before his departure from office.-Leave was then given to bring in the bill. gentleman turned upon the general policy of the measures adopted with respect to Oude, and the relative situation of the nabob's provinces, and those of the company, as to disturbances at the time of the cession. On being asked by Mr. Paull his private opinion, as well as what he knew to be the opinion of the natives, with respect to the general policy and justice of the measures of marquis Wellesley's government, both in and out of the company's provinces, he replied, that he had not turned his mind to the subject. An objection was made to the question, so far as it related to the private opinion of the witness, by lord H. Petty, and supported by Mr. G. Johnstone, and other members. Mr. Paull abandoned that part of the question, and the witness, who had been previously ordered to withdraw, on being again brought in, stated an answer to the latter part of the objection, that so far as he knew, some of the natives thought favourably and others unfavourably of the measures.-It was then proposed that capt. Salmon should be called in, and a desultory conversation took place. Mr. Paull and Dr. Laurence contended, that as some of the accounts, with relation to which capt. Salmon was to be examined, had not been, though ordered, yet presented to the house, his examination could not, in the present instance, lead to any practical or substantial effect; and that, as there was reason to expect these accounts would without delay be laid before the house, his examination ought to be deferred till the house should be able to judge what course the examination ought to take relative to these papers. Mr. Hurst, on the contrary, moved, that capt. Salmon should be called in, and was afterwards supported by Mr. Burton, Mr. Halford, Mr. G. Johnstone, and Sir A. Wellesley, on the ground that the evidence of this gentleman was important, with a view to confirm or disprove that part of the charge which accused marquis Wellesley of fabricating fraudulent accounts, with a view to oppress the nabob. They insisted that, as capt. Salmon had prepared the estimates to which this charge related, and filled the high and confidential situation of auditor of military [AFFAIRS OF INDIA-OUDE CHARGE.] Mr. Paull moved the order of the day for a committee of the whole house on the Oude charge; when the house resolved into the committee, Mr. Hawthorne in the chair. The first witness called was col. Baynes, who had been aid-de camp to general sir J. Craig. He was examined touching the state of the territories of the nabob Vizier, both before and after the treaty of cession, and as to the various military operations whilst he was in India. With respect to the disbanding the troops of the nabob, he had no opportunity of knowing, person-accounts in India, his evidence was materially, whether that measure had been resorted to with the consent of the nabob, or executed without his concurrence.-Mr. H. Strachey was next called in. He had filled several situations, such as register, collector, and judge of appeals, and of a criminal court in India. The examination of this ally necessary to enable the committee to decide, whether the fraudulent intention imputed to the marquis Wellesley in this part of the charge, had really been entertained by him, and whether any instructions to that effect had been given by him to capt. Salmon, with respect to the estimates |