OFFICE WORK OF A GARRISON BATTERY. 
KQ 
in detail against eacli man's name, and are afterwards massed. It 
is unnecessary to describe such a number of forms as a Pay List 
now contains. Practically the great point is to be certain that the 
proper pay only is drawn for eacli man, the rate being given when 
the man first joins you by a No. 1 Report, or a W.O. Porm 97, received 
from the Paymaster, to see that no improper increase is made, and 
that all stoppages are carried out. This sounds very simple, and ought 
to be so in practice : a little reform in allowances and stoppages would 
sweep away half the difficulties that every casualty of a soldier now 
causes. Great differences naturally exist in the manner in which Pay- 
Sergeants prepare their Pay Lists. Some clerks work almost entirely 
by the List itself, entering every casualty and variation at once therein, 
so that little has to be done at the end of the month; others trust more 
to the preparation of the Vouchers, entering all alterations in the List 
when the month is finished. A rough journal is sometimes kept, in 
which all occurrences that either do or that eventually may affect the 
Pay List are entered in pencil on the report of the Battery Orderly. 
Great freedom of action should be allowed on such points. All that 
is absolutely necessary is that immediate permanent record be made 
of every casualty affecting the Pay List. 
84. Here note that the term Debt of the Battery " is often used 
in three senses : 1st, as the total of the debts of the men to the Major; 
2nd, as the debt to Government on the Pay List when closed; 3rd, as 
the debt On the balance sheet, that is, the difference between the 
liabilities and assets when the liabilities exceed the assets. The last is 
the true meaning, and it is only when there is a debt on the balance 
sheet that the Battery can be said to be in debt. 
85. The charges in the Pay List have to be accounted for by a mass 
of so-called Vouchers" ; a list of those ordinarily sent is given in the 
next paragraph, but they vary a good deal with different Paymasters, 
and the new Pay List will probably strike a few out. Some are real 
vouchers; thus the Hospital Stoppage Roll, prepared by the Surgeon, 
is an actual check on the Major's statement in his Pay List of the number 
of days in hospital, but in many cases the voucher is really a repetition 
by the Major, on a different piece of paper, of a statement already 
made by him in his Pay List; the form for men fined, W.O. Form 55, and 
deprived pay, W.O. Form 312, are examples of obsolete survivals of 
checks; andbatteries can accidentally or intentionally defraud Government 
of money by omitting to report in the Pay Lists some of the men deprived 
pay, or fined. Practically half the vouchers are useless, and therefore 
injurious, the Muster Roll being the most useless of all. A simple 
Adjutant’s certificate is accepted to prove that a man has been a certain 
number of years clear of the Defaulter Book; but all the details of his 
service must be set out every time he gets a badge. Why not accept a 
short certificate from the Record Office that a man has a certain amount 
of service? For vouchers sec Finance Regulations, paragraph 187 to 
195. 
