446 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1809. 



be allowed, on the final settlement 

 of their accounts, a reasonable re- 

 muneration for their services since 

 that period." In an examination 

 of one of the commissioners which 

 took place a week after, he having 

 mentioned that " a sum had been 

 invested for the benefit of captors," 

 was thereupon asked, " what was 

 the amount of the sura vested in 

 public securities?" and he replied, 

 " about 27,000/. for the captors, 

 and the whole remainder is invested 

 also in public securities, which we 

 shall account for to government 

 (when we close our accounts) with 

 interest." 



In an explanatory paper, de- 

 livered 10 the committee a fortnight 

 after this examination, the commis- 

 sioners, after stating, " that they 

 have taken particular care from 

 time to time not to retain a larger 

 balance than was necessary to meet 

 the exigencies to which they were 

 liable," add, that " they have in- 

 vested the greatest part of that 

 money in public securities, with a 

 view of making it productive uiiile 

 it remained in their hands." They 

 then say, that " they consider them- 

 selves accountable to government 

 for the interest thus accruing." 

 These expressions seem to your 

 committee to imply, that they con- 

 sidered themselves accountable to 

 government for whatever interest 

 they had at any time received by 

 lending the balances in hand, with 

 the exception only of that portion 

 of interest for which they had repre- 

 sented themselves as accountableto 

 captors. They further observe in 

 this explanatory paper, that " on 

 the otlier hand, having received no 

 commission since the year 1799, 

 they conceivethattheserviccs, they 



have since rendered, will not be 

 more than adequately compensated 

 by that interest, &c." But when 

 the commissioners were specifically 

 required, by a subsequent order of 

 9th March 1S08, to render " an 

 account of interest and benefit of 

 any kind derived from the posses- 

 sion of any money which, in virtue 

 of their commission, may from time 

 to time have remained in their 

 hands, and of which no account 

 had been rendered to the treasury," 

 they took a distinction between two 

 considerablesums,receivedby them 

 for interest at different periods, the 

 one a sum of about 18,000/. (or of 

 about 16,000/. according to a 

 subsequently corrected statement) 

 received for interest before the com- 

 pletion of their sales ; the other, a 

 sum of about 26,000/. received after 

 that period; and they remarked, 

 that " it is for the last of these 

 sums that they have declared them- 

 selves ready to account;" but tliat 

 as to the smaller sum, first receiv- 

 ed, " they have only kept an account 

 of it as between themselves." They 

 have declared themselves unable to 

 furnish, from their private papers, 

 all the information which has been 

 asked respecting the sum first re- 

 ceived, but they confidently remark, 

 that the profit thus made is not 

 more than the sum stated. 



They endeavour to establish their 

 title to the sum first received partly 

 by claiming interest on their ba- 

 lances as a privilege common to 

 public accountants, and partly by 

 observing, that the sum in question 

 is not equal to certain sums which 

 they had relinquished, though en- 

 titled to them. '1 lie chief sum said 

 to be so relinquished is tliat part of 

 their commission which had been 



applied 



