will be a faving to the public of fome part, though not the whole of the expence now incurred in the office of the auditor; for fo great an increase of the bufinefs in the office of the controller will, probably, require fome addition to the establishment in that office.

The compenfation to the controllers themselves for the execution of this office is a certain fixed falary only. Why the fecretary and clerks are not paid in the like manner does not appear. The one eighth per cent. allowed them on the fum contained in the account, does not feem to be grounded on any rule of proportion between the labour and the reward; for this poundage, may, from the magnitude of the contract, amount to a very confiderable fum, without a proportionable increase in the trouble arifing from the examination of the account, and therefore, we fee no reason why the rule of fubftituting one certain falary, in lieu of all fees, gratuities, and emoluments whatever, adopted in the cafe of the principals, fhould not be extended to all the fubordinates in this office. Office of Accounts, SurreyStreet, ft of July, 1,83.

T. ANGUISH,

A. PIGGOTT,

(L. S.) (L. S.) RICHARD NEAVE, (L.S.) SAMUEL BEACHCROFT, (L. S.) GEORGE DRUMMOND, (L. S.)

The Eleventh Report of the Commiffioners appointed to examine, take, and fate the Public Accounts of the Kingdom.

IN our enquiries into the manner of paffing the public accounts in the offe of the auditors of the impreft, we find, upon the certifigate of accounts depending in that

office, the chief cashier of the bank of England among the public accountants.

In the acts of parliament for railing the fupplies by public loans, the cashiers of the governor and company of the bank of England are appointed the receivers of the contributions to those loans. They are ordered to pay the fums fo received into the exchequer, and to account duly for the fame in that office: thefe contributions are received at the bank in the name of the chicf cashier.

The fhares or interests of the contributors, or their affignees, in the capital ftocks of annuities creat ed by these acts, are made transferable at the bank of England; and the money appropriated to anfwer the annuities, and other pay ments therein directed, is ordered to be issued at the receipt of the exchequer, to the chief cafhier, by way of impreft, and upon account; and he is enjoined to pay the annuities, and render his account thereof, according to the due course of the exchequer.

Hence the chief cashier has, every year, on the part of the bank, an account to pafs of the receipts and payments of the feveral fpecies of annuities payable at the bank of England; and, for fome years last paft, he has had alfo another annual account to pafs, of the contributions to the loans to government, received at the bank.

We required from the auditors of the impreft the last declared accounts of Abraham Newland, efq. chief cashier of the bank of England, of money received and paid on the feveral fpecies of bank annuities, and of contributions to annuities and a lottery, with the materials from which thofe accounts were feverally male out. (12)

Two

Two accounts were returned to us pursuant to this requifition; the one an account of the fums received and paid on the annuities payable at the bank of England, for two years, ending the 5th of July 1779; and the other on account of the contributions to the annuities and lottery for the year 1781: both thefe accounts were declared upon the 29th of June 1782.

From the infpection of the accounts themselves, and of the lifts, and other materials, returned with them; and from the examinations of John Lloyd and John Bray, efqrs. late deputy auditors of the impreft; of Charles Harris, efq. one of the prefent deputy-auditors; Mr. John Walker, and Mr. Bernard Cobbe, two of the clerks in that office; and Abraham New land, efq. chief cafhier of the bank of England; we are made acquainted with the forms and fubject matter of these two kinds of public accounts, and with the manner in which they are examined and audited in the office of the auditors of the impreft.

In the first of thefe accounts, that of the fums received and paid on the annuities, the charge confits of the arrears remaining on the preceding account, and the fums imprefted from the exchequer: the difcharge contains the fums paid for dividends on each fpecies of annuities payable at the bank of England, during the two years of the account; and to the total fum paid on each fpecies is added the auditor's fee, for examining, auditing, and ingroffing the account of that annuity: it contains alfo-the fums paid for principal and intereft of annuities paid off the fums paid for prizes in the lotteries in the time of the account-the fums allowed the bank, for charges of ma

nagement-the fees and charges paid by them to the treasury, and other offices-and the balance.

The materials from whence the articles in this account were collected, are the impreft certificates

lifts of the dividend warrants in each fpecies of annuities; each of thefe dividend lifts contains the number of the warrant, the name of every proprietor, his fhare in the capital flock, and the proportional half year's annuity attending it -lifts of thofe warrants, in each fpecies of annuities inferted in the above mentioned lifts,, but which remain unpaid at the time to which the account is brought down: these unpaid lifts contain only the number of each warrant, and the share of the annuity-a list of thofe arrears of former dividends, in each fpecies of annuities which have been paid during the period of the account in this lift of arrears are inferted, the number of the dividend, the number of the warrant, and the fhare of the annuity-a lift of the fums paid for principal and intereft of fuch funds as have been paid off-a list of the certificates of prizes in lotteries, paid within the time of the account: each certificate is defcribed in this lift by the number and the fum contained in it. Thefe feveral lifts with the dividend warrants and certificates themselves, and with abstracts of the lifts, are fent from the bank to the office of the auditor of the impreft every year, as early after the expiration of the year of the account, as they can conveniently be made up at the bank.

Each year's account comprehends the payments upon two claffes of dividends, the one payable at Ladyday and Michaelmas, the other at Midfummer and Christmas; and accordingly the accounts of these

payments

payments terminate, the one clafs at Michaelmas, the other at Chriftmas!

Though thefe accounts are delivered annually to the auditor, yet it is ufual for the chief cashier to pafs an account only once in two years; at which time he paffes the accounts of two years together.

It is, and has long been, the custom in the auditor's office, to make up the accounts of the bank and of the South Sea annuities, in both offices jointly. They divide the account as equally as they can : each office takes a part, examines the articles in that part, reduces it into the official form, and ingroffes it the two parts are then joined together, and form one account; that on paper is ingroffed in one office, and that one parchment in the other.

The auditor proceeds upon the materials he receives from the bank, in the following manner :

The dividend lift of every fpecies of annuites, contains an entry of every warrant for the payment of a fhare in that annuity, and confequently includes the entries of the warrants unpaid, as well as of thofe that are paid; and the amount of the fhares of the annuity in the lift is the amount of the half year's payment upon the total of the capital stock in that dividend.

The auditor examines every warrant; fees that it is correct; compares it with the correfpondent en try in the dividend lift and marks that entry he then compares the entries in the unpaid lift, with the entries not marked in the dividend lift; cafts up both lifts; and, deducting from the amount of the dividend lift the amount of the unpaid lift, and the amount of the fractions, which, from their minuteness, the bank have not paid,

the refidue is the fum allowed the chief cashier, as the amount of his payments upon that dividend list.

The entries of the warrants, in the lift of arrears, are compared with the warrants themselves; and the fum appearing to be paid for arrears, in each fpecies of annuities, is added to the fum paid in the dividend lift of that annuity, and forms the total fum allowed the chief cashier for dividends paid by him in that fpecies of annuities, during the period of the account.

The entries in the lift of payments of principal and interest of annuities paid off, are examined by the warrants for thofe payments; and the entries of the payments in the litt of prizes in the lotteries, are compared with the certificates, and the totals of all these lifts are compared with the entries in the abstracts.

The charge is feldom drawn up, until the account is near a completion.

All the fums received by the chief cashier are iffues from the exchequer; and therefore to be verified by impreft certificates only: for this purpofe he procures, from the receipt of the exchequer, an impreft certificate for every iffue in the time of the account.

Each impreft (except the laft) is, in general, compounded of a complete half year's annuity upon one fpecies of capital ftock, and the charges of management allowed the bank upon that capital; the last article is a fum to reimburse the bank the fees and charges advanced by them, and allowed in the preceding account. From thefe imprest rolls the auditor draws up the charge.

The lifts and entries having been thus examined, and found to be correct, and the auditor having fo far formed his account, the chief (I 3) cafhier

cashier, foon after he has paid all the fees for this account to the treafury, the exchequer, and auditor's offices, tranfmits to the auditor an account current, containing the to tals of all the articles of the charge and difcharge in the two year's account. If both accounts are right, the fums in the account current will agree with thofe in the official account, except in the payments on the dividends, in which there is this difference:-the auditor, in his account adds to the total fum paid for the dividends in each fpecies of annuities, his own fee for auditing the account of that annuity; but, in the account current, the total fum paid for the dividend is ftated fimply by itfelf, and all the auditors fees for the whole account, including his fees for examining the contribution accounts of the fame years, are collected together, and the amount of them forms one article in the difcharge all the fees paid by the chief cashier, at the other offices, form another article in both accounts.

The auditors are paid their fees, and allow fuch payments to the chief caflier in the following man

ner!

Soon after they have finifhed their examination of each year's account, it has been cuftomary for them to apply to the bank for the fees that become due to them in confequence of that examination. The chief cahier calculates the fees according to the ufual rate, and advances them to the auditors in equal shares he then prefents a memorial to the treafury, tiating that he has paid feveral fums, to a certain amount, for f es of various kinds, at the treafury and exchequer, and to the auditors of the i reft, in relation to his accounts: he annexes a lift of the particular

fums, and prays to be reimbursed. The lords of the treafury refer this memorial to the auditors of the impreft, to examine, and report upon it.

The auditor examines the receipts neceffary to be produced to, him, as vouchers for the payments: he reports that the fees paid at the treafury and exchequer are the ufual payments; and that the fees paid to the auditors of the impreft are computed at the fame rate as have from time to time been allowed by treafury warrants.

Upon this report, the lords of the treasury direct the fum prayed to be iffued to the chief cashier, by way of impreft, and upon account to reimburse the fees thus paid by him. As the caflier paffes his account only once in two years, but every year pays fees, and applies to the treafury for a reimbursement, it follows that the two articles in the account current, the one comprehending the total of the fees paid to the auditor, the other the total of the fees and charges paid at the treafury, and other offices, are compounded of the fums flated under each of these heads in the two memorials: and, as thefe fums are iffued to the chief cashier upon account, they together form one article in the charge upon him in his next fucceeding account, as a fum to be accounted for by him.

The only remaining article in the difcharge is the allowance, either detained by the bank out of t'e contributions, or claimed by them, for the charges of management. This article, being grounded upon the feveral acts of parliament that create the annuities, will come more properly after we have examined the other account tranfmited to us from the auditor of the impreft; that is, the account of the contributions to the annuities and lot

tery.

tery. The articles in the account drawn up by the auditors being found to agree with those in the account current, the balance remaining in the cuftody of the bank must be likewife the fame in both this balance confitts of dividends, capital stock paid off, and fums received to pay prizes in lotteries, remaining in the bank unclaimed by the proprietors.

:

The chief cafhier figns the account current, and fwears to it before a baron of the exchequer: the account is then prefented for declaration, and paffed through the feveral offices of the exchequer.

The account of the two years before us confifts of the following fums in the charge, the balance on the former account is 284,791. 175. 6d. received to pay the annuities 7,039,3751. 18. to pay prizes in two lotteries, 980,00 l: to reimburse the bank the fees and charges paid by them in the laft account, 19,3671. 178. 10d; for charges of management 114,4271. Is. 6d. total charge 8,437,8891. 178. 10d. In the difcharge, dividents paid, 7,0 2,9571. 48.: principal and intereft of annuities paid off, 29621. 78 78.: certificates for prizes, 969,8441.: allowances for management, 114,4271. 1s. 6d. : fees to the auditors, 21,6931.; and at the treafury and other offices, 1120l. 16s. 6d.-Total difcharge, 8,123,0041. 98. 7d-Balance remaining in the cullody of the bank, 314,8851. 8s. 31d.

The other account, that of the contributions to annuities and a lot tery, comes to the office of the auditor of the impreft in a fhape different from the former: the first official notice he has of it is from a memorial referred to him by the lords of the treasury.

When an act of parliament has paffed for railing the fupplies by

annuities and a lottery, about the end of the year, foon after the payments of the contributions are completed, the court of directors of the governor and company of the bank of England prefent a memorial to the lords commiffioners of the treafury, with an account annexed, containing a charge and difcharge: the charge confits of two articles; the amount of the contributions to the annuities, and the amount of the contributions to the lottery-the difcharge has three articles; the fum paid into the receipt of the exchequer, the fum paid for interest to thofe contributors who advanced their money before the times appointed for making the feveral payments, and, the fum retained by the bank for the fervice, pains, and labour of their officers employed in receiving, paying, and accounting for this money, and the charges attending it: the memorial prays they may be allowed to retain the fum therein mentioned, for the charges; and that they may be allowed a certain annual fum for the fervices refpecting the annuities, as being agreeable to former allowancs for the like fervices; and that it may be paid to the chief cafhier for their ufe. This memorial is referred by the treafury to the auditors of the impreft for their examina tion and report.

The auditor upon the receipt of this memorial, proceeds to examine the account annexed to it. The charge requires no proof or verifi. cation; for the chief cashier admits the receipt of the whole fum directed by the act to be raised.

In the difcharge, the fum stated to be paid into the receipt of the exchequer is verified by the exchequer tallies, which the chief caflie ier fends to the auditor, with a lift of the fums fo paid in; he fends likewife a book, figned by himself, (4)

contain