STATE 
eeipts of the perfons 
or their oificers | 
fums. ‘The receipts are fair upon 
the face of them; ontains all 
the’eflentials of a true voucher; a 
date, the fubject matter, the fum 
paid, the perfon of whom received, 
and the perfon receiving. _ If the 
traniaétion has not been a fair one, 
and governmrent\has:been defrauded 
ef any part of the money, the 
voucher, which is the evidence of 
that tranfaétion, muft, in fome part 
of it, be falie or fraudulent: to dif- 
cover whether it be fo or not, the 
erfon who appears to have figned 
to whom they 
theie 
paid 
paie 
aT 
€acth C 
1t, is always a material, and, in fome * 
cafes, the only witnefs, who can tell 
whether the {um {pecified in the re- 
ceipt to have been received, was.in 
fa& the fum bona fide paid; but per- 
fons under this defcriptiosxt are not 
amenable to us, fitting in this king- 
dom; they are in North America. 
Numberlefs, and in a variety of 
ways, may have been the frauds and 
impofitions committed upon govern- 
ment, without the knowledge even 
of the officer who pafies the ac- 
counts, being himielf not privy to 
the payments, but relying, for the 
truth of the vouchers he produces 
in his difcharge, upon the integrity 
and fidelity of his inferior officers, 
Rumours of impofition, and of 
much wealth acquired during a 
fhort fervice upon flender appoint- 
ments, may create a fufpicion of 
fome concealed management, and 
be a ground for inquiry by proper 
Authority ; but they are not proofs 
upon which can be fupported, 
againft any perfon whatever, the 
heavy charge of defrauding the, 
public. 
" Having therefore no hopes of 
purfuing this fubjec with effect, we 
burned oyr attention to the fecond 
*« 
Dp 
+ 
A.P E R S. [319 
objeé&t we propofed; that is, to thofe 
openings for fraud, and that poffi- 
bility of abufe, which the modes of 
conduéting thefe money tranfaGtions 
ave left without fence or guard ; 
and we are of opinion that the pub- 
lic have not been fufficiently pro- 
te&ted in two material points: firft, 
the officers intrufted with the ex- 
penditure of the public money have 
been permitted to have an intereft 
themfelves in the fubje@ matter of 
expence: fecondly, the vouchers 
by which the accountants difeharge 
themfelves of the fums intruited te 
them, are allowed without having 
undergone fufficient examination, 
It is a branch of the bufinefs of 
the quarter mafter genéral to pro- 
vide waggons and horfes, with their 
neceflary attendants and append- 
ages, for the ule of the army, either 
when in quarters, or in motion; and, 
when there is occafion to tranfport 
theza, or to fupply their wants by 
water, the fuperintendant furnifhes 
them with veffels, and whatever is 
neceflary for carriage by water, 
It is the duty of thefe officers to 
make the contracts for the articles, 
and to fee thofe contracts honeflly 
and fubftantially performed; to take 
care that each article is properly 
equipped, and adequate to the fer- 
vice it is intended for; and that 
the fervice, for which payment is 
claimed, has been, in fact, perform- 
ed, Tihefe officers are placed, on the 
part of government, as a check and 
control upon the contractars, to pro. 
teét the public from lofs or impofi- 
tion. The barrack matter general 
and chief engineer ftand upon the 
fame ground, in refpeét to the wag- 
gons and horfes made ule of in their 
departments, and not provided by 
the quarter mafter general. But 
it has been the ulage, as far backias 
’ Ow 
— 
