10 ox THE TRACK OF THE MAIL-COACH 



accounts, been in operation all along, many of the 

 defalcations which occurred, let us sa}^ at the end of 

 the last century, would have been avoided, because 

 the dailv balances could not have reached considerable 

 figures without attracting attention. 



Moreover, ho)id-Jide errors, in which there was no 

 real defalcation, would have been cleared up in good 

 time. For example, although Daniel Eichardson, Post- 

 master of Chatham, was reported, on July 5, 1785, 

 to be seven hundred and thirty pounds in arrear, 

 the debt ran on for several years, until it was dis- 

 covered, in 1792, that he had not claimed seven 

 hundred and four pounds which was due to him for 

 Eeturned Letters. At most he owed six and twenty 

 pounds. 



The postmaster of a mail port was found to be 

 deficient, when his books were balanced on October 10, 

 1785, in the enormous sum of £2,591. However, in 

 the next thirteen years he or his estate paid in large 

 amounts, and so nearly wiped off the indebtedness. 



But the bad system of long credits allowed small 

 offices to run up large debts. Balances were advisedly 

 left outstanding, in the expectation that disburse- 

 ments and remittances would reduce them. They 

 did not always do so. In 1814, the aggregate balance 

 in the hands of the six hundred deputies who then 

 held office in Great Britain alone, was hardly less 

 than a hundred thousand pounds. 



No doubt the Civil Service Commissioners now 

 provide a suitable test examination for candidates 



