I rift yari J hnn No. 66.] ON FEES, G R A T U I T I E S , & c. - ( E x d f e Duties.) Agents are: occasionally employed to tranfadt Cuftom bufinefs in the out- norts Sredrntol thr: B, HSrf C,° llS aS Att0rnies' Whichare Paid having been referred to and taxed by Examinant. Examinant receives, in addition to his falary, an allowance of one guinea for the draft, and one ffiiiling per fheet for the copies of all Revenue Briefs laid before Couniel, not relating to proceedings in the Courts of Law; and for tranfadting all other bufinefs in his official capacity, he furmfhes regular Bills of Coft, which are pa. d by order of the Board, without their being previoufly taxed. Befides fuch Bills of Cofts which have been fur- niihec, as well as Examinant recolledts, up to and including Tiinity Term 1808 he furmfhes generally once a- year an account of fums due to him for Briefs as above mentioned, and of law difburfements in all Revenue bufinefs not ( ranfadted in the Courts of Law, and has fettled fuch account for the iaft year up to January 180S. Befides tranfadting the ordinary law bufinefs of the Cuftoms de- partment, Examinant is fometimes employed to prepare drafts of Bills intended to be prefented to Parliament for regulating the collection of the Duties of Cuftoms. Tiie ufual Fee to each Counfel is 10 guineas on each confutation, and 40 guineas on fettling the Bill, unlefs the Bill be a Ihort one, in which cafe Counfel receives a fmaller Fee. Before the Union between Great Britain and Ireland, all Revenue Regulation Bills were prepared by the Solicitors of Cuftoms and Excife, who received between them, on each fuch Bill, relating to either department, a Fee equal to that allowed to one Counfel; but many of thefe Bills are now prepared in England, and lent over by the Chancellor of the Exchequer to the refpedtive Boards of Cuftoms and Excife. for the purpofe of their being laid before their Counfel and the Crown Lawyers, who are refpedtively paid the fame Fees as if they had been prepared here, and when fettled they are fair- copied by the Solicitors, and tranfmitted to the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The Solicitors of both Boards, when required, prepare alfo the Money Bills, being fuch Bills as are paffed in each Seffion of Parliament granting money to the Crown, which are laid before the Attorney and Solicitor General, and the fenior Counfel, to the two Boards of Revenue, to each of whom is paid, by order of Government, whether there be one or more Money Bills, a Fee of £. 700; for their trouble refpedting fuch Bills, each Solicitor received previous to the Union a Fee of ^. 475. But in confequence of its being intended, alter the Union, to have all Money and Regulation Bills prepared in England, the yearly fum of £. 716. 14*. 4^ d, was awarded to Examinant during his life by the Commiffioners of Compenfation, on account of his lofs of Fees incurred by fuch arrangement; and he believes that a like fum, and on^ the fame account, was awarded to the then Solicitor in the Excife department; but notwithftanding fuch compenfation, Examinant admits that fince the Union he has received feveral fums for preparing fuch Bills. In purfuance of an order made by the Commiflioners of the Revenue in 1803, in confequence of directions from Government, Briefs in ail Revenue Cafes are uniformly fent to the Attorney General, as well as to the Boards two Counfel; previous to the receipt of this order the Attorney General was employed, as the Solicitor General is now, only in cafes of confutation, or in the Law and Equity Courts, or in the Court of Appeal. The rate of Fee to the Crown Lawyers, as well as to the Board's Counfel, with Cafes and Briefs, is regulated according to the difcretion of the Solicitor, excepc in cafes of Informations, the eftablifhed Fee with which, unlefs very voluminous, is two guineas; but for attending Trials at the Cuftom- Moufe, the Board's Counfel receive each three guineas a- day for every Information that is tried, exclufive of the Fees given with their Briefs. The Attorney General, though feed in all cafes of Information, is not expedted to attend at the Cuftom- FIoule unlefs fpecially required ; but he attends before the Commiffioners in che Court of Appeals whenever thev wi fli to hear further Counfel, and if he or either of the Board's Counfel fhould be at any time abfent from Dublin, fo as that their advice could not be obtained, their Fees are neverthelcfs regularly allowed to them as if they were prefent. In many inftances, however, Examinant has fent to the Attorney General and both Counfel to the Board, when abfent from Dublin, in cafes on which he thought it material to have their refpe& ive advice and opinion. Until the time when Lord Townsend was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, there never had been more than one Counsel for the two Departments; in the adminiftration of Lord Harcourt one ot the Counfel died, and the vacancy was not filled up till the admimftration of the Marquis of Buckingham in the year 1788, when a fecond Couniel was^ agam 1 52.- 3Z appointe , mi I! w f I '. iJj Pt M I