STATE PAPERS. 



315 



Reports upon Sinecure Offices, 

 and taking also into account the 

 regulation or abolition of some 

 offices since that period, your 

 committee see no reason to doubt 

 that the annual income now da- 

 rived from the offices which are 

 thus brought under the observa- 

 tion of the House, as being at the 

 disposal of the crown, and fit to 

 be abolished or regulated, may 

 be estimated at from 90,000Z. to 

 100,000/. 



REGULATIONS 



applicable to Offices, the Duties of 

 which are necessary to be con- 

 tinued. 



The inquiries now made have 

 fully confirmed the observation 

 contained in the First Report of 

 the committee upon sinecure offices 

 appointed in IS 10 : " That the 

 number of offices which have re- 

 venue without any employment 

 either of principal or deputy, is 

 very inconsiderable, and that by 

 far the greatest number of offices 

 which are commonly described as 

 sinecure, fall properly under the 

 description of offices executed by 

 deputy, or offices having revenue 

 disproportionate to employment." 

 The only situations, in England, 

 of any considerable emolument 

 which can be considered as per- 

 fect sinecures, are the two offices 

 of Chief Justice in Eyre, North 

 and .South of Trent ; upon which 

 your committee have only to state, 

 that there will be no diflicultv in 

 transferring any formal duties be- 

 longing to these offices (if any 

 such still remain) to the Commis- 

 sioners of \^'oods and Land Re- 

 venue : and that by this arrange- 



ment the present salaries may be 

 wholly saved, whenever these offi- 

 ces shall become vacant. These 

 salaries, as well as that of the 

 Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, 

 being paid out of the Englisli civil 

 list, and the salaries of several 

 offices in Scotland and Ireland 

 being in like manner charged upon 

 the respective civil lists of those 

 parts of the United Kingdom, your 

 committee recommend, that a 

 general rule should be laid down 

 for carrying to the consolidated 

 fund these and similar savings, 

 as they may arise, after the ter- 

 mination of the interests now 

 existing in any offices charged upon 

 those funds. 



In Scotland there is one office 

 of high rank and emolument, that 

 of Lord Justice-General, which 

 appears to come under the same 

 description as having no employ- 

 ment either of principal or deputy, 

 and to the sjilary of which the 

 same principle of reduction would 

 consequently apply, in the event 

 of the office being annexed by 

 law to that of Lord President of 

 the Court of Sessions. One or 

 two other offices enumerated in 

 the schedule, but of inferior rank 

 and emolument, have not, as far 

 as your committee have been 

 enabled to ascertain, any duties or 

 responsibility annexed to them ; 

 they theiefore should be abolished 

 altogether, as soon as they may 

 become vacant. 



With respect to all the remain- 

 ing offices included in the schedule 

 of the bill of 1813, being those 

 which are not altogether witliout 

 employment, bvit which have either 

 emoluments greatly disproportion- 

 ate to such employment, or ar« 



whoUj 



