446 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1810. 



of such parly, solicitor, or other 

 persons would notnecessarilystop 

 the proceedings in such action. 



That as the particular ground 

 ©faction does not necessarily ap- 

 pear upon the writ or upon the 

 declaration, the court, before 

 which such action is brought, 

 cannot stay the suit, or give judg- 

 ment against the plaintiff, till it is 

 informed, by due course of legal 

 proceeding, that such action is 

 brought for a thing done by order 

 of the House. 



Anditlhereforeappears to your 

 committee, That even though the 

 House should think fit to commit 

 the solicitor or other person con- 

 cerned in commencing these ac- 

 tions, yet it will still be expedient 

 that the House should give leave 

 to the Speakerand the Serjeant to 

 appear to the actions, and to plead 

 to the same for the purpose of 

 bringing under the knowledge of 

 the court the authority under 

 which theyacted:and if the House 

 should agree with that opinion, 

 your committee submits to the 

 House, whether it would not be 

 proper that directions sl.ould be 

 given by this House for defending 

 the Speaker and the Serjeant 

 against the said actions. 



Extract of the Fifth Report of a 

 Committee of the House of Com- 

 mons on Public Expenditure. 



[Ordered by Hon. House of Commons 

 to be printed, April IS, 1810.] 



Being informed that a consider- 

 able default had been discovered in 

 the office of paymaster of marines, 

 the committee directed their first 

 inquiries to the nature of the regu- 

 lations under which that depart- 

 ment is conducted ; with a view to 



ascertain whether those regula- 

 tions are insufficient in themselves 

 or ill adapted to the service, or 

 whether there has been a culpable 

 or negligent departure from them. 



The paymaster, whose duty is 

 confined to the payment of the 

 marines while on shore, presents 

 monthly accounts to the Admiral- 

 ty,stating his receiptand expendi- 

 ture during the last month with an 

 estimate of the probable demands 

 upon him for the current month, 

 together ivith a statement of the 

 balances remaining in his hands 

 on the first and last days of the 

 preceding month ; in consequence 

 of which application, an order is 

 forwarded to the Navy-Office, ac- 

 companied by a copyof the month- 

 ly account, directing an imprest 

 to be issued by the treasurer of 

 the navy, who is the general bank- 

 er, as the Navy-Office is the gene- 

 ral office of account, for every 

 branch of naval service. A state- 

 ment of the balances in the pay- 

 master's hands, included in the 

 monthly account, is transmitted 

 with the order for each imprest to 

 the Navy-Office. 



This statement of the balances 

 in these monthly accounts affords, 

 in appearance, a secure and con- 

 stant guard against any undue ac- 

 cumulation of money in the hands 

 of the paymaster; but this appear- 

 ance isdelusive: fortheseaccounts 

 being necessarily unaccompanied 

 with vouchers, donotadmit of any 

 effectual check, until the delivery, 

 at a subsequent period, of the ge- 

 neral annual account. The conse- 

 quence of which hasbeeo.that they 

 have unfortunately produced the 

 effect of preventingrather than for- 

 warding any useful examination in- 

 to the real state of the paymaster's 

 balance ; and seem to have pre- 



