S. DAT i oP & PAR) Si 
army and all its connections. It is 
fimited only by his difcretion; con- 
fequently every form of proceeding, 
every ufage and mode of practice, 
muft reft either upon his orders or 
his acquiefcence. That we might 
learn upon what authority this cuf- 
tom, for the officers to be contrac- 
tors of this defcription, was ground- 
ed, we required from Sir William 
Howe and lord Cornwallis the or- 
ders and inftruCtions iffued by them 
in North America, relative to the 
feveral departments employed in 
the expenditure of the public mo- 
ney. ~ The returns to thefe requifi- 
tions contained the appointment of 
the fuperintendant of veifels, and 
the regulation. of the payment of 
their hire, in the offices: of the de- 
partments in which they were em- 
ployed both above mentioned, to- 
gether with other orders made from 
time to time for different purpofes 
of regulation: but we found at one 
period only orders relative to the 
point immediately under our con- 
fideration. Theie orders were if, 
faed by lord Cornwallis, are dated 
the 23d December 1780, and con- 
tain matter very important to the 
fubjeét before us. Lord Cornwallis 
had upon feveral occafions found, 
that the waggons and horfes pro- 
vided for the public fervice by the 
quarter mafter general were in bad 
condition, and neither fit nor able 
to perform the fervices required. 
Toremedy thefe abufes, he thought 
it neceflary to direét, that the quar- 
ter mafter general fhould have no 
papery in either the waggons or 
orfes; and to that end he iffued 
orders, enjoining him not to charge 
more for waggons and horfes than 
he had aétually paid; not to 
charge the hire of waggons and 
horfes purehafed; mot to pur- 
ehefe them but upon goverment 
[323- 
account; and, if. he hired them, to. 
pay the proprietors the full price for 
hire allowed by government... He 
ordered all the neceflary craft-to be 
purchafed on government account; 
and fome of the veilels to be diG 
charged, as foon as they came under 
the direction of his deputy quarter 
mafter general at Portfmouth in 
the Cheflapeak, upon his reprefenta- 
tion that they were unneceflary. 
He ordered likewife the commiflary 
general not to charge government 
for the -compleat ration, unlefs he 
{upplied that ration from the ftores 
from England ; and to charge neo 
more for frefh provifions, flour, or 
Indian meal, than what they coft 
him. The manner of conducting 
this laft office it is notin our power 
to inquire into; the commiflaries 
general are dead; and their ac~ 
counts not in England. 
Thefe orders are levelled at 
abufes at that time exifting; and 
thefe abufes all tend to the de. 
frauding of the public for private 
emolument. 
_ By puriuing the rules of compu- 
tation inferted above, we are ena- 
bled to difcover how much would 
have been faved to the public had 
the waggons and horfes been pur- 
chafed at firft on account of govern- 
ment. From the lift inferted in the 
appendix it appears, that the aver- 
age number of waggons conftantly 
employed in the fervice, from the 
25th of December 1776 to the 31 
of March 1780, that is, three years 
and a quarter, was feven hundred 
thirty-nine ; and the average num- 
ber of horfes, one thoufand nine 
hundred fifty-eight; and the aver.” 
age nuinber of drivers, feven hun- 
dred and fixty: the average hire of 
all thefe amounts to 1o4,132/. a 
year; from whence deducting: 
16,18t/. the hire of feven hundred) 
[X 2]. and: 
