SMA TEP A PE RS. 
wich hofpital, and the fund for the 
telief of poor widows, ever fince 
their inftitution. . ‘They may con- 
jecture, from the experience of 
* many years; what will be the wants 
' and fupplies, of thofe charities, in 
every. poflible fituation of the navy. 
The wages.of the.officers and fea- 
men is the fund for them all. . No 
reafon, then, occurs to us, why, on 
fettling the navy eftablifhment every 
year, certain portions of that fund 
fhould not be appropriated to the 
fupport of thefe charities, to be if- 
_-fued, from time to time, by the 
treafurer of the navy. At prefent, 
he advances to all of them {ums on 
account, and upon calculation: 
neither the commiffioners, nor truf- 
tees for thefe charities, can know 
their income from thefea pay for 
any one year, until feven or eight 
yearsafter that year is expired. They 
cannot. know it, until the books of 
all the fhips paid in.that year are 
" made up; and the books are now in 
arrear as far back as the year 1775. 
The fame. boards muft likewife be 
acquainted with the incomes of the 
[347 
minal exceeds the real, an ignorang 
mind fufpects fraud, and.a weak one 
is deceived by an imaginary income. 
“As the modes fuggefted of pro- 
viding for thefe charities, and. of 
paying the chaplains and furgeons, 
appear to us to be practicable, they 
ought, in our opinion, to be fubfti- 
tuted inthe place of the modes in 
ufe; one confequente of which will 
be, that the four columns.of the 
chett, the hofpital, the three-pence.in 
the pound, and, the marine floppages, 
are rendered ufelefs, and may be left 
out of the fhips’ books. 
There is another defalcation, 
which, in our opinion, ought to be 
omitted for the future, as not an- 
fwering the end propofed; that is, 
the deduétion under the title of ve- 
nereal cures. This is.a payment to 
the furgeon of 15s. for every cure; 
and is directed to be charged againit 
their wages by an order of the 
board of admiralty, dated oth of 
April 1756. Before that year, the 
mult upon the feaman was 1/. 105. 
for every cure; the order reduces it 
to.15s.; and flates, among other 
reafons for the reduction, “ that 
this great charge on the feamen did 
not prevent the evil.” If a-certain 
pecuniary. mul& was not fevere 
enough to prevent the offence in the 
year 1756, half that mulét can hard- 
ly be i{uppofed more efficacious in 
_ chaplain and furgeon of every hhip, 
_ of whatever rate in the navy; at 
~teafi they know what is a proper 
_ and adequate compenfation for their 
feveral fervices. What objection, 
_ then, arifes to the allowing to each 
_, of them, inftead of thefe deduétions, 
one ftated, certain, annual, falary, 
according to his ftation, payable 
Out of the fund of wages? 
_ Ttappears, in our judgment, a ge- 
 neral, ufeful regulation, wherever it 
is practicabie, to take away the dif- 
tinction. between nominal and real 
Wages and falaries, that-the reputed 
compenfation for fervice may be the 
fum actually received, that every 
man may know the price of his Ja- 
bour and abilities. Where the no- 
the year 1782. A punifhment that 
neither correéts the offender, nor ’ 
deters others, is in jitfelf.an, evil, 
from which the fubjeét fhould be re- 
lieved ; and therefore, we think the 
furgeon fhould attend to. every 
difeafe of the feamen at the public 
expence, and be allowed a certain 
compenfation adequate to his, fkill _ 
and trouble. 
‘The omiflion of thefe five columns 
in the fhips books, will accelerate the 
payments, 
